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For the awards gala, which raised $2 million for the film society -- twice the previous high amount for the annual event
-- Streisand was serenaded by Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, by Liza Minnelli, and by Tony Bennett, who closed the show with the song, "Smile," fittingly a Charlie Chaplin song. Also appearing onstage to praise their friend and colleague were Michael Douglas, Catherine Deneuve (last year's honoree), Amy Irving, Blythe Danner, George Segal, Ben Stiller, Pierce Brosnan and Kris Kristofferson. In video clips, Robert Redford -- her "The Way We Were" co-star
-- spoke of how he'd been warned before making the movie that Streisand was "a pain," but discovered that she was "totally engaging to act with, beautiful, thorough and skilled." And Omar Sharif, who played Nick Arnstein in "Funny Girl," gave perhaps the most moving video tribute, talking about how incredible it was that he, an Egyptian actor, played a New York Jew in the 1968 film, and how she had become such a good friend. "We used to go to the cinema together," Sharif said. "We paid for our tickets and sat there and watched." It was Bill Clinton, though, who got the last word -- before Streisand, that is
-- praising the singer as driven, in the best way. "Every great person is driven," the former president said. "But if that person has massive talent, big brains and a bigger heart, you want to go along for the ride."
[Associated
Press;
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