Twice as nice - Barbra Streisand cloned beloved dog

[February 28, 2018]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "If we had the chance to do it all again, tell me would we, could we?" Barbra Streisand had a hit singing this question in "The Way We Were," but when it comes to getting a new pet she does not have to wonder.

The "Funny Girl" singer and actress had her beloved 14- year-old Coton de Tulear dog Samantha cloned after her death in 2017, and now has two new pups.

Streisand told Hollywood trade publication Variety in an interview published on Tuesday that cells were taken from the mouth and stomach of Samantha.

“They have different personalities,” Streisand said. “I’m waiting for them to get older so I can see if they have her brown eyes and her seriousness.”

Streisand said that when the cloned dogs arrived, she dressed them in red and lavender to tell them apart, which is how they got their names — Miss Scarlett and Miss Violet.

The Oscar and Tony winning actress, 75, said that while waiting for their arrival, she became smitten with another dog who was a distant relation of Samantha.

The Coton de Tulear dog was called Funny Girl, but Streisand adopted her and gave her the name Miss Fanny, which is how Fanny Brice’s dresser refers to Streisand's character in the 1968 movie musical that launched her career.

U.S. actress and singer Barbra Streisand (C) plays with her dog Samantha near her son Jason (L) and husband James Brolin as they arrive at the Elysee Palace in Paris June 28, 2007. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

Streisand followed up "Funny Girl," for which she won an Oscar, with "Hello Dolly!" but said she had never much liked the movie.

"I thought I was totally miscast. I tried to get out of it," she told Variety. "I think it’s so silly. It’s so old-time musical."

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by David Gregorio)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.