All About Barbra Streisand's Son Jason Gould

Barbra Streisand was preparing to go on a 20-city tour when she found out she was pregnant with her first child in 1966.

"The news was a shock. For years I had honestly thought there was something wrong with me because I had never gotten pregnant. Having a baby seemed like something for other women, not for me," Streisand wrote in her memoir, My Name Is Barbra.

Her son, Jason Gould, 57, whom she shares with ex-husband Elliott Gould, arrived in December 1966. Streisand and Elliott were married for eight years before splitting in 1971. (The Broadway star later wed actor James Brolin in 1998.)

Over the years, Jason has worked as an actor (his first role was alongside his mom in Up the Sandbox) and a musician. He began singing onstage with his mom in 2012, and in 2017 he told PEOPLE, "I honestly didn't know if I could do it. I had never performed in front of anybody so going from zero to like 18,000 people was quite a challenge."

Despite his Hollywood upbringing, Gould prefers to keep a low profile. "I sort of like being out of the spotlight," he added.

Here is everything know about Barbra Streisand's son, Jason Gould.

He was born in 1966

Streisand and ex-husband Gould were one of the biggest "it" couples in the 1960s. Although their marriage ultimately ended in 1971, the two welcomed their son, Jason, on Dec. 29, 1966.

He had an early career as an actor

Gould was introduced to the entertainment industry at a young age when he had a role in his mom's 1972 film Up the Sandbox.

He took a break from filming anything until 1988 when he appeared on The Bronx Zoo for one episode. The following year, he had a role as the hard-partying Mike Cameron in Say Anything — the one whose keys John Cusack had to hide.

He took on limited roles in the following years and ultimately stopped acting altogether after costarring with his mom in 1991's The Prince of Tides.

In 2000, Gould told SFGate that his break from show business had a lot to do with the attention his mother received.

"When I was a kid I couldn't go anywhere without photographers in our face," he said. "I don't like cameras snapping in my face. It's like being attacked. That's one reason I kind of laid low [since making The Prince of Tides]. Because I don't like that kind of attention, I really don't. I don't like fame and what goes with that. I grew up in it."

He came out to his parents in the '80s

Gould came out to his parents as gay in the 1980s. However, in 1991, a tabloid published a false story claiming he married another man.

"It was just so grotesque to me that they could make up a story like that and claim they had seen pictures of my wedding to a man," Gould later recalled to SFGate. "And then print this story even though I deny it."

He added, "I never was hiding the fact that I was gay. I never felt like I needed to come out because I never felt like I was in, you know? I'm pretty comfortable with my sexuality."

He began singing with Streisand in 2012

Acting isn't the only creative endeavor that Gould pursued with his mother. He joined Streisand on tour in 2012 to sing "How Deep is the Ocean" in front of thousands of her fans, surprising even himself.

Gould looked back on that performance with his mother while talking to PEOPLE in March 2024.

"It wasn't about me. I was just showing up to be of service and be the vessel of this music, and be there with her and have that moment with her," he said. "It was a very private moment — it just happened to be in front of 18,000 people."

Singing with Streisand made him realize he wanted to "work through" that part of himself. "To be able to express that part of myself was my goal really," he said.

In a 2014 interview with PEOPLE, Streisand praised her son's voice. "When he was 15, I heard him through the door, and I brought it up that the humming was such a beautiful sound," she recalled.

Streisand continued, "He said, 'Mom, just go away!' Imagine him having this beautiful voice and not using it because he was afraid of the comparison [with me]. But then he said, 'My need to express myself was greater than my fear.' That's courage."

He released his first album in 2017

In 2017, Gould released his first full-length album titled Dangerous Man. He told Billboard that music is central to his identity.

"Music has phenomenal healing power," Gould said. "It speaks to the heart. So many people have found a sense of acceptance and belonging through music. So absolutely — that's all I really care about in the end."

He hasn't watched much of Friends

Even though Gould's father Elliott played Ross' fictional dad on Friends, Gould has since admitted he hardly watched the hit sitcom.

"I've caught a couple glimpses here and there," Gould told PEOPLE in 2017. "He looks like he was very charming on the show."