Trivia for
Funny Lady (1975) More at IMDbPro »

• Producer Ray Stark was forced to sue Barbra Streisand to make this movie after she refused; Streisand had only one film left on her contract with him. Reportedly, upon completion of filming, she presented him with a mirror on which she'd written in lipstick, "Paid in full".
  
  
• The book "Barbra: The Second Decade" features stills from a number of scenes cut from the final film; these include: more/longer scenes with Ben Vereen and scenes of her as Fanny Brice's popular "Baby Snooks" radio character a dramatic scene with Brice and her very young daughter
  
  
• After the scene of Brice doing her radio show, there is a shot supposedly of the NBC building in Los Angeles. The building shown is actually the redressed Pan Pacific Auditorium which, while of the correct period, looks nothing like the actually NBC building. The Pan Pacific Auditorium was used in Xanadu (1980) as the nightclub opened at the end of the picture.
  
  
• Producer Ray Stark was unhappy with the work of the original cinematographer and begged ailing 75-year old James Wong Howe to come out of retirement to shoot the picture. It was the last film he ever worked on.
  
  
• Barbra Streisand was considering Robert Blake for the role of Billy Rose, whom he resembled more than the actor who eventually played him in the film, James Caan. Streisand had Blake come to her house and read the script with her. After the read-through, an impressed Streisand asked Blake if he's like to do the part. "I just did," said Blake, miffed that he had been made to audition. He walked out of Streisand house, and the role was given to Caan.
  
  
• Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond was originally hired as director of photography, but after executives watched the dailies of the musical number "Great Day", they agreed Zsigmond's lighting style (modeled after musical theatre in the 1930s) was too dark and he was fired. Director Herbert Ross objected, and star Barbra Streisand was surprised by Zsigmond's dismissal. James Wong Howe was coaxed out of his retirement to shoot the film, but midway through he fell ill and was absent for 10 days. In the interim, cinematographer Ernest Laszlo was called in; Laszlo's work included the Aquacade sequence filmed near the USC campus. Aerial photographer Nelson Tyler assisted in the "Let's Hear It for Me" number filmed at Santa Monica's airport.
  
  
• Barbra Streisand did not want James Caan to douse her with the talcum powder. She feared the powder was toxic and, when breathed in, would coat her lungs. Caan agreed to hold back, but when cameras were rolling he hit her with it anyway. The scene was only filmed once, and both stars got a big laugh of it.
  
  
• For reason's unknown, the water revue known in real life as "Billy Rose's Aquacade" is called "Billy Rose's Aquaville" in the film.
  
  
• The scene where Fanny's character is in the train station was filmed in the old Oakland Central Station in downtown Oakland, California, which at the time of filming, was still in use by Amtrak and still looked remarkably like it did in the 40's. The Central Station was shut down after sustaining damage during the the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, although the building still stands and can be enjoyed from the exterior for its Beaux-Arts architectural styling, and glimpses of what is left of the inside splendor can still be had by looking through the windows.
  
  

Related Links