Mimi Hines, Legendary Broadway Performer Who Replaced Barbra Streisand inFunny Girl, Dies at 91

Mar. 15, 2025

Mimi Hines sings ‘‘Everything’s Coming Up Roses’’ on Nov. 11, 2006 at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex in Los Angeles.Photo:Ryan Miller/Getty

Ryan Miller/Getty

Mimi Hines — the legendary singer, rubber-faced comedian, television star and Broadway performer who famously replaced Barbra Streisand in the original cast ofFunny Girl —died on Monday, Oct. 21. She was 91.

The two met in 1952 while working in different nightclubs in Anchorage, Alaska. They started working together when Hines, then 19, subbed for his female partner, who had accidentally broken her ankle. Love soon followed and two years later, in 1954, Hines and Ford wed.

Phil Ford and actress Mimi at the opening of their self-titled show in Jan. 9, 1969 at the Empire Room at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.Ron Galella/Getty

Ron Galella/Getty

National attention wouldn’t come until 1958, after an appearance onThe Tonight Show. There, Hines sang “Till There Was You” from Meredith Willson’sThe Music Manand, as the story goes, drove Jack Paar to tears.

From there, the pair was one of the most in-demand acts, appearing on stages across the country and on a sea of variety and talk programs likeThe Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show,The Dean Martin Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The David Frost Show,The Hollywood Palace, The Garry Moore Show, Pat Boone in Hollywood,The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carsonand more.

She was also a go-to for game shows likePassword,I’ve Got a Secret,The Hollywood Squares,It’s Your BetandSnap Judgment. A sitcom pilot titledMimiwas shot in 1964, featuring Hines and Ford as owners of a resort hotel, but it never was picked up.

Mimi Hines in an episode of ‘Love, American Style’ in January 1971.ABC Photo Archives/Disney/Getty Images

ABC Photo Archives/Disney/Getty Images

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After years of headlining the top showrooms and nightclubs, Hines landed the gig of a lifetime: the role of Fanny Brice in the original production ofFunny Girl, following Barbra Streisand’s departure. She made her Broadway debut with the role on Dec 27, 1965, and told theNew York Timesat the time that she wasn’t nervous to be stepping in to Streisand’s shoes.

Hines remained in the production for 18 months through July 1, 1967 with Ford playing opposite her as Eddie Ryan — a dancer and director who takes a chance on Fanny during her vaudeville days.

Mimi Hines in November 2005.David Livingston/Getty

David Livingston/Getty

The singer also recorded several successful albums, includingMimi Hines SingsandMimi Hines Is a Happening, both in 1966.

Hines and Ford divorced in 1972 though they remained in the business, even reuniting for appearances together on several occasions. He died in 2005 at the age of 85. The two never had children.

In 1995,Hines returned to Broadway for her first role in 30 years, playing Rydell High teacher Miss Lynch in Tommy Tune’s productionGrease.She continued working on stage, in the 2000 Off-Broadway revival of Kander and Ebb’s70, Girls, 70as well as the LA Reprise! production ofOn the Twentieth Century(2003), the 20th anniversary tour ofNunsense(2003) and the LA Reprise! production ofPippin(2005).

Among her on-screen credits was a memorable guest appearance as Mrs. Latimer onFrasierin 1999.Rosie O’Donnellalso honored Hines with an appearance on her monster hit talk show’s final week in June 2002.

source: people.com