Barbra Streisand revealed that she was once ‘addicted’ to gambling on the stock market.
The Funny Girl star, 81, shared in her memoir, My Name Is Barbra, that between 1998 and 2000 she traded millions of dollars, and even invested in Viagra maker Pfizer, as per The Mirror.
The actress wrote that gambling provided her with a thrill: ‘From about 1998 to 2000, I was trading Monday through Friday, from 6.30am to 1pm. At 6.25am my eyes would open wide, without an alarm.’
‘I’d get up, throw on my bathrobe, sit down at my new desk with a cup of hot chocolate, and start trading. That was a whole new learning experience. I like gambling. Whenever I sang in Las Vegas, I would play blackjack,’ she said.
‘I had to follow the news and pick stocks. I read about this new drug for men called Viagra and thought, “That’s going to be very popular!” It was made by Pfizer, so I immediately bought some shares.’
The New York native – who has won eight Grammy awards over her 60-year career – went on: ‘I chose Apple because I liked their products. [My PA] Renata loves Starbucks coffee, so I bought Starbucks.’
‘One time I picked a stock because it had my initials. It was fun. I was riding the momentum of the market like a rollercoaster, and it was scary and thrilling at the same time.’
She added that being able to do it all from the privacy of her home was a big plus.
‘The main reason I loved it was because it was private. I didn’t have to act or sing. Nobody was looking at me. I could do all my transactions over the phone, in my nightgown.’
Streisand made $1.8m in five months on the stock market, but eventually the singer gave up her hobby when it became too stressful.
‘I’m no longer playing with such big sums. After being burned several times (I lost my shirt, my dress, and my nerve in the 2008 financial meltdown), I decided to stick to bonds.’
Streisand’s autobiography was released at the end of last year.
Following the release of her memoir the star insisted that the book marked the end of her career.
She has candidly opened up about why she has decided to leave showbusiness behind her and told how she just wants to ‘live life’.
Despite the glitz and glamour of fame and winning 10 Grammys, Barbra admitted she hasn’t had ‘much fun’ in her life and wants to have more going forwards.
In what she said will be her last interview, she told the BBC: ‘I want to live life. I want to get in my husband’s truck and just wander, hopefully with the children somewhere near us.
‘Life is fun for me when they come over. They love playing with the dogs and we have fun.
‘I haven’t had much fun in my life, to tell you the truth. And I want to have more fun.’
In her new memoir, Barbra has spoken about some of her famous ex-boyfriends but she confessed that if it had been up to her, she would have left them out.
Speaking to Gayle King on CBS Sunday Morning, she revealed that she was told she had to write about her A-list lovers if she hoped to move copies of her new book.
‘Listen, I didn’t want to write about any of them!’ she said emphatically after King listed her biggest conquests.
‘But you did!’ Gayle pushed back.
She placed the blame for the more salacious material on her editor, recounting: ‘My editor said, “You have to leave some blood on the page”.’
Barbra has previously dated Miami Vice’s Don Johnson, celebrity hairstylist–turned–superstar producer Jon Peters and former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
She was also married to The Long Goodbye star Elliott Gould from 1963 until their 1971 divorce, and she went on to marry her current husband James Brolin in 1998.
Elsewhere in the book Barbra also revealed why she never underwent a nose job – after receiving cruel comments about her looks during her early career in entertainment.
The iconic actress spoke about her looks being likened to ‘an amiable anteater, a sour persimmon, a furious hamster’, and said she feared a nose job would damage her famous voice.
In an excerpt obtained by People, she writes about how she was urged to undergo surgery and ‘cap her teeth’: ‘I thought, Isn’t my talent enough? A nose job would hurt and be expensive. Besides, how could I trust anyone to do exactly what I wanted and no more?’
She added: ‘Besides, I liked long noses… the Italian actress Silvana Mangano had one, and everyone seemed to think she was beautiful.’
