Funny Girl (film) Funny Girl (film) Funny Girl is a 1968 American biographical romantic musical comedy-drama film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Isobel Lennart was adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title. It is loosely based on the life and career of Broadway and film star and comedian Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein. Produced by Brice's son-in-law, Ray Stark, with music and lyrics by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, the film stars Barbra Streisand (in her film debut reprising her Broadway role) as Brice and Omar Sharif as Arnstein,
William Brice was survived by his wife, Shirley Bardeen, whom he had married in 1942, their son, John, and two grandsons. William Brice William Brice (April 23, 1921 – March 3, 2008) was an artist known for his large-scale abstract paintings. Born to actress Fanny Brice and professional gambler Julius W. "Nicky" Arnstein, on April 23, 1921, he spent his early years living with his mother and his sister, Frances (later the wife of producer Ray Stark), while their father was in prison on a variety of charges stemming from a history of thefts, swindles, and confidence schemes. Artists such as Clifford