Barbra Streisand’s iconic career in showbiz has been honored with the Lincoln Center’s Chaplin Award. Among the attendees of the ceremony were former president Bill Clinton, Liza Minnelli and singer Tony Bennett. The night raised $2 million dollars in total for the Center to support independent cinema. Streisand, who turns 71 today, is one of few performers to hold what 30 Rock referred to as the “E.G.O.T.” – a collection of the four major US awards – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

Accepting the award, Streisand told the audience: "Ever since I can remember, people have been calling me bossy and opinionated. Maybe that's because I am. Three cheers for bossy women."

Streisand has been an icon of women in show business ever since her first role in the 1968 classic “Funny Girl”. She won an Oscar for the role. In a special video tribute, the organizers of the event showed clips from the film, as well as some of Streisand’s other films The Way We Were, What's Up, Doc? and the Meet the Parents sequel, Meet the Fockers. The tribute also included messages from some of Streisand’s colleagues, including Robert Redford, who said about the actress that she had been she was "a pain," but he had discovered that Streisand was "totally engaging to act with, beautiful, thorough and skilled".

Barbra Streisand, Lincoln Center
Streisand thanked the Lincoln Center and didn't miss slipping a couple of quips into her speech.