“This is such a wonderful award to get because you know in advance you’re going to get it. You don’t have to sit there in a squirm… And if you don’t have to put on such a happy face, ‘I’m so happy to lose!’ Anyway, you all know what I mean”, the legend joked, reports ‘Variety’.

Streisand expressed joy, and revealed that she was proud to be a SAG-AFTRA member for over 60 years, “I can’t believe it. I remember dreaming of being an actress as a teenager, sitting in my bed in Brooklyn with a pint of coffee ice cream and a movie magazine”.

As per ‘Variety’, she dedicated her lifetime achievement speech to the actors among her in the auditorium. “And most of all, I want to thank you for giving me so much joy, just watching all of you on the screen”, she said while clapping out to the crowd.

Actress Anne Hathaway stood in awe as Streisand recalled watching “the most beautiful actor” and her “first crush” Marlon Brando in the 1954 ‘Guys and Dolls’.

“He was so real, so believable,” she said. “And I wanted to be the one he fell in love with, not Jean Simmons”.

‘Friends’ star Jennifer Aniston, who is Streisand’s longtime friend, presented Streisand with her award in front of the star-studded room.

“Barbara, that’s all you have to say and you know”, Jennifer said. “That face, that voice, that talent. It is a once-in-a-lifetime talent and how lucky that it is in our lifetime”.

Aniston pointed out that perhaps this whole night was written in fate, as the Shrine was the home of Streisand’s first major concert in 1963, “on this very stage right here”.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS