SAG Life Achievement Award Winner Barbra Streisand Says, “It’s Really a Privilege to Be Part of This Profession” She saw Marlon Brando in “Guys and Dolls” when she was thirteen, and that was all.
In a heartfelt and intimate speech, Barbra Streisand accepted the Life Achievement Award at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, February 24. Her enthusiasm for cinema began as a means of escaping a dull Brooklyn background, and she spoke about this love affair for 70 years. The 30th annual SAG Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, where presenter Jennifer Aniston informed us that Streisand gave her first major concert performance in 1963. The award was the star of the show. The fact that Streisand received three Grammy Awards at the Shrine in the 1970s and 1980s went unmentioned. Bradley Cooper assisted at award presentation as well.
“As a teenager, sitting in my Brooklyn bed with a pint of coffee ice cream and a movie magazine, I remember dreaming of being an actress,” Streisand recalled. “I used to go to the Astor Theater, which is next door to Erasmus High School, sometimes after school to watch foreign films in black and white.
And then, on a Saturday, I still clearly recall going to the Loew’s theater, purchasing a 25-cent ticket, and entering the middle of Guys and Dolls. Everything seemed so exquisite on that screen, including the scenery and colors, in contrast to our flat, where my mother had covered everything in plastic. Then I saw Marlon Brando, the most gorgeous actor. I was first taken aback by it. I wanted to be the person he fell in love with, not Jean Simmons, because he was so genuine and believable. That fantasy world was far more enjoyable than anything I was going through.
