<Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $80 million </Td> </Tr> <P> A Star Is Born is a 1976 American musical romantic drama film about a young singer (Barbra Streisand) who meets and falls in love with an established rock and roll star (Kris Kristofferson), only to find her career ascending while his goes into decline . </P> <P> The film is a remake of the 1937 original drama starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, which had also been adapted in 1954 as a musical starring Judy Garland and James Mason . The story was subsequently adapted in 2018 starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper . </P> <P> John Norman Howard, a famous and self - destructive singer / songwriter rock star, arrives late for a concert . He is drunk, sings a couple of songs, and walks off stage . John's entourage, including his manager Brian, takes him to a bar where Esther Hoffman is singing . One of John's fans find him there and starts a fight . Esther grabs John and helps him escape out a back door . </P>

Who was the male lead in the original star is born