Barbra Streisand celebrated another milestone in her legendary career on Saturday, receiving the Life Achievement Award at the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards.
The 81-year-old iconic actress, director and performer was presented with her award by Jennifer Aniston, who praised Streisand as an inspiration and an icon.
“Barbra, that’s all you have to say and you know,” Aniston said. “That face, that voice, that talent.”
The Friends actress honored the Funny Girl lead for her impact on not only film, television and the stage, but the changes she has helped make in the world as an activist.
“Barbra did not just pave the way for us women, she bulldozed it,” Aniston said Saturday night.
In a surprise move, Bradley Cooper — another actor-turned-director like Streisand — also joined in on the celebration, discussing how his own career has been impacted by Streisand. Cooper directed the remake of A Star Is Born, the movie Streisand starred in earlier on in her career.
“As an actor, Barbra is so completely natural,” Cooper said. “She never just sings a song, she tells a story.”
Finally, Streisand took the stage to accept the award, choking back tears from behind a podium as she received a nearly two-minute standing ovation from the crowd, including a teary-eyed Anne Hathaway who looked on in admiration from the audience.
“This is such a wonderful award to get because you know in advance you’re going to get it,” she joked. “If you don’t get it, you have to put on such a happy face.”
“Thank you SAG-AFTRA, I’m very proud to be a member for over 60 years, I can’t quite believe it,” Streisand added.
Before leaving the stage, Streisand recounted the story from a recent film she and her husband, James Brolin, recently watched that made a profound impact on her and left her with a feeling she had felt once before, many decades ago.
“It reminded me all over again how much I love film, and why we all strive to make the best movies we can,” Streisand told the audience. “So many people who have done that are sitting right here tonight in this room. So once again, I would like to thank SAG-AFTRA for this fabulous honor, and to say to my fellow actors and directors, I’ve loved working with you, playing with you and inhabiting that magical world of the movies with you.”
“And most of all, I want to thank you for giving me so much joy just watching all of you on the screen. Thank you for that,” The Way We Were star concluded.
It’s been an impressive career so far for Streisand, who released her long-awaited memoir, My Name Is Barbra, on Nov. 7, sharing her story in her own words. The legendary entertainer is one of only a handful of stars who can claim EGOT status, having won an Emmy, GRAMMY, Oscar and a Tony throughout her six decades in the spotlight.
The Funny Girl star is the 21st woman to win SAG’s Life Achievement Award since the union handed out the first to Eddie Cantor in 1962.
She celebrated the achievement in an Instagram post in December, writing, “I’m so honored to be chosen to receive this prestigious award.”
“Ever since I was a young girl sitting in the Loew’s Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, I dreamed of being one of those actresses I saw on the screen,” Streisand later added in a statement. “The movies were a portal to a world I could only imagine. Even though I was an unlikely candidate, somehow my dream came true. This award is especially meaningful to me because it comes from my fellow actors, whom I so admire.”
The notoriously private performer opened up about the honor in an interview with the L.A. Times this week — admitting that she agreed to attend this year’s SAG Awards because she knew she was already a winner — and shared the moment she knew she had to become an actress.
“It was when I first saw Marlon Brando when I was 13. I had to become an actress, there was no turning back,” she recalled. “Acting has to be a passion that you can’t ignore. It’s like a calling. If it’s just a simple decision like between one career and another, forget it. You have to be strong enough to take the kind of rejection actors get.”
The 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards is on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET and is streaming live on Netflix from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles. Follow along at ETonline.com for full coverage from the awards show, including red carpet arrivals, the complete winners list and more.
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