Barbara Walters' 10th anniversary special featured interviews with Princess Caroline of Monaco, Barbra Streisand, and Priscilla Presley. It was the third time Walters had sat down with Streisand.
After a tour of Streisand's Malibu ranch, including her Art Deco home, Walters showed rare footage of Streisand recording The Broadway Album
in the studio (the footage later became part of an HBO special).
Sitting down in Streisand's living room, Walters asked her how she knew her instincts were right. “Well, that's a complex thing,” Streisand responded. “I am filled with self-doubt, so even though I feel like I'm right, I am very doubtful at the same time. You know, ‘Maybe they're right.’ But it never stops me. It's an internal inner voice that says ‘This feels right.’
Walters:
Are you sometimes wrong? Very wrong?
Streisand:
Sometimes. When I haven't trusted my instincts I've been wrong.
Streisand discussed her tinnitus with Barbara Walters—a ringing in her ears that she's had since childhood. They also talked about the Oscar snub for Barbra's 1983 directing debut, Yentl. “At first I think, well, they just didn't like my work,” Streisand explained. “Then I think, I was kind of amused by it. It doesn't matter to me. The point of it is the film exists, the film was made, the film speaks for itself.”
Walters pressed Streisand about Yentl's Jewish themes maybe being the reason for its snub.
Walters:
Is your being Jewish very important to you?
Streisand:
It's very important for me to be who I am, and I am Jewish. So, I'm proud of that. I'm proud of having that heritage inside me.
The discussion moved next to Streisand's childhood, how she was brought up and how that effected who she is today.
Walters:
Why didn't you have your nose fixed? Everybody must have said to you, Have your nose fixed. How did you know it was going to be right?
Streisand:
Well, first of all, I didn't have the money to have my nose fixed, even if I had thought about it—which I did think about it. But the real reason was that I didn't trust the doctors to make my nose right ... I thought my nose went with my face. You know, it's all a little odd.
Discussing the effects of fame, Streisand explained, “I was a personality before I was a person.”
Streisand looked uncomfortable when Walters brought up Jon Peters.
Walters:
Do you want to be married again? It's been a long time?
Streisand:
Do you?
Walters:
Yes.
Streisand:
You do? I'm not quite sure. I'm not quite sure.
ABC rebroadcast the Streisand interview (slightly edited for length) September 3, 1986, billed as The Barbara Walters Summer Special.
