Insults
When Barbra saw movie stars on TV a little later, she knew for sure: that’s what I want too! However, her enthusiasm was quashed by her mother, who said Barbra was “too ugly” and would never be successful. “Because you don’t look like the girls in those movies.” She had to accept that at most she would become a typist, warned her mother, who never complimented Barbra. Yet she did not give up her showbiz dream. During her high school years, Barbra babysat neighbor children and worked in a restaurant to pay for singing and dancing lessons.
Mother is against it
She was nineteen when she started performing in nightclubs, where she was noticed. A year later – in 1962 – she made her musical debut on Broadway in I Can Get It for You Wholesale and signed a recording contract, which immediately led to success. In the meantime, her musical career also took off. Barbra played the leading role in Funny Girl not only in the theater, but also in the later film version. Her mother may have resisted Barbra so much, but she did come to see her. Although even then there was no kind word. ‘When I asked her afterwards what she thought about it, she said gruffly: Your arms are too thin.’
