Barbra Streisand is getting real about many of her iconic career moments in her new memoir My Name Is Barbra. One of these is the hit 1969 film Hello Dolly! The film was directed by one of Barbra’s heroes, Gene Kelly, and costarred Walter Matthau. Barbra’s experience working with the two was less than ideal.
It’s hard to imagine now but Barbra was relatively unknown at the time. She did not have the experience and gusto to stand up for herself. She would learn that later in her career.
Barbra looked up to legendary dancer Gene Kelly. She even admits to having a childhood celebrity crush on him. Working with him was another story and not easy. She felt like she did not receive proper direction from him on the movie, but also shares she later found out that he felt the project was too rushed.
"I was disappointed when the reality of the man didn’t live up to the fantasy I had from watching him on‑screen," Barbra wrote.
Barbra also recalls a time Gene mistreated a dancer in the ensemble of the film. "One day he was so rude to a female dancer that I asked him privately, 'Why were you so mean to her?' And he basically laughed it off and said, 'Yeah, I was pretty tough on her, but that’s okay. I used to yell like that at another dancer, and she became my wife,'" she wrote.
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Barbra’s costar and on-camera romantic lead, Walter Matthau, was also difficult to work with. "I don’t think I’m paranoid, but I felt as if Gene and Walter [Matthau] had an attitude toward me, and it was not positive … especially on Walter’s part," Barbra wrote. "In fact, he was overtly hostile, and I couldn’t figure out why."
Barbra, who is now known as being a strong woman who is not afraid to stand up for herself and others, had not quite come into herself yet on the set of Hello Dolly! This was only her second film. Funny Girl had yet to be released so she did not have the star power she has today. Walter did not take kindly to her wanting to try things on set and got especially upset when her ideas worked.
Barbra recalled one time Walter got angry when she made the crew laugh during a take. "He closed his eyes and yelled, 'Who the hell does she think she is? I’ve been in this business thirty years, and this is only her second movie … the first one hasn’t even come out yet … and now she’s directing?'" she wrote.
Walter then took out his frustration on Barbra. "And then he looked at me with pure venom and said, 'You may be the singer in this picture, but I’m the actor! I have more talent in my farts than you have in your whole body!'" she wrote. She was “stunned” at this and did not know what to do.
"I had no defense," she continued. "I had no words. I just stood there and was so humiliated that I ran off the set, crying. I’m not proud of that. I wish I could have answered him back. But I never want to be mean or malicious. That’s not who I am. I want to be strong, not unkind."
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Barbra did feel like she had one ally on her side during the filming of Hello Dolly! She trusted and respected co-screenwriter and producer Ernest Lehman. She was thankful for his involvement in the project, which would go on to win three Academy Awards.
