Barbra Streisand’s remake in 1976 of that Hollywood evergreen (pun intended), A Star Is Born, was an open invitation for the entertainment industry to rake Streisand over the coals for daring to be someone who demanded complete control over her projects. This despite her being the biggest box office star of that era.
The movie was a tremendous hit and resulted in one of the highest-charting singles of the 1970s, the film’s Oscar-winning theme song, 'Evergreen.’
The supposed conflict between Streisand and co-star Kris Kristofferson was fodder for so many snarky, negative headlines… but were those disagreements due to the performers not getting along or because they had honest (albiet passionate) arguments about what would be best for the production?
One of the big press ‘gotchas’ was a surreptitious recording of Kristofferson throwing shade on Barbra Streisand’s working methods. Kris Kristofferson discussed that kerfuffle on a 1980 episode of The Dick Cavett Show.
“Yeah, there were battles,” Kristofferson said. “I think a lot of the reason that that's all they talked about then was that, not only a lot of people gunning for Barbara Streisand, but it's more interesting to write about troubles that you're having on a set than to say, ‘Well, they're real peaceful again today and they got along good.’
“The fights that we had were for the right reasons. I think everybody was trying to protect the integrity of what we were doing. She had a vision of what she wanted the film to be and I had an idea of what I wanted to bring to it and to represent. I felt I was representing people like Janis [Joplin] and Jimmy Hendrix and a lot of the casualties that we were talking about.”
What was Kristofferson’s take on the whole production in hindsight? “I feel nothing but gratitude for the whole experience. In fact, Barbara just called me too. Saying the same thing as Jon [Peters], in effect, good luck and go get them.”
Barbra Streisand & Kris Kristofferson Reunited in 2019:
The Guardian on
A Star Is Born’s
producer, Jon Peters: “Jon Peters, is an extraordinary character. He met Streisand when he was hired as her hairdresser on another movie and not only became her boyfriend but used his relationship with her to make this movie and then go on to become one of the most powerful and divisive men in Hollywood.”
