Actress and singer Barbra Streisand has revealed she had her beloved dog Samantha cloned after she died in 2017.

Ms Streisand told Hollywood trade publication Variety in an interview published on Tuesday that cells were taken from the mouth and stomach of Samantha, resulting in the birth of two new puppies.

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“They have different personalities,” Streisand said. “I’m waiting for them to get older so I can see if they have her brown eyes and her seriousness.”

Ms Streisand said that when the cloned dogs arrived, she dressed them in red and lavender to tell them apart, which is how they got their names — Miss Scarlett and Miss Violet.

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The Oscar and Tony-winning actress, 75, said that while waiting for their arrival, she became smitten with another dog who was a distant relation of Samantha.

The Coton de Tulear dog was called Funny Girl, but Streisand adopted her and gave her the name Miss Fanny, which is how Fanny Brice’s dresser refers to Streisand's character in the 1968 movie musical that launched her career.

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Streisand followed up Funny Girl, for which she won an Oscar, with Hello Dolly! but said she had never much liked the movie.

"I thought I was totally miscast. I tried to get out of it," she told Variety. "I think it’s so silly. It’s so old-time musical."