Icons: April 2007 Archives

Barbra Streisand is 65 today. What a woman. On the drive to the newsroom today, I thought about all the movies and music I have enjoyed over the years that have come from this entertainment legend with such enormous talent. I remember watching "Funny Girl" on television when I was a kid and getting goose bumps when she sang "My Man." Then seeing "A Star Is Born" and buying the soundtrack and listening to it over and over again. "The Way We Were" was not something that showed up on my radar until a good 10 years after it was released but once I REALLY watched it and understood it, I realized it was the best dramatic performance Streisand has ever given. And "Yentl," which she directed, produced and starred in, was a tour de force I don't see anyone ever equalling.
But film work has only been part of it and Streisand has only made three movies in the last 16 years. But she's always made music and so much of it is in my CD collection. My faves: "The Broadway Album," "Back to Broadway," "Guilty," "Superman" and various concert recordings and greatest hits compilations. But those memories are mostly those of a gay kid just spellbound by this superstar. After becoming a professional journalist, I got a couple of opportunities to see Streisand in person. The first was in 1995 when she was touring for the first time in decades. I was a reporter in the Anaheim bureau of the Los Angeles Times and was assigned to go to Streisand's show at the Anaheim Pond. I didn't have to write anything, just had to be there in case she said something controversial or a light fell on her head or something. I'll never forget the show. It was perfection.
Then, six years later, I was sent by The Hollywood Reporter to cover the American Film Institute's tribute to Streisand. I invited my friend Frank Groff because I knew he would love it more than anyone i knew. We were seated three tables away from Streisand, her husband, James Brolin, and her son Jason Gould. Sly Stallone was one table away and Frank and I could not believe that on the way in, we had seen Lauren Bacall, Faye Dunaway, Pierce Brosnan and others. Frank kept excusing himself to get a drink or go to the men's room but what he really kept doing was walking by Streisand's table to stare at her. Oh great, I brought a stalker to the AFI tribute. But it was great to share the evening with someone who had some of the same feelings about Streisand as I did...and do.

She is like buttah. Check back this afternoon for my tribute to this funny girl...

Time flies! This month marks the 10th anniversary since Ellen DeGeneres came out - along with her television sitcom character Ellen Morgan.
Whatever happened to that Ellen anyway? Ha!
DeGeneres appeared on the April 14, 1997, cover of Time magazine with the headline, "Yep, I'm Gay." Her onscreen character would come out during the April 30, 1997, episode ("The Puppy Episode") of the ABC sitcom "Ellen."
Says GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano: "Ellen coming out ten years ago kicked off a tremendous decade of visibility for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,". "Ellen opened the closet door for shows like Will & Grace, The L Word and Ugly Betty to succeed, and for other out performers to live their lives openly and honestly. We know that with this kind of visibility comes understanding and acceptance."
While anti-gay activists launched their own campaign to keep the episode from airing, only one affiliate, ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Ala., refused to show the historic episode. GLAAD worked with Birmingham Pride Alabama to help 3,000 local fans see the banned telecast via satellite. Ultimately, 42 million people tuned in to "The Puppy Episode," making it the most-watched program of the week -- and ABC's most-watched program of the season. The episode went on to win an Emmy® for Outstanding Writing and a Peabody Award, and the series was awarded a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Comedy Series.
GLAAD says that DeGeneres' courage to come out in such a public forum has undoubtedly helped countless people come out as well to live open and honest lives. Grey's Anatomy actor T.R. Knight appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show as a guest on January 17, 2007. He talked about his own experience in coming out, crediting DeGeneres for paving the way for others like him to come out as well.
To mark the 10th anniversary of Ellen's historic "The Puppy Episode," the Oxygen network will air an Ellen marathon on April 30, 2007 from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET/PT, re-airing the two-part historic episode at 1:00 p.m. ET/PT, ten years to the day it originally aired.