Barbra Streisand has paid tribute to playwright Arthur Laurents, who died on Thursday, May 5, after a battle with pneumonia.
- May 9, 2011
AceShowbiz - The legendary writer/director Arthur Laurents helped launch Barbra Streisand's career by casting her in her first Broadway musical, "I Can Get It for You Wholesale", and he went on to write her hit 1973 movie "The Way We Were".
Most recently, the pair was in discussions to make a big-screen adaptation of "Gypsy" but the project was thrown into jeopardy when co-creator Stephen Sondheim spoke out against making another version of the musical.
Streisand has now shared her memories of her late pal, insisting she will always treasure their time together.
In a statement, she says, "Arthur and I go way back to 'I Can Get It for You Wholesale' in 1962. Then we did 'The Way We Were' in 1973 and we were about to do 'Gypsy' together."
"He created people you care about because he cared about people. I spoke to him a few weeks ago and he sounded so strong, as always. He was lucky to have lived a full and creative life up til the very end. I'll miss working with him again."
