Share

Bette Midler biography

3 photos

Quick Facts

Best Known For

Bette Midler sang "Wind Beneath My Wings" for the film Beaches and earned Oscar nods for her roles in The Rose and For the Boys.

Quiz

Think you know about Biography?

Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.

Play Now

Synopsis

Hawaiian-born Bette Midler ("The Divine Miss M") first appeared on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof (1966–1969), then created a popular nightclub act with an unknown Barry Manilow as her pianist. Greater stage and screen success followed,

Contents

with movie roles in The Rose and For the Boys earning her Oscar nominations. Her song "Wind Beneath My Wings" from the movie Beaches became a huge hit in 1988.

Profile

Comedienne, singer, and actress. Born on December 1, 1945, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Bold and funny, Bette Midler is the quintessential entertainer  a singer, a dancer, a comedienne, and a dramatic actress. After studying drama at the University of Hawaii, she was hired as an extra on the film adaptation of James Michener's novel Hawaii (1965). Saving up her earnings, Midler moved to New York City where she made her stage debut in Fiddler on the Roof in 1966. She stayed with the show for three years and then developed a popular nightclub act as a chanteuse and purveyor of outrageously bawdy comic routines. At one time, she was accompanied on the piano by the then-unknown Barry Manilow.

Her album The Divine Miss M (1974) won Midler a Grammy Award as Best New Artist, and the same year she received a Tony Award for her record-breaking Broadway show. Her dramatic performance in the film The Rose (1979) earned her an Oscar nomination, and she has since enjoyed considerable commercial success in a string of films including Outrageous Fortune (1987), Big Business (1988), Scenes from a Mall (1991), The First Wives Club (1996), and Get Bruce (1999).

More recently, Midler starred in a remake of the 1975 comedic thriller The Stepford Wives (2004) with Nicole Kidman and Glenn Close. She also appeared in the film Then She Found Me with Helen Hunt and Colin Firth.

Midler's latest recording was an album of holiday songs, Cool Yule, released in 2006. The album was nominated for a Grammy in 2007. The next year, she announced that she reached a deal with the entertainment promotion company AEG Live to become the resident artist at the famed Las Vegas hotel and casino Caesar's Palace. Her show, "Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On" started its run in February 2008.

Midler founded the New York Restoration Project in 1995. The non-profit organization helps revitalize green spaces in low income neighborhoods of New York City.

Bette Midler has been married to Martin von Haselberg since 1984. The couple has a daughter named Sophie who graduated from Yale in 2008.

 

© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.

ADVERTISEMENT

Recomended Links

  • Bette Midler and Sophie Von Haselberg

    Check out photos of Bette Midler and her daughter Sophie Von Haselberg at Lifetime Moms.

9407865 9407865
profile id: 9407865
profile name: Bette Midler
profile occupation:
related profile id: 9407865
related profile name: Bette Midler
related profile occupation:
related profile img: /imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/M/Bette-Midler-9407865-1-402.jpg
related profile URL: /people/bette-midler-9407865
profile
pop
Your Connections

Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.

specific profile connection
See More Bio Connections
Your Friends' Connections
specific friend connection
Profile Connections
    Show More Connections
    Included In These Groups

    See all related groups

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Celebrity Connections

    Show More Connections
    Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!