Streisand: 'Funny Grandma'

By Stephen M. Silverman

05/12/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Barbra Streisand's 1976 "A Star Is Born" costar apologized for his appearance Thursday night at the American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony for the original funny girl. "I look like a street person right now because I'm working on 'Planet of the Apes' with Tim Burton, but I am here to pay my respects to Barbra," said Kris Kristofferson, 64. "We worked on something that was pretty special together." Many of those paying tribute mentioned Streisand's perfectionism, reports PEOPLE. These included Pierce Brosnan, 48, who benevolently recalled an incident on "The Mirror Has Two Faces." "She didn't like one of my ties," he said. "I think I changed it about 25 times." After watching a clip of 1970's "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," in which a very young Jack Nicholson appeared, the actor, 63, cracked, "I didn't even remember that I was in a Barbra Streisand movie." Finally, the star herself took to the stage, thanking those who came out for her and discussing the honor at hand. "Bette Davis made over 82 films and I've made 16," Streisand, 58, said of a former AFI honoree, "which means for me to make that many films, at the rate I'm going, I'll be 120 years old." Given that, Streisand said that she hasn't ruled out starring in "Funny Grandma."