Robert Redford Always Called Her “Babs” — Her Final Note to Him Carried the Same Name
There are some friendships in Hollywood that seem to exist far beyond the screen. They begin with a movie, grow through years of conversations and shared memories, and eventually become something much more personal than a professional relationship.
For Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, that connection began with The Way We Were in 1973.
More than five decades later, Streisand stood on the Oscars stage and remembered the man who had once called her “Babs.” Her tribute was not simply about a legendary actor or a beloved film. It was about a friendship that had continued long after the cameras stopped rolling.
When Streisand appeared during the 98th Academy Awards' In Memoriam segment on March 15, 2026, she spoke about Redford with a mixture of affection, humor, and grief. She remembered his teasing, their conversations about art, and one of their final phone calls.
Then she revealed a small detail that made the tribute especially personal.
Redford had called her “Babs” for years.
And in the last note she ever wrote to him, Streisand signed it the same way.
Robert Redford died on September 16, 2025, at the age of 89. The Academy later included him in its official 2026 In Memoriam remembrance.
For audiences around the world, Redford was an actor, director, producer, and founder of the Sundance Institute. For Streisand, however, he was also simply Bob.
And she was, to him, Babs.
A Friendship That Began With “The Way We Were”
When The Way We Were was released in 1973, the pairing of Streisand and Redford became one of the most recognizable screen partnerships of its era.
Directed by Sydney Pollack, the film brought together two very different personalities. Streisand played Katie Morosky, while Redford portrayed Hubbell Gardiner.
The movie explored love, politics, ambition, memory, and the complicated ways relationships can change over time.
It became an enduring part of American cinema.
The film also produced its famous title song, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 1974 Oscars. Streisand later returned to the song at the 2013 Academy Awards as part of a tribute to composer Marvin Hamlisch.
But the professional relationship between Streisand and Redford did not disappear when production ended.
Over the decades, they remained connected.
They talked.
They exchanged ideas.
They discussed movies and art.
And eventually, their relationship developed into a lasting friendship.
That history made Streisand's appearance at the 2026 Oscars particularly meaningful.
The Nickname That Made Her Laugh
During her tribute, Streisand recalled one of the simplest details of their friendship.
Redford called her “Babs.”
It was apparently a nickname he used to tease her.
Streisand remembered jokingly questioning the name, asking whether she really looked like a “Babs.”
But she admitted that the way Redford said it made her laugh.
It was a tiny personal detail, but it revealed something important about their relationship.
Publicly, they were Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford.
They were two enormous Hollywood stars.
They were Oscar winners.
They were actors whose names had become part of film history.
But privately, they could still joke with each other.
He could call her “Babs.”
She could tease him back.
And decades after they first worked together, that nickname still carried warmth.
That is why her story on the Oscars stage felt so intimate.
She wasn't remembering a distant Hollywood legend.
She was remembering someone who had a personal way of making her laugh.
Their Conversations Continued Long After the Movie
Streisand explained that many years after The Way We Were, she and Redford were still talking regularly enough to discuss subjects far removed from their famous movie.
Their conversations could move between politics, art, and the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani.
Those details matter because they show how their friendship had evolved.
Their relationship wasn't frozen in 1973.
They weren't simply two actors reminiscing about a famous film.
They had continued to share interests and ideas throughout their later years.
Streisand had also written about Redford's support when she worked on an expanded version of The Way We Were for its 50th anniversary. In her memoir, she described calling him to discuss the project, and Redford supported her efforts. Vanity Fair later published an excerpt recounting that conversation.
That conversation became particularly meaningful because of what Redford said when they were preparing to hang up.
According to Streisand, he told her:
“Babs, I love you dearly, and I always will.”
Those words would eventually become part of one of the final memories she shared publicly about him.
“I Love You Too”
Streisand told the Oscars audience that she responded to Redford's words by telling him that she loved him too.
But there was another detail.
She later wrote him a note.
And she signed it “Babs.”
It was a fitting ending to a friendship in which that nickname had become part of their private language.
The detail was reported by multiple accounts of Streisand's Oscars tribute, including the Associated Press, Variety, and other outlets covering the ceremony.
There was no need for a grand declaration.
No elaborate farewell.
Just a familiar nickname.
The same name Redford had used when teasing her.
The same name that had made her laugh.
And the same name she chose to use when writing to him for the last time.
Sometimes, the smallest details carry the greatest emotional weight.
Redford's Death in 2025
Robert Redford died in September 2025 at the age of 89.
His death marked the end of a career that had stretched across generations.
He became internationally famous through films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and All the President's Men. He also became an acclaimed director, winning the Academy Award for Best Director for Ordinary People.
Beyond acting and directing, Redford became closely associated with independent cinema through the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival.
The Academy's official In Memoriam page lists him as an actor, director, executive, and film festival founder.
When news of his death emerged, Streisand publicly remembered him with affection.
She described their time working together on The Way We Were as exciting and intense and expressed gratitude for having had the opportunity to work with him. Variety reported her comments at the time, noting that she regarded him as charismatic, intelligent, intense, and one of the finest actors.
Months later, she would stand in front of the world and remember him again.
This time, the setting was the Oscars.
And this time, she had a song to sing.
The 2026 Oscars Tribute
The 98th Academy Awards took place on March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The ceremony's In Memoriam segment honored members of the film community who had died during the previous year.
Redford was among those remembered.
Streisand's tribute was one of the most personal moments of the segment.
She spoke about the movie they had made together and explained that, when she first encountered the script for The Way We Were, she could imagine only one actor playing the male lead.
That actor was Robert Redford.
According to Streisand, Redford initially rejected the role because he felt the character lacked a strong enough sense of conviction. After multiple script revisions, he eventually agreed to participate.
Streisand remembered him as a subtle and brilliant actor and described the experience of working with him as unpredictable in the best sense: they never quite knew what the other would do in a scene.
That unpredictability became part of what made their performances memorable.
But Streisand's tribute wasn't limited to their work together.
She also remembered Redford's work beyond Hollywood.
She spoke about his support for freedom of the press, environmental concerns, and his efforts to encourage new filmmakers through Sundance. She described him as “thoughtful and bold” and famously referred to him as an “intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail.”
Then she returned to something much more personal.
“Babs.”
A Nickname Becomes a Farewell
There is something powerful about a nickname that survives decades.
Hollywood gave Streisand and Redford famous names.
The public knew them as stars.
But Redford knew her as Babs.
That name belonged to their friendship.
It was playful.
It was familiar.
And according to Streisand, it was something he continued using even after decades had passed since they made their only film together.
When she told the audience about their final conversations, the story suddenly became much smaller and more intimate.
There were no cameras on a movie set.
No costumes.
No director.
No audience.
Just two longtime friends talking on the phone.
They discussed the subjects they enjoyed discussing.
Then, as they were saying goodbye, Redford told her he loved her and always would.
And when Streisand later wrote her final note to him, she responded with the same affection.
She ended it by saying she loved him too.
Then she signed it:
Babs.
It was almost as though she was returning the nickname to him one final time.
Why the Story Resonated
The reason this story has touched so many people isn't difficult to understand.
Fame can make relationships appear larger than life.
We see actors on enormous screens.
We watch them accept awards.
We read about their careers.
We learn about their accomplishments.
But friendship often exists in much smaller spaces.
A private joke.
A nickname.
A phone call.
A conversation about a favorite artist.
A familiar goodbye.
These are the details that make a famous person feel human.
For Streisand, “Babs” wasn't simply a nickname.
It represented the way Redford spoke to her.
It represented familiarity.
It represented decades of history.
And by using it in her final note to him, she preserved something that belonged specifically to their friendship.
The Song That Brought Them Back Together
After speaking about Redford, Streisand performed “The Way We Were.”
The choice was deeply connected to their shared history.
The song came from the movie that first brought them together professionally, and it had already become associated with another emotional Oscars tribute when Streisand performed it in 2013 to honor Marvin Hamlisch.
In 2026, the song carried a different meaning.
This time, Streisand was singing it for the man who had shared the screen with her in the film.
As she performed, images of Redford appeared on the giant screen.
The moment connected several different eras at once:
The 1970s movie.
Their decades-long friendship.
Redford's later career.
And Streisand's final public farewell.
The Academy's official 2026 ceremony page confirms the date and event, while contemporary coverage documented Streisand's tribute and performance.
More Than a Hollywood Partnership
It would be easy to remember Streisand and Redford simply as the stars of The Way We Were.
But their story continued for more than fifty years after that film.
They watched their careers evolve.
They continued discussing art.
They remained connected through changing generations of Hollywood.
And they supported each other's creative interests.
That long timeline is what gives Streisand's tribute its emotional force.
She wasn't saying goodbye to someone she had known only briefly.
She was remembering someone who had been part of her life for decades.
The movie may have introduced them.
But the friendship lasted much longer than the production itself.
Robert Redford's Legacy
Redford's career cannot be reduced to one movie.
He became one of the most recognizable actors of his generation, but his influence extended into directing and independent filmmaking.
His directorial debut, Ordinary People, earned him the Academy Award for Best Director.
He also became one of the most important figures associated with Sundance, helping create opportunities for independent filmmakers and bringing smaller productions to wider audiences.
The Sundance Institute's importance to independent cinema became part of his broader legacy.
That was another reason Streisand's tribute went beyond nostalgia.
She remembered not only the man she knew personally, but also the work he had done throughout his career.
Yet she didn't end with a list of accomplishments.
She ended with something much more personal.
She missed him.
And she remembered the way he called her.
“Babs”
In the end, perhaps that is the detail people will remember most.
Not the awards.
Not the box-office numbers.
Not even the famous movie.
A nickname.
“Babs.”
A word Redford had used for years.
A word that made Streisand laugh.
A word that appeared in the last note she wrote to him.
And a word that now carries the memory of a friendship that lasted more than half a century.
Robert Redford's death closed a remarkable chapter in Hollywood history.
But Streisand's tribute reminded audiences that the people we admire publicly can also have deeply private connections that never appear on a screen.
Two actors can make one unforgettable movie together.
But two friends can spend decades remembering it, talking about art, sharing jokes, and simply staying in each other's lives.
That was the relationship Streisand described.
And when she stood on the Oscars stage in 2026, she wasn't only remembering a movie star.
She was remembering Bob.
The man who teased her.
The friend who called her Babs.
The actor who shared one of cinema's most enduring romances with her.
And the person who, during one of their final conversations, told her he loved her and always would.
Her answer became part of her farewell.
“I love you too.”
And then, simply:
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