Barbra Streisand and James Brolin’s 30-year romance: from their blind date to step parenting

Barbra Streisand and James Brolin are approaching nearly 30 years of togetherness, with the latter even saying so during a recent appearance on the Today Show.

“It will be 30 years on July 1,” he pointed out during an appearance on April 15 while promoting his new show Ransom Canyon. “We met on July 1. We married on July 1 two years later.”

In honor of their romance’s significant milestone, here’s a look back at how it all began, from their previous relationships to their first date to life now as parents…

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Barbra and James’ previous marriages

Both Barbra, 82, and James 84, had been married previously before they ultimately met and embarked on their relationship. For Barbra, it was with another notable Hollywood figure.

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In 1963, she tied the knot with Oscar-nominated actor Elliott Gould after they met while working on the Broadway show I Can Get It for You Wholesale. Three years into their marriage, they welcomed a son. They announced their separation in 1969 and divorced in 1971.

Josh was married twice before meeting Barbra, first to Jane Cameron Agee from 1966 to 1984 (with whom he welcomed two sons), and then to actress Jan Smither from 1986 to 1995 (with whom he had a daughter).

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Their first date

Barbra and James, already in their 50s, were set up at a blind date dinner party in 1996 by a mutual friend, which the Funny Girl star relived during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

“I had no man in my life, I had no grandchildren in my life,” she recalled. “I go there, and I see a man standing across the room.” While she expected to see the actor with his familiarly wavy brown hair, what she saw instead surprised her. 

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“‘Where’s the hair?’ It was all off, he had just buzz cut his hair. He had this little dye on it, and then gray at the bottom. And no beard, no nothing,” she remembered, even hilariously reaching over to his head and remarking: “Who [expletive] up your hair?”

The pair quickly formed a bond, with James saying in a later interview he fell in love “immediately,” while Barbra confessed she herself knew in “a few days.”

Marital bliss

On July 1, 1998, exactly two years after their first date, the couple finally tied the knot at a backyard ceremony in Barbra’s Malibu, California home, where they still reside. Celebrity guests included John Travolta and Kelly Preston, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, and the notoriously private Marlon Brando.

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“I can’t tell you how lucky I am that this would happen to me so late in life,” James remarked in his wedding speech. “Every night is a new adventure. Sleeping is a waste of time. I can’t wait to see [Barbra] again in the morning.”

Being parents

Due to marrying later in life, James and Barbra never tried to become parents again, also because both already had welcomed four kids between them in their previous marriages. Both parents are close with their respective children, as are the step parents.

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Barbra and Elliott welcomed their son Jason in December 1966, who started off his career as an actor before venturing into music like his famous mom.

James and Jane welcomed son Josh (b. February 1968), a famous actor best known for his turn in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Thanos, and son Jess in February 1972. In November 1987, James welcomed his daughter Molly with Jan. Both Jess and Molly lead private lives.