Barbra Streisand says Yentl co-star Mandy Patinkin made her life ‘miserable’

“There was a moment, a week or so into the shoot, when Mandy and I were doing a scene in the yeshiva,” Streisand recalled. “I think he had two or three lines, but he wouldn’t look me in the eye. He just stared at my forehead.” When she later confronted him about his behaviour, Streisand said: “His face crumpled and he said, ‘I thought we were going to have a more personal relationship.’

“‘What?’ I had no idea what he was talking about,” she continued.

“[He said,] ‘I thought we were going to have an affair.’ I looked at him as if he were crazy . . . 1) I would never have an affair with an actor I was directing, 2) he was married, and 3) I wasn’t at all attracted to him. But I couldn’t tell him he was not exactly fascinating to me. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so I simply said, ‘I don’t operate that way.’ Tears rolled down his cheeks.”

The Funny Girl star said that she threatened to replace the Criminal Minds alum should his “behaviour” continue. “We’re only two weeks in. I can reshoot all your scenes if you can’t be more professional. I’ve waited fifteen years to realise my dream and I will not let you destroy it,’” Streisand wrote.

Barbra vs. Mandy on the next Feud!

Barbra had to beat 'em off with a stick.

Mandy Patinkin making someone miserable? We are shocked!

There’s some pretty hard hitting stuff in her bio. She reproduces a scathing criticism Laurent’s sent her about her first album- and agrees with him, while also acknowledging that it was vicious- he was still smarting over her insistence on doing her Wholesale number from a chair on rollers against his preferred direction.. The number stopped the show every night.

Both Patinkin and Laurents have and had pretty rough reputations. Laurent’s doesn’t have a good thing to say about almost anyone including his West Side Story collaborators- Bernstein, Sondheim and Robbins- not exactly an untalented trio- in his autobio and more or less takes credit for Streisand’s performance in Wholesale. But his book is a dishy guilty pleasure to read.

Let me get this straight. He stared at her forehead because he was disappointed they weren't having an affair, and then he cried?

Whether or not he's a miserable fuck or not, this is the type of shitty shot I take issue with. Yentl was released in '83, so no doubt made around that time. Patinkin married only once, in 1980 and remains married to this day to the same woman. They have children and have never divorced. Why do this now, Mandy? If he was divorced, if his spouse had died, and if they never had been childless, who would care. Why fuck him over NOW? I think it's a real shitty thing to do. She must be a real fuckin' pip of a person. Fuck you Barb.

Mandy was quite determined to present hole on and off camera.

There weren't enough mentions of me in this book.

Because Barbra is such an easy-going prize herself.

R9: "Mandy was quite determined to present hole on and off camera."

The only "hole" this blowhard presents is his BIG MOUTH.

[quote] made her life ‘miserable’

We know.

R8 is SPOT. ON.

Oh, Mandy!

R8 Come on, dude. Why should he be immune from having to answer for this shitty, bizarre behavior? And hasn't he complained about her for years?

Mandy has said his behavior through much of his career was terrible—selfish and nasty. He’s tried to make some kind of amends. She’s not exactly destroying his reputation. He did that all to himself. I’m interested in how shit went down. What exactly does she owe him? Lying about how great he was to work with or lying by omission? Her story is backed up by various members of the Yentl crew. I’m not plowing through 1000 pages hoping she won’t spill any tea or will whitewash shit that went down. I’m interested.

I don't mind her telling a true anecdote in her autobiography. As long as she doesn't mind other people telling true anecdotes about her. Mandy Patinkin is known to be difficult.

R17 - I think 'difficult' is an understatement. Loud, mean, bullying, oversensitive, crybaby is more like it.

Funny enough - I have a friend who worked for his brother in Chicago. He could not stop saying bad stuff about him - just the shittiest behavior you could imagine.

Mandy's wife is also 7 years older than him - I think she's like his mother and keeps his ass in check.

I don't care if he has apologized for his behavior - it went on far too long and HE KNEW he was awful. Fuck off Mandy. You deserve all the hatred you get back in life for causing so much fucking pain and misery on others.

People like this should not be let off the hook. One or 2 apologies does not wipe the slate clean. I believe Barbra fully.

Who under 90 even cares?

Mandy never tried this shit on Amy because he knew what she could do.

[quote]The Funny Girl star said that she threatened to replace the Criminal Minds alum should his “behaviour” continue. “We’re only two weeks in. I can reshoot all your scenes if you can’t be more professional. I’ve waited fifteen years to realise my dream and I will not let you destroy it,’” Streisand wrote.

Yas queen.

I was surprised how Barbra skirted over Mengers in the book too. She is right about the poster for Sue's husband's movie "All Night Long" being stupid (although I kind of liked that movie); she compares it to the equally stupid poster for "Up the Sandbox."

You think Mandy's wife was not aware of his affairs, r8?

Another reason for Patti LuPone to dislike her.

Oh Mandy!

I'm not a fan but her interview on Stern was GREAT. It was obvious she enjoyed speaking to him. They talked for an hour later that day. Too bad his parents weren't able to hear it.

Does Babs mention anyone making her life delightful, apart from herself?

R26 OMG, I only just discovered this show and am loving it.

I had the misfortune of working at a big event several years in a row in which Mandy Patinkin took part. I can confirm he was truly horrid - lots of big celebrities and he was the worst, by far.

R28, yes- and they outnumber the creeps 10 to 1.

Why does everyone feel the need to write a book now that makes other people look really bad? Yentl was in the past. What an awful thing to do to Mandy.

Mandy Patinkin is a name I've always hated.

Everyone remembers the very sweet and positive videos Mandy did during the pandemic and forgot what a total DEFCONTurbo level cunt he was for 40 years before that.

What makes anyone think Patinkin’s wife doesn’t know all about his failures and poor behavior? The long marriage is proof that they both hung in despite storms and disagreements. I’m sure she knows he can be an asshole. She happens to love a guy who’s an asshole.

And Streisand doesn’t skirt over Sue Mengers at all. She is very clear about the fact that though Mengers handled her career at a certain point that she never really trusted her. She heard her cozying up to other clients on the phone only to trash-talk them later.

The book is a very good read, fascinating about a changing show busness world, transitioning from the ‘60s into the ‘70s in the parts I’m up to. Yes, it’s solipsistic, it’s just her point of view, but she kept her eyes and ears open and it’s fun to read.

[quote]I’ve waited fifteen years to realise my dream and I will not let you destroy it,’” Streisand wrote.

MARY!

R19, was that Sheldon Patinkin, Mandy's cousin? I didn't realize they were related. I don't know that much about MP anyway and am only relying on Wikipedia, which doesn't mention siblings.

I knew someone who worked on "Chicago Hope," and when her parents visited the set, Patinkin told them "We all love your baby." From that, I assumed he was a nice guy. I've since learned otherwise! Thanks, DL.

So according to Babs, leading men were just THROWING themselves at her, when both history and numerous biographies of "La Streisand" have claimed in fact that SHE liked to bed her co-stars. And pouted when they would NOT. (Go ask Redford).

Now she wants us to believe one of the most Notoriously Difficult, Curmudgeonly, Openly-Abusive-to-others Patinkin was blowing her kisses??

LMFAO!!!!!

R8, is she responsible for protecting him from his own behavior? Or his wife’s choice to marry & stay with him? Why does she owe him silence?

Kathryn Grody's seminal acting moment was her guest-starring spot on Kate and Allie where she played Kate's jet-set friend who treated Allie like trash! Her performance as the city councilwoman and mother of a teenage Zach Braff's character, the love interest of Dawn on the syndicated (or direct to video) televised version the YA book series The Babysitter's Club was also a triumph!

Kathryn wanted to play Hadass, but Mandy talked her out of it.

I am guessing Barbra is smart enough to warn Mandy in advance what was in the book about him. Probably checked in with him when she was writing to say this is what she would be saying about him. Most of the other people she bashes are dead so no problem there.

r42 Why on earth "smart enough to warn Mandy in advance"

Why would she? Why should she "warn him?"

Did he get along with Claire Danes on Homeland? I thought he was terrific in that.

Mandy interview on Rosie talks about Yentl.

He goes to her house and the first thing he does is shit in her toilet. Classy.

The Mandy and Toni Collette Wild Party

In the new musical “The Wild Party,” Mandy Patinkin gives an intense and frightening performance as Burrs, a gin-swilling, psychotic vaudeville clown who beats his girlfriend. But for many of his fellow cast members, Patinkin’s performance has at times been a little too intense, a little too frightening and a little too real. Cast members say that during previews, the actor has ad-libbed bits of physical and verbal abuse, including smacking people in the head, shoving them, spitting water in their faces and making offensive remarks to them under his breath. He has also been prone to strange emotional outbursts – at one point holing up in his dressing room and sobbing uncontrollably for four hours because he was unhappy with the show’s lighting. The actors say they were never sure what Patikin was going to do to them on stage. One said they “walked around like we were wearing lead underwear for protection.” Patinkin’s co-star Toni Collette got so fed up with his antics that she decided to get even. During the performance last Friday night, she crept up on him from behind and gave him a “retaliatory shove,” according to a cast member. After the performance, a furious Patinkin said he was quitting “The Wild Party.” He did not show up for the Saturday matinee, prompting the producers to threaten him with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, production sources said. The threat worked: Fifteen minutes before the Saturday night performance, just as his understudy was preparing to go on stage, Patinkin walked through the stage door and did the show. One of Broadway’s biggest stars, Patinkin has long had a reputation for being difficult. Even he concedes he can be flaky. At the start of rehearsals for “The Wild Party,” he told cast members that “Mandy” is short for Mandel, which in Yiddish means “nut.” “And that’s what I am, a nut,” one performer quoted him as saying. How nutty soon became abundantly clear, according to cast members. During one preview, Patinkin smacked two male actors in the head and then kissed them violently on the mouth – two actions that were not part of director George C. Wolfe’s staging. Another time, while sitting at the bar on stage, he took a swig of water and then spit it out in an actress’ face. The spitting had never been rehearsed or discussed, so the actress was caught off guard. Patinkin clashed with Collette early on in rehearsals. While working on an intense scene in which she holds a knife to his heart and threatens to kill him, he decided that instead of singing a tender song to her, he would turn to the audience and sing it to them. A frustrated Collette finally yelled: “I’m holding a knife to your heart and I am going to kill you! Why are you singing to the audience?” When Patinkin refused to look at her, she threw down the knife and walked out of the rehearsal room. “You never know what he is going to do,” said a cast member. “Sometimes he’s nice and contrite about something he did the night before. Other times he’s seething, and you have to watch out.” Patinkin’s defenders say his outbursts and ad libs are part of his creative process, and that each time he has gone too far with another performer, Wolfe has spoken to him and the incident has not been repeated.

The next memoir I want to read is "My Name is Mandy."

48 replies and no one said Avigdor wait yet? What's happening to DL.

Barbra told us, "Stop already with the 'Avigdor, wait!' It's triggering memories of the time my 15-year dream was almost killed by an unattractive, horned-up actor!"

Oh please.

Who would cry over not getting to make whoopie with Streisand?

I only sort of know who Mandy Patinkin is because my mother had an intense crush on him. She had a boombox (this was in the early 2000's) in her bedroom and she would play cassette tapes of him singing. I'm old enough to have seen Yentl or whatever, but I just didn't, so had no idea who he was.

Flash forward to the pandemic and Mandy's son started posting all these cute TikTok's of Mandy and his wife, blah blah blah -- I don't care. But recently, I googled "young Mandy Patinkin" and it turns out the bitch was smoking hot when he was young. I kind of have to ask how he ended up with the homely wife, and whether he cheated on her. I guess Babs answers that question for us.

R45 I see why he was never A list despite his acting. He comes across like a Midwestern guy you'd meet at Costco excited coupons and 4th of July pretzels.

Shit, maybe he really did cry.

Are there any stories about his behaviour during Evita, Sunday in the Park, etc?

He has always seemed like an insufferable dick. So has Patty LuPone.

Patinkin has always been known to be a pain in the ass

That Wild Party story is unbelievable. JFC.

Someone said they saw him in concert recently and his singing voice had all but gone. I guess God wanted it back.

NYT article

Babs just reiterated on Colbert what a nightmare he was…😬

Is there a thread for the Colbert interview?

[QUOTE]Burrs, a gin-swilling, psychotic vaudeville clown who beats his girlfriend.

Good God, who would want to watch a musical about this?

R45 Thanks for posting this. It reminds me of how much I loved Rosie's show back in the day.

I hope they have an emotional reunion on The View next year: Mandy bursts into tears and apologizes by singing "Memories," then Barbra wipes away a glycerin tear with a sharp, 4-inch, bloodred fingernail, starts to harmonize, and joins him on the line "Too painful to remember," while Joy says, "It was Barbra Walters' dying wish that you two would some day reconnect and sing on her show: Today she is finally watching her dream come true, from Heaven!"

Some of the Colbert

[Quote]Barbra had to beat 'em off with a stick.

Well, I'm glad the ugly stick she was hit with got used more than once.

She told Stephen Colbert she didn't warn Mandy about what is in her book about him.

He makes me miserable just watching a few seconds of any performance. I have zero affection for Streisand, but the two of them might be their own beat punishments - had either of them a shred of perspective.

I recall from years ago, from a piece in the Village Voice maybe, a report that Patinkin had had an unhappy ending with a team of general contractors who did some work. He tried to take out a newspaper advertisement to embarrass the contractor but was told he could not for legal reasons. Instead he took out an add to the effect: "Mandy Patinkin Cannot Recommend the Work of ABC Contractors."

Echoing R54, how was he to Bernadette?

[quote]Good God, who would want to watch a musical about this?

Not enough, r61, it closed after 68 performances.

I don't know the business, but why did she hire him? She had no knowledge of him or his history? Only to learn everything in the first week of production?

Secondary question - his bad reputation is legion. Why does he get hired for anything? It's not as if he is such a phenomenal actor that no one else could ever play his parts. Why does anyone choose to put up with his behavior?

Patinkin is the reason I can't sit through Yentl anymore. I loved the movie when it came out: the music, the lyrics, production design, photography, the cast and of course, Barbra. I loved all of it. But there's something about him that just puts me off.

Do you think Babs still holds grudges against Phyllis Newman and Carol Channing for beating her at the Tonys the two times she was nominated? I mean, they’re both dead, but we are talking about Babs here.

Despite all she told about Mandy in her autobio ,she did put him on the cover of the Yentl 40th Anniversary edition released at the same time even though he does not sing a note on it (& and i´m eternally gratefull for that).

It´s glorious btw.- unreleased demos with just voice and piano, unreleased studio versions and the fabulous end titel suite by Michel Legrand. It´s for free on YouTube)

Yentl made me miserable

Has Mandy ever had an interaction with another human being and not made them miserable?

Has Barbra?

[quote] Both Patinkin and Laurents have and had pretty rough reputations. Laurent’s doesn’t have a good thing to say about almost anyone including his West Side Story collaborators- Bernstein, Sondheim and Robbins- not exactly an untalented trio- in his autobio and more or less takes credit for Streisand’s performance in Wholesale. But his book is a dishy guilty pleasure to read.

In her memoir that was released last year, Shy, the late Mary Rodgers repeatedly calls Laurents "the worst person in the world." She conveys her disdain for Barbara Barrie by calling her "the female Arthur Laurents."

You cannot be serious, R72. Newman and Channing are not the villains, those who voted for them are.

[quote] Newman and Channing are not the villains, those who voted for them are.

They're "the villains"???

[italic]MARY.[/italic]

I'm not sure what to think of Mandy. I've told this story before but in the mid oughts I had to work with him for several months and was terrified when I found out and expected the worst. Quite the contrary, he was gracious, cooperative and always followed up on my emails and requests. I attended several events with him and his wife and it was just fine. I even helped him get his Mac computer set up even though that was not my job in the least, just a friendly gesture on my part when he mentioned he was having a problem. So that's my experience with Mandy for what it's worth. He even sent me a hand written note of thanks and said "God Bless" at the end of it. Not sure if it's well known but he did have a lot of serious health problems too.

R78. I agree. And, while it’s easy to look back from half a century later and make such judgements, it’s useful to recall that Channing was in a much better show, at least in terms of book (I love Herman’s music myself), based on a play by a three-time Pulitzer winner, a character both hilarious and touching, sometimes in the same speech or song, performed by a veteran actress with more depth and versatility than often given credit for. In the case of Newman, while I was too young to see it, I’ve always heard Newman had the kind of role and gave the kind of performance featured performance category was made for. I love Streisand’s “Miss Marmelstein” number on the OCR, but it’s hard to know how adept her acting was otherwise. Even in 1968, it was clear that Streisand was still learning to act.

Patinkin did a Yiddish CD some years ago. Found it in my late Mum's collection - she's not even Yiddish. But many of her friends were and Mum probably liked his voice and thought he was hot. I got as far as "take me out to the ball game."

As a gayling, the eyes, the curls, the chest hair, the ass... they Yentled me.

If Lainie Kazan had originated the role, she would have won the Tony.

Mandy has a lifelong long history of being an asshole in professional settings. It's strange that his career had any real longevity.

Avigdor, WAIT!

"Oh, that Yentl! She puts the 'she' into 'yeshiva'!"

Phyllis Newman was in the audience for Barbras One Night Only at the Village Vanguard in 2009. She get´s a shout out in the intro to this song which her husband Adolph Green wrote the lyrics for.

and yes the Tony gets mentioned.

[quote]she's not even Yiddish.

:D

Arthur Laurents was writing a film script in the early '70s for Barbra in which she would be teaching disabled children to sing in Brooklyn Heights: “The Sound of Music” meets “The Miracle Worker.” He shelved the project when he decided to write The Way We Were instead.

^ GOOD

R90 I don't think Laurents was ever seriously writing that script. The idea came from producer Ray Stark but I think everyone else saw it as a cynical redo of the elements of past successful films.

R90 's description of the 70s Laurents/ Barbara screenplay sounds a bit like "A Child is Waiting".

If only they had made it - imaging a children’s chorus of a dozen young Lou Ferrignos!

R85 exactly.

Babs is no picnic in the park but Mandy was an abusive asshole to so many, and not due to the neurosis or perfectionism that Streisand has.

[quote]Good God, who would want to watch a musical about this?

There were two different musicals based on The Wild Party.

Apparently, Mandy and Patti LuPone get along very well. Maybe they feed each other’s victimhood.

Or maybe she keeps him in check by threatening to pull out her baps.

The irony of the woman who treats everyone around her like shit is crying because someone made her feel bad.