FUNNY GIRL

Plot:
It is loosely based on the life and career of Broadway and film star and comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.

RELEASE DATES

• The Broadway production opened on March 26, 1964 at the Winter Garden Theatre and then the Broadway theatre where it closed on July 1, 1967 to complete its total run of 1,348 performances.
• The film of Funny Girl was released on September 19, 1968.

CAST

• The opening Broadway cast:
• Fanny Brice-Barbra Streisand and Nicky Arnstein- Sydney Chaplin.
• In the film:
• Fanny Brice-Barbra Streisand and Nicky Arnstein-Omar Sharif

THE CREW

• The director of Funny Girl was William Wyler.
• The producer was Ray Stark and he was the real Fannie Brice's son-in-law.
• The writer was Isobel Lennart
• Music by Jule Styne and Lyrics by Bob Merrill.

FINANCIAL

• The budget for the film was $14.1million.
• The box office made $58.5 million.

AWARDS

• Barbra Streisand won an Academy Award for Best actress, David di Donatello for best foreign actress,and a golden globe for best actress.
• Isobel Lennart won a Writers Guild of America award for best written musical.

COSTUMES

• Irene Sharaff did Fanny Brice's costume design
• Virginia Darcy did Fanny's hair.
• Enrico Cortese was the make-up artist.

BEHIND THE SCENES

• Barbra Streisand was often described as "controlling," "rude" and "demanding." There were reports that Streisand was chronically late and that she constantly kept everyone waiting.No one could believe the audacity of this film neophyte. "Here was this young whippersnapper," said Assistant Director Jack Roe, "telling a very noted director how to do his job." The majority of the extended cast and crew reportedly found her aloof, self-absorbed and inconsiderate. "I thought she was rude during the whole shoot," said Roe. "I didn't like the way she treated people, from Wyler and (cinematographer Harry) Stradling all the way to her personal maid, Gracie." According to some, Harry Stradling threatened to walk off the picture unless Streisand stopped trying to dictate how he should photograph her.

CONTROVERSY

• Streisand and Sharif married at the time, the two began an affair while making Funny Girl that lasted for the duration of the production. "Barbra Streisand, who struck me as being ugly at first," said Sharif, "gradually cast her spell over me. I fell madly in love with her talent and her personality. The feeling was mutual for four months - the time it took to shoot the picture. William Wyler, who knew about the affair, tried to channel their real-life chemistry into their performances.

MORE CONTROVERSY

• Almost immediately Omar Sharif found himself at the center of a controversy that nearly got him replaced in the film. In June the Israeli-Egyptian Six Day War broke out. As Omar Sharif elaborates in his 1976 autobiography, "All the investments in the production were Jewish. The atmosphere of the studio was pro-Israeli and my co-star was Jewish. And I was an Egyptian."Panic gripped the studio over the politics of the situation. Some people wanted Sharif removed from Funny Girl. Others thought that Sharif should issue a public statement condemning Egypt. Producer Ray Stark was ready to break Sharif's contract when William Wyler, who was also Jewish, stepped in as the voice of reason. "We're in America, the land of freedom," he said according to Sharif, "and you're ready to make yourselves guilty of the same things we're against? Not hiring an actor because he's Egyptian is outrageous. If Omar doesn't make the film, I don't make it either!" Sharif kept his job.