Barbra Streisand and James Brolin were unlucky in love until fate brought them together.
Years before she met Brolin, Streisand married Elliot Gould in 1963 and welcomed son Jason before they split in 1971. Brolin, for his part, walked down the aisle twice before meeting the singer; he was married to Jane Cameron Agee from 1966 to 1984 and Jan Smithers from 1986 to 1995. James shares son Josh and daughter Jess with Agee and daughter Molly with Smithers.
Streisand and Brolin were later set up on a blind date by their friends and hit it off. After two years of dating, the couple tied the knot in September 1998 and have been together ever since. While they have no children of their own, the twosome are the proud parents — and grandparents — of their blended brood.
Keep scrolling to see Brolin and Streisand’s relationship timeline:
1996
Streisand revealed that she and Brolin met at a dinner party orchestrated by their friends and the actor’s appearance at the event took her by surprise.
“We were set up as a blind date, and I was so shy that I came into the house and I went downstairs to be with the children and play with them until I had to sit down at the table,” Streisand recalled of first meeting Brolin at a friend’s dinner party during 2021 appearance on The Tonight Show. “I expected a guy with a brown beard and brown, wavy hair, like a mountain man and I saw a guy that had all his hair cut off, no beard. And I walked by him. I put my hand through his hair and said, ‘Who f—ked up your hair?’”
Later that year, they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the premiere of The Mirror Has Two Faces in November 1996.
1998
After two years of dating, Brolin and Streisand tied the knot in a star-studded ceremony in July 1998. John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Quincy Jones and Sydney Pollack were all in attendance for the duo’s nuptials.
One month after walking down the aisle, Brolin received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Streisand was by his side for the ceremony.
2000
Streisand was awarded the National Medal of Arts by former President Bill Clinton, and she was joined by Brolin at the White House.
2003
The pair attended the premiere of Brolin’s film A Guy Thing. The following year, Streisand and Brolin walked the red carpet together for the premiere of her film Meet the Fockers.
2007
When Streisand received the Légion d’Honneur — the highest French order of merit — from then-President Nicolas Sarkozy, Brolin attended the pinning ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris. The next year, the EGOT winner was honored by the Kennedy Center and Brolin was her plus-one for the gala.
2015
Going into 17 years of marriage, Brolin shared that he and Streisand’s relationship works well because they keep separate bank accounts.
“We bifurcated, and I love it that way,” the actor said during a November 2015 interview with HuffPost Live. “This is my third marriage, and I know what trouble can come out of marriage, so I didn’t want any reason that I would ever have to be either divorced or married again.”
2018
The couple celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary and Streisand penned a heartfelt message to Brolin for the milestone.
“Has it really been 22 years since our blind date? Married for 20 years. Happy anniversary honey,” she wrote via Instagram in July 2018.
2021
While in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, Brolin shared that quarantining with Streisand strengthened their relationship.
“We, for a long time, were put out by COVID. And a lot of people, their marriages haven’t gone well during these 15 months,” he shared during a June 2021 interview with The Talk. “We’ve literally fallen in love over this period of time, just being stuck together every day and making it work.
2023
As the pair celebrated 25 years of marriage, Streisand revealed that all she wants to do with the rest of her life is spend quality time with Brolin and their family.
“I want to live life,” she told the BBC in an interview published in November 2023. “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.”
2023
Streisand opened up about her relationship with Brolin in Her November 2023 memoir, My Name Is Barbra. “It was unusual for me to get this close to someone so quickly. But Jim wasn’t intimidated by me,” she said of their first meeting in 1996. “In fact, he was very supportive and said, I want to empower you.”
The same month as the book’s release, Brolin revealed that he had been celibate for three years prior to tying the knot with Streisand. “I had not had any interest in getting involved in a lousy situation,” he told Gayle King during a November 2023 interview on CBS Mornings.
King proceeded to ask, “After three years, that must have been a hell of a night then?” to which Brolin replied by calling his and Streisand’s wedding night “wild.”
