It is loosely based on the life and career of comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.

A major critical and commercial success, Funny Girl became the highest-grossing film of 1968 in the United States and received eight Academy Award nominations.

[3][4][5] In 2016, Funny Girl was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress, and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Nicky is offered a lucrative business venture, but he quickly realizes Fanny is secretly financing the deal and rejects it.

Isobel Lennart originally wrote Funny Girl as a screenplay for a drama film titled My Man for producer Ray Stark (whose mother-in-law was Fanny Brice).

[11] Mike Nichols, George Roy Hill, and Gene Kelly were considered to direct the film, then Sidney Lumet was signed.

After working on pre-production for six months, he left the project due to "creative differences" and was replaced by William Wyler, whose long and illustrious career never had included a musical film.

Wyler initially declined Stark's offer because he was concerned his significant hearing loss would affect his ability to work on a musical.

Her enthusiasm reminded him of Bette Davis, and he felt she "represented a challenge for me because she's never been in films, and she's not the usual glamour girl".

Egyptian Omar Sharif was cast to star opposite the Jewish Streisand after Wyler noticed him having lunch in the studio commissary.

When the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt broke out, studio executives considered replacing Sharif, but both Wyler and Streisand threatened to quit if they did.

Later, the publication of a still depicting a love scene between Fanny and Nicky in the Egyptian press prompted a movement to revoke Sharif's citizenship.

[12][13] Wyler allegedly purposefully cast two leading stars known for their romantic propensities, hoping to create a lustfulness that would amplify the dynamic on-screen.

Wyler crafted various scenarios to foment romantic impulses between the two stars; one such tactic was to place Streisand's trailer window in direct, but hidden view of Sharif's.

[11] It doesn't matter how much expensive gear you've got, you need to have not a little luck, a great deal of skill, and a telepathic relationship between pilot and cameraman to pull that off.

[14] During pre-recording, Streisand had demanded extensive retakes until she was satisfied with them, and on the set she continued to display her perfectionist nature, frequently arguing with Wyler about costumes and photography.

A difficulty of filming that Barbra did not anticipate was that she had to do musical numbers multiple times for different camera angles.

[14] Seven numbers from the original musical production were removed, while "Rollerskate Rag", "The Swan" and "Funny Girl" are composed specifically for Streisand and are unrelated to Brice.

In the 1985 book Barbra Streisand: The Woman, the Myth, the Music by Shaun Considine, Styne revealed he was unhappy with the film's orchestrations.

The website's critical consensus states: "Barbra Streisand elevates this otherwise rote melodramatic musical with her ultra-memorable star turn as Fanny Brice.

[20] Streisand was widely praised by critics, with The New Yorker's Pauline Kael calling it "A bravura performance...As Fanny Brice, she has the wittiest comic inflections since the comediennes of the 30s; she makes written dialogue sound like inspired improvisation...Streisand's triumphant talent rides right over the film's weaknesses.

"[21] In his review in Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert called Streisand "magnificent" and added "She has the best timing since Mae West, and is more fun to watch than anyone since the young Katharine Hepburn.

"[22] Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post agreed that the film was "overdone," writing that Streisand was "her first-rate self" during the musical numbers and "probably is capable of more variety than this," but "is so carefully presented and limited that she and the picture become a long, drippy bore.

"[24] Variety wrote Streisand makes "a marked impact...The saga of the tragi-comedienne Fanny Brice of the ungainly mien and manner, charmed by the suave card-sharp Nicky Arnstein, is perhaps of familiar pattern, but it is to the credit of all concerned that it plays so convincingly.

"[25] Jan Dawson of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote "The story of the actress whose dramatic rise from rags to riches is accompanied by the discovery that suffering lies on the flip-side of success has provided the basis of many an American musical.

But William Wyler manages to transcend the clichés of the genre and create—largely through Barbra Streisand's characterisation of Fanny Brice—a dramatic comedy in which the musical numbers illustrate the public aspect of the star's life without once interrupting the narrative.

[16] Funny Girl garnered 8 Academy Award nominations, with Streisand winning Best Actress for her film debut.

[citation needed] Streisand won Best Actress at the Golden Globe Awards, while Funny Girl garnered three additional nominations.

The line was also uttered by the character Max Bialystock in the 1967 film The Producers and its Broadway adaptation, but the inflection used by Zero Mostel is different from that used by Streisand.

[citation needed] Sean Harris may be known for playing darker characters in series such as Southcliffe or The Borgias, but he says that he was inspired to become an actor when he saw Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl.