Funny Girl | |
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Post-Oscar release poster
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Directed by | William Wyler |
Produced by | Ray Stark |
Written by | Isobel Lennart |
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Funny Girl 1964 musical by Isobel Lennart Jule Styne Bob Merrill |
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Music by |
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Cinematography | Harry Stradling, Sr. |
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Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $14.1 million |
Box office | $58.5 million |
Funny Girl is a 1968 American biographical romantic musical comedy-drama film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Isobel Lennart was adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title. It is loosely based on the life and career of Broadway and film star and comedian Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.
Produced by Brice's son-in-law, Ray Stark, with music and lyrics by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, the film stars Barbra Streisand (reprising her Broadway role) as Brice and Omar Sharif as Arnstein, with a supporting cast featuring Kay Medford, Anne Francis, Walter Pidgeon, Lee Allen, and Mae Questel.
Streisand won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, tying with Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter). In 2006, the American Film Institute ranked the film #16 on its list commemorating AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals. Previously it had ranked the film #41 in its 2002 list of 100 Years ... 100 Passions, the songs "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade" at #13 and #46, respectively, in its 2004 list of 100 Years ... 100 Songs, and the line "Hello, gorgeous" at #81 in its 2005 list of 100 Years ... 100 Movie Quotes. Funny Girl is considered one of the greatest musical films ever.