Revisiting one of Barbra Paskin's earlier Letters
LETTER FROM HOLLYWOOD for Nick Beck
by Barbra Paskin-Shavua Tov, 22 Apr ‘22
HOLLYWOOD, California--- That beloved musical Singin’ In The Rain celebrates its 70th
anniversary this month. Gene Kelly died in 1996 but his films have continued to entertain
audiences around the world. An artist ahead of his time, he revolutionised the world of dance
on screen with his stunning choreography and created some of the most iconic dance numbers
in American cinema, from Singin In The Rain to An American In Paris.
Gene Kelly (c) Barbra Paskin
And that leads me into a remarkable trip down Memory Lane from the mid-70s before
my move to Los Angeles.
It was a late wintry morning and Gene Kelly and I were ambling along Pimlico Road.
Gene was on the loose at the time. En route to see his daughter in Ireland, he’d been grounded
in London for a few days by an Aer Lingus strike. We’d met a few months earlier in Hollywood
when I’d interviewed him for a book I was writing about actors and now he’d rung me and
suggested lunch, an offer that was warmly welcomed. It was early days in my career and the
charm of the bedsit had given way to the usual pangs of hunger that typically struck by week’s
end.
So there we were, strolling down the road towards a little trattoria I knew at the end of
the street. As we started to cross over to the other side it began spitting with rain, which fast
gave way to a downpour that whipped my umbrella inside out. Barely out of my teens and
normally rather inhibited and well-behaved, something irrepressible suddenly washed over me.
On a whim I grabbed Gene’s hand and began humming, singing and skipping across the road in
front of a London bus that screeched to a crunching halt. I can’t imagine what the passengers
thought, watching the two of us as we splashed about in the deluge, our melodic voices
drowned by the sound of heavy rain.
But I’ll never forget that day when I achieved the rare status of having gone singing in
the rain with Gene Kelly.
There’s another landmark birthday to celebrate when the incomparable Barbra Streisand
turns 80 on Sunday.
The quintessential Jewish actress of our time, she has created some unforgettable
Jewish characters on the screen – from Fanny Brice in Funny Girl and Funny Lady, and Dolly
Levy in Hello Dolly to the Jewish psychiatrist in The Prince of Tides and the girl who disguises
herself as a yeshiva boy in order to study the Talmud in Yentl. She also directed those last two
films, as well as A Star Is Born for which she made the lead role Jewish.
Barbra supports numerous Jewish causes in America and Israel, many in honour of her
father, a scholar and teacher who died when she was just 15 months old. It was a loss she has
always mourned. A longtime friend of Israel, she established the Emanuel Streisand School of
Jewish Studies, named after her father, at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. And she’s been
awarded Israel’s Freedom Medal in recognition of her exceptional service.
When I was writing Dudley Moore’s biography, Barbra broke her rule of keeping a closed
set (especially to the press) and graciously allowed me to accompany him during filming of The
Mirror Has Two Faces which she was directing in New York. And although often described as a
diva, I found her to be kind and inordinately patient with Dudley who had difficulty
remembering his lines. (Though we didn’t know it then, he had begun suffering from a terminal
brain disease and after a few days he had to withdraw from the film.)
Streisand’s next milestone may be the publication of her autobiography, which she’s
been working on for several years, with occasional input from first husband Elliott Gould who
has a photographic memory. One thing’s guaranteed – it’ll be an instant bestseller and make
riveting reading as she reflects back over six decades as an actress, director and musical
performer.
Hope you’ve been having a wonderful summer, and until next time, Shavua tov.