Inside Barbra Streisand and James Brolin’s Successful 20-Year Marriage: ‘We Are the Best of Friends’

They’ve been happily married for over 20 years and, to this day, James Brolin and Barbra Streisand remain one of Hollywood’s happiest couples. So what’s the secret of their success? “We are the best of friends,” James, 78, gushed to Bella magazine in a recent interview. “A new marriage is a love affair, and then it becomes a friendship and a lot of people don’t realize how great that is. They question where their love affair went.”

The Amityville Horror star also revealed that he and Barbra, 76, sometimes turn to an outside mediator to resolve differences. “If couples need a referee to come in and sit down with them, they should do it,” James admitted. “You have to learn to smooth things out and be good negotiators with one another.”

“Be kind to each other every minute, and if you’re not, figure out how you can be. Do something to make the people around you feel better than when they arrived,” he said. “That especially goes for your spouse.” James’ advice for a successful marriage is the foundation of his union with the “Woman in Love” singer.

Prior to their marriage, Barbra was hitched to actor Elliott Gould — with whom she shares 52-year-old son Jason Gould — from 1963 to 1971. James was also married to Jane Cameron Agee from 1966 to 1984 and then to Jan Smithers from 1986 to 1995. The Life in Pieces actor is a father to three kids: Josh Brolin, 50, Jess Brolin, 47, and Molly Brolin, 32.

Despite their past failed marriages, everything changed for Barbra and James when they met at a party in 1996. “I met him at a dinner and expected a bearded mountain-man type, and he had cut off all his hair and was clean-shaven,” she told W magazine in November 2016. “I asked him, ‘Who screwed up your hair?’ He later told me that’s when he fell in love with me. My fella likes to hear the truth, which is unusual.”

The couple ended up tying the knot during a romantic ceremony at Barbra’s estate in Malibu in 1998. “I can’t tell you how lucky I am that this would happen to me so late in life,” James gushed at their nuptials, according to People. “Every night is a new adventure. Sleeping is a waste of time. I can’t wait to see her again in the morning.”

When the lovebirds celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary last year, Barbra couldn’t have been more proud. “Twenty years in Hollywood is like 50 years in Chicago, I always say,” she told Extra in August 2016. We love their love!

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