March 26, 1964: The musical Funny Girl premieres at the Winter Garden Theatre, at 1634 Broadway, off 50th Street. Barbra Streisand stars as World War I-era comedienne Fanny Brice, and would again in the 1968 film version.
Fania Borach was born in 1891 in Manhattan, to an Alsatian father and a Hungarian mother, both Jewish. She started in burlesque in 1908, and began headlining Florenz Ziegfeld's Ziegfeld Follies in 1910, sticking with them into the 1930s. In the Ziegfeld Follies of 1921, she sang the songs with which she's most identified: "My Man" and "Second Hand Rose." She became, as the old saying goes, "star of stage, screen and radio." She married 3 times: Briefly to a barber named Frank White, from 1918 to 1927 to professional gambler Julius "Nicky" Arnstein, and from 1929 to 1938 to theater producer Billy Rose. She starred in both stage and film musicals produced by Rose.
Fanny had 2 children, both with Arnstein: Daughter Frances and son William. The son became an artist, calling himself William Brice. Frances married film producer Ray Stark, who went on to produce the musical Funny Girl, based on his mother-in-law's life. Bob Merrill (not to be confused with opera singer Robert Merrill) and Jule Styne wrote it, including the song for which Babwa Joan would be most remembered: "People." As in, "People, people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world."
Sydney Chaplin, son of Charlie Chaplin and his 2nd wife, Lita Grey, played Nicky Arnstein in the musical. Roger DeKoven played Flo Ziegfeld. Jean Stapleton, later to play Edith Bunker on All in the Family, played Mrs. Strakosh. The musical was nominated for 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actress for Streisand, Best Actor for Chaplin, and Best Producer for Stark -- but won none of them.
William Wyler directed the film version, premiering on September 18, 1968. Streisand reprised her role, Omar Sharif played Nicky, and Walter Pidgeon played Ziegfeld. Sharif, an Egyptian Muslim, caught a lot of flack for doing a love scene with the Jewish Streisand, especially since the Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors, including Egypt, broke out during filming. When Sharif told Streisand there was even a movement to revoke his Egyptian citizenship, she said, "You think Cairo got upset? You should see the letter I got from my Aunt Rose!"
The film was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including for Stark for Best Picture. This time, it won 1. Or, rather, for the only time in "Oscar" history, there was a tie vote for Best Actress: Streisand, and Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter. Presented with the statuette at the ceremony, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles on April 14, 1969, Streisand looked at it, and gave it the film's first line: "Hello, gorgeous!" (Oliver!, the musical based on Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, won Best Picture.)
In 1975, a sequel, also produced by Stark, Funny Lady, premiered. Streisand again played Fanny, and James Caan played Billy Rose.
Fanny Brice died in 1951, well before the musical was staged. Nicky Arnstein and Billy Rose lived long enough to see the musical, but not the film, dying in 1965 and 1966, respectively. William Wyler died in 1981, Walter Pidgeon in 1984, Frances Stark in 1992, Ray Stark in 2004, William Brice in 2008, Sydney Chaplin in 2009, and Omar Sharif in 2015.
The Winter Garden Theatre still stands. It staged the Ziegfeld Follies in 1934, 1936, 1943 and 1957. It also staged the original productions of Wonderful Town in 1953, Peter Pan in 1954, Bus Stop in 1956, West Side Story in 1957, The Unsinkable Molly Brown in 1960, Mame in 1966, Purlie in 1970, Follies in 1971, Beatlemania in 1977, 42nd Street in 1980, and Mamma Mia! in 2001. From 1982 to 2000, it staged Cats. And it's hosted musical versions of Rocky in 2014, School of Rock in 2015, and Beetlejuice in 2019. For 2023, it is planned for a staging of Back to the Future: The Musical.
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March 26, 1964 was a Thursday. This was also the day of the only face-to-face meeting between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. I have a separate entry for that event.
Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. No games were scheduled in the NBA. There were 2 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-0 at the Montreal Forum. And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 at the Chicago Stadium. However, the the Leafs and the Wings would both bounce back, and would face each other in the Finals, where the Leafs would win.
