Once inseparable, they parted ways just five years after the birth of their son.
"When you're lucky enough to meet your one person, then life takes a turn for the best. It can't get better than that," these are the words of actor John Krasinski and it stands true in a lot of relationships. Veteran actor Elliot Gould and Barbra Streisand also thought that they were the ones for each other but we're humans, and humans tend to make mistakes. The two were the sensational couple of the 1960s but things changed after a few years and they went separate ways.
Although Gould rarely speaks about his marriage with Streisand, in a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning, the 82-year-old actor spoke about the reason that drifted the couple apart. "Well, Barbra asked me at one point, because she’s still writing her book, she said, ‘Why did we grow apart?’" he said, referring to Streisand's memoir which is yet to release.
He elaborated, "And I said my question would be, ‘How could we have grown apart?’ And the answer to that is that we didn’t grow together and the reason for that was because she became more important than us." He concluded by saying, "Then I also said to her, 'We did great. We made it very fast and nobody has what we have. There’s you and me and our kid.'"
The two met while co-starring in a Broadway play together in 1962. While talking to Christa Whitney, recalling the first time he saw Streisand, The Long Goodbye star said, "She did three or four songs, and she was beyond brilliant — so amazing." When Streisand recited the number to the panel, Gould memorized it and called her, according to Yiddish Book Centre.
He further revealed that he complimented her performance after which Streisand invited him over to a nightclub where she was singing. "I said, 'I think you're going to be in the show, and once you are, I'll see if I can get to know you,'" he disclosed.
The spark was incredible and the couple tied the knot the following year. Just three years into their marriage, they welcomed their son Jason. However, their happy family didn't last for too long, as per Amomama. During the time they were together, Streisand started living the life of a star as she became the top-selling female vocalist in the US with her debut album I Can Get It For You Wholesale.
Although Gould was doing great on his own right, the popularity of his missus started taking a toll on their relationship as the actor reached a point where he could not bear to be called "Mr. Streisand" one more time, reported Independent UK. Talking to the publication he said that his happiest moments with the Funny Girl star was "when we were living together before we were married."
Explaining further about the change in dynamics of their relationship, he said, "It was difficult to be married to someone who was married to their success. I was very young, she was very young, and we went as far as we could together." They divorced in 1971.
Streisand went on to marry actor James Brolin in 1998 but that didn't change the cordial relationship between the former couple. In fact, Gould said that they “are still family and we love each other. We have a special relationship and kinship,” according to Closer Weekly.
The A Star is Born actress, echoing her ex-husband, told New York Times, “Once you have loved someone they become a part of what you were and therefore part of what you are. After all, how many people does one love in a lifetime?”
Gould who refers to Streisand as "my first wife" is very careful about what he reveals about their relationship and says that the reason why he hasn't published an autobiography yet is because he "thought it'd be too exploitative."
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzUi1L9eyig
https://news.amomama.com/171054-inside-barbra-streisands-relationship-he.html
https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/elliott-gould-barbra-streisand-marriage-101979/
