When Barbra Streisand first met now husband James Brolin in 1996, she was shocked by his appearance. The pair were set up by mutual friends on a blind date. James had just cropped his hair short for a role. It was not what Barbra was expecting.
Despite his strange hair, Barbra and James would hit it off. On July 1, 1998, they were married in Barbra’s backyard in Malibu, California. They have been together ever since.
“Who f—ed up your hair?” Barbra asked James when they first met. He had just cropped his hair short for a role. James was not mad at the question and rolled with it. They had a wonderful first evening together.
"I expected a guy with a brown beard and brown, wavy hair, like a mountain man," Barbra explained on a Jimmy Fallon appearance. "And I saw a guy that had all his hair cut off, no beard. And I walked by him. I put my hand through his hair and said, 'Who f—ed up your hair?'" she recalled.
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Barbra was nervous to meet James. Her ex-boyfriend Jon Peters was also attending the same dinner party. "We were set up as a blind date, and I was so shy that I came into the house and I went downstairs to be with the children and play with them until I had to sit down at the table," she confessed. Thankfully, everything worked out.
Barbra was 54 years old when she met 56-year-old James. She had previously been married to actor Elliott Gould, with whom she shares her only biological child, Jason Gould. Barbra dated many successful and powerful men before James, including Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Clint Eastwood.
James was previously married twice. His first wife was wildlife activist and aspiring actress Jane Cameron Agee. They shared two children, actor Josh Brolin and Jess Brolin. Jess sadly died in a car accident in 1995. James was also married to actress Jan Smithers from 1986 to 1995. They share a daughter, Molly Elizabeth.
Barbra and James were so happy to find each no matter what time it was during their life journeys. "I can't tell you how lucky I am that this would happen to me so late in life," James gushed in his wedding speech. "Every night is a new adventure. Sleeping is a waste of time. I can't wait to see her again in the morning."
Barbra and James’ marriage has outlasted many of their Hollywood peers’ relationships. It is no small feat. "By the way, 20 years in Hollywood is like, 50 years in Chicago, I always say," Barbra once joked to Mario Lopez.
James credits patience for their longevity. "I think everybody needs to be a negotiator," he mused. "Everybody needs to have patience and know when to take a walk."
