Barbra Streisand Was ‘Disappointed’ When She Worked With ‘Rude’ Gene Kelly

Barbra Streisand was "disappointed" with Gene Kelly when she got to work with him.

The 81-year-old singer was directed by the late Singin' in the Rain actor, who died in 1996 at the age of 83, in the 1969 movie-musical Hello Dolly but claimed that he didn't "live up to her fantasy" and confronted him after she watched him being "rude" to a dancer on set.

Writing in her new memoir My Name is Barbra, she said: "I was disappointed when the reality of the man didn’t live up to the fantasy I had from watching him on‑screen. One day he was so rude to a female dancer that I asked him privately, 'Why were you so mean to her?' And he basically laughed it off and said, 'Yeah, I was pretty tough on her, but that’s okay. I used to yell like that at another dancer, and she became my wife.'"

The Yentl star appeared alongside Walter Matthau in the film and also alleged that the late actor, who died in 2000 at the age of 79, had yelled at her on set and now wishes she could have stood up for herself.

She added: "I don’t think I’m paranoid, but I felt as if Gene and Walter [Matthau] had an attitude toward me, and it was not positive . . . especially on Walter’s part. In fact, he was overtly hostile, and I couldn’t figure out why.

"He closed his eyes and yelled, 'Who the hell does she think she is? I’ve been in this business 30 years, and this is only her second movie . . . the first one hasn’t even come out yet . . . and now she’s directing?' And then he looked at me with pure venom and said, 'You may be the singer in this picture, but I’m the actor! I have more talent in my farts than you have in your whole body!'

"I wish I could have answered him back. But I never want to be mean or malicious. That’s not who I am. I want to be strong, not unkind."