Jack Paar Show 1961

Streisand / Television

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The Jack Paar Show (1961)

  • SHOW CREDITS

    APRIL 5, 1961


    • Guest Host: Orson Bean
    • Co-host: Albert Dekker
    • Guests: Phyllis Diller, Gore Vidal, Barbra

    Barbra's Songs:


    • A Sleepin’ Bee
    • When the Sun Comes Out

    MAY 22, 1961


    • Guest Host: Orson Bean
    • Guests: Heny Youngman, Kitza

    Barbra's Songs:


    • Much More
    • Have I Stayed Too Long At the Fair
Barbra’s first appearance on television was in 1961 on NBC's The Jack Paar Show.

Jack Paar was the second host of NBC’s long-running late night talk show, The Tonight Show.   He started hosting the show in 1957, replacing the first host, Steve Allen.  NBC tinkered with the format for a few years, even changing the name of the show from Tonight Starring Jack Paar to The Jack Paar Show in 1959. Paar introduced most of the talk show conventions that we all have grown to accept over the years — a desk for the host; guests sitting in chairs to his right; and an opening monologue.

Starting in 1960, The Jack Paar Show was videotaped in color and broadcast on NBC from 11:15 P.M. to 1 A.M. Eastern time. (Only black-and-white kinescope recordings of some of the shows still exist — the videotapes were destroyed decades ago.)

To escape the grind of the daily show, Paar would sometimes take nights off and the show would feature a “guest host” like Orson Bean or Jonathan Winters.

On the night of April 5, 1961, Orson Bean was in the guest host’s chair. Since both he and Barbra were clients of agent Ted Rozar at the time, Rozar arranged a serendipitous booking for Barbra — and she would also be on the show with her Bon Soir mentor, comedienne Phyllis Diller.

Bean recalled, years later, “I met Barbra when she was 18 and singing at a place in Greenwich Village,” he told US Magazine. “When I guest-hosted The Jack Paar Show, I got them to fly her in from a club she was playing in Detroit. She was a nervous wreck. But then when she started singing – ‘A Sleepin’ Bee’ – it was like God singing through her. She got a standing ovation, which doesn’t happen on TV. It was an incredible moment.”

Streisand prepared for her first T.V. appearance by having a burgundy damask dress made for her — and since the show was taped in color, Barbra had her shoes dyed to match. A friend from Detroit, Bernie Moray, gave Barbra upholstery fabric for the dress. Barbra recalled, “I told them on the air that I was clothed by the Robinson Furniture Company of Detroit.”

After Orson Bean introduced Streisand, who was currently appearing at the Caucus Club, and she sang a beautiful version of “A Sleeping’ Bee.”

After a commercial break — and a costume change to a simple black cocktail dress — Streisand sang “When the Sun Comes Out.”

Bean invited her over to the guest panel and interacted with Barbra and Phyllis Diller.
Three screen captures of Barbra Streisand on the Jack Paar Show
Luckily for Streisand fans, a black-and-white kinescope of Barbra's first television appearance exists — it’s said Streisand's team paid for a personal copy. In early television, Kinescopes were the standard method of creating a permanent record of a television broadcast. Kinescopes were created by placing a motion picture camera in front of a television monitor and recording the image off the monitor's screen while the program was being aired.

Barbra’s Other Appearances on Paar ....

Barbra was invited back to appear on The Jack Paar Show—again with Orson Bean as the stand-in host—on May 22, 1961.  Guests that evening (as listed in television columns) were the comic Henny Youngman and Greek singer Kitza.  Barbra sang two songs: “Much More” and “Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair.”

Barbra possibly appeared a third time on The Jack Paar Program (as it was retitled).  TV guides list Streisand's appearance as November 29, 1963 with Dody Goodman and the Harmonica Rascals as guests. At this point, Barbra was a big enough star to join Jack on the show (not with a guest host) — however, it should be noted that this scheduled show was supposed to air merely one week after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  It's entirely possible they did not proceed with this show.
End / The Jack Paar Show
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