Bette Midler

Bette Midler Bio

Bette Midler, born December 1, 1945, is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author whose career has spanned more than six decades. Known to fans as “The Divine Miss M,” she has built a singular reputation for moving easily between Broadway musicals, Hollywood comedies, dramatic film roles, and chart-topping recordings. Her accolades include four Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Kennedy Center Honor, along with nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award. Midler was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and rose to fame through New York stage work and a celebrated residency at the Continental Baths before becoming a film and recording star.

Across her career, Bette Midler has delivered memorable performances in films such as The Rose, Beaches, Hocus Pocus, and The First Wives Club, while also recording beloved songs including “The Rose,” “Wind Beneath My Wings,” and “From a Distance.” She has written books for adults and children, produced films and Broadway shows through her banner All Girl Productions, and championed environmental and charitable causes through the New York Restoration Project, the nonprofit organization she founded in 1995.

Early Life and Background

Bette Midler was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the third of four children of Ruth (née Schindel), a seamstress and housewife, and Fred Midler, a painter who worked at a U.S. Navy base in Hawaii. Both parents were born in New Jersey, and the family was one of the few Jewish households in their mostly Asian neighborhood in Aiea. She was named after actress Bette Davis, though she pronounces her first name in a single syllable rather than the two-syllable pronunciation Davis favored.

Midler was raised in Aiea and attended Radford High School in Honolulu, where classmates voted her “Most Talkative” in 1961 and “Most Dramatic” in her senior year. She went on to major in drama at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, though she left after three semesters to pursue work in the entertainment industry. As a young woman, she also performed as an uncredited extra in the 1966 film Hawaii, an experience that helped her save money for the move east.

Her early years in Hawaii gave Midler an early appreciation for music and performance, as she later credited The Andrews Sisters as formative idols whose harmonies and stage presence shaped her own act. That love of classic American song would later surface in her own bestselling recordings and concert tours.

Path to Acting

In the summer of 1965, Bette Midler relocated to New York City and began studying theatre at HB Studio under Uta Hagen. She landed her first professional onstage role that same year in Tom Eyen’s off-off-Broadway plays Miss Nefertiti Regrets and Cinderella Revisited. In October 1966, she joined the Broadway company of Fiddler on the Roof, playing the ensemble role of Rivka and understudying the oldest daughter Tzeitel; she took over the role of Tzeitel in February 1967 and played it until February 1970. After Fiddler, she joined the original cast of the Broadway musical Salvation in 1969.

Her big break came in the summer of 1970, when she began performing at the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in the basement of the Ansonia Hotel. The residency helped her build a passionate core following, and it was during this period that she began working with piano accompanist Barry Manilow, who would go on to produce her debut album. In 1971, she starred in the first professional production of the rock opera Tommy with the Seattle Opera, and it was during the run of Tommy that she made her first appearance on The Tonight Show, opening the door to national fame.

Bette Midler Career

Early Career (1965–1978)

Bette Midler’s first major recording, the album The Divine Miss M, was released in December 1972 on Atlantic Records and was co-produced by Barry Manilow. The album reached the Billboard Top 10, sold more than a million copies, and earned Midler the 1973 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. It featured three hit singles, including “Do You Wanna Dance?” and her chart-topping Adult Contemporary cover of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” which showcased her affection for the swing style of The Andrews Sisters. A self-titled follow-up album arrived at the end of 1973, again produced with Manilow, and it also reached the Top 10.

Throughout the mid-1970s, Midler continued building her profile through television specials, live albums, and stage work. In 1974, she received a Special Tony Award for her contribution to Broadway through the show Clams on the Half Shell Revue. Her first television special, Ol’ Red Hair Is Back, premiered in 1977 and won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Special – Comedy-Variety or Music, cementing her reputation as a versatile entertainer capable of moving between music, comedy, and acting.

Breakthrough (1979–1991)

Bette Midler made her starring film debut in 1979 with the musical drama The Rose, in which she played a drug-addicted rock star modeled on Janis Joplin. The performance earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and a win at the Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The film’s soundtrack, including the hit title song “The Rose,” sold more than two million copies in the United States and earned Midler her first Gold single and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.

Following a string of early 1980s setbacks on film, Midler signed a multi-picture deal with Walt Disney Studios in 1985 and launched a successful comedic acting career with the Touchstone Pictures comedies Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), and Big Business (1988). In 1988, she co-starred with Barbara Hershey in the emotional drama Beaches, and its accompanying soundtrack featuring “Wind Beneath My Wings” became her all-time bestselling record, winning her the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

In 1991, she reteamed with The Rose director Mark Rydell for the historical musical drama For the Boys, earning her second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and her second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. That same year, she also received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Born on the Fourth of July, further establishing her dramatic range.

Notable Works and Milestones

Beyond The Rose and Beaches, Bette Midler’s signature screen works include the Halloween cult favorite Hocus Pocus (1993) and its 2022 sequel, the comedy hit The First Wives Club (1996), the ensemble comedy The Women (2008), and the family film Parental Guidance (2012), in which she co-starred with Billy Crystal. On stage, she made a triumphant return to Broadway in 2017 with the revival of Hello, Dolly!, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She has also been a major recording artist, with fourteen studio albums, more than thirty million records sold worldwide, and one of the most celebrated voices in American popular music.

Bette Midler Award Nominations

Bette Midler has been recognized with nominations from nearly every major awards body in the entertainment industry. She is one of the few performers to have been nominated for an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has honored her with two Academy Award nominations for Best Actress, for The Rose in 1980 and For the Boys in 1992. She has also received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Born on the Fourth of July, in addition to multiple Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominations across film, television, and stage work.

Bette Midler Awards Won

Throughout her six-decade career, Bette Midler has won four Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and a National Board of Review Award, in addition to a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. Her Grammy wins include Best New Artist (1973), Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “The Rose,” and Record of the Year for “Wind Beneath My Wings.” She earned her Tony Awards through her Special Tony Award in 1974 and her Best Actress in a Musical win for Hello, Dolly! in 2017.

Bette Midler Family

Bette Midler was the third of four children born to Fred Midler, a painter who worked on a U.S. Navy base and on private homes in Hawaii, and Ruth Midler (née Schindel), a seamstress and housewife. Her eldest sibling, Judith, died in December 1968 after being struck by a car in New York City. Midler’s family background, growing up in one of the few Jewish households in a mostly Asian neighborhood in Aiea, has often been cited by the artist as an important influence on her sense of humor and her love of music.

Personal Life

Bette Midler married artist Martin von Haselberg on December 16, 1984, and the couple has one daughter, actress Sophie von Haselberg, born on November 14, 1986. Outside of her entertainment career, Midler is widely known for her charitable and environmental work. She founded the New York Restoration Project in 1995, a nonprofit organization that revitalizes neglected parks in New York City, and she has long supported military families, LGBTQ+ causes, and disaster relief efforts around the world.