Barbra Streisand Reveals How Yentl Co-Star Mandy Patinkin Affected Her Life

Barbra Streisand has disclosed that her co-star Mandy Patinkin created a tumultuous environment during the filming of the 1983 musical rom-com Yentl.

The two actors led Streisand’s directorial debut, portraying students who meet at a yeshiva after Yentl (Streisand) disguises herself as a boy and falls in love with Avigdor (Patinkin), who is already engaged.

In her memoir, My Name is Barbra, Streisand revealed that Patinkin, who was married, approached her for an affair, which made her uncomfortable on set.

“There was a moment, a week or so into the shoot, when Mandy and I were doing a scene in the yeshiva,” Streisand recalled. “I think he had two or three lines, but he wouldn’t look me in the eye. He just stared at my forehead.”

After confronting Patinkin about his behavior, Streisand said he confessed his belief in having a personal relationship with her. She expressed her discomfort and threatened to replace him if his behavior persisted.

Streisand also reflected on her decision to change a scene in response to Patinkin’s behavior and admitted that she may have let her frustration influence her artistic judgment.

The Independent has reached out to Patinkin’s representative for comment.

Patinkin has been married to fellow actor Kathryn Grody since 1980. Streisand, meanwhile, married Oceans Eleven star Elliott Gould in 1963 before they divorced in 1971. She then remarried to actor James Brolin in 1998.

In an interview with the BBC, ahead of the release of her nearly 1,000-page memoir, she admitted that she hasn’t had “much fun in her life”.

“I want to live life,” Streisand told the BBC’s music correspondent Mark Savage. “I haven’t had much fun in my life, to tell you the truth. And I want to have more fun.”

My Name is Barbra is out now.