Bette Midler
BORN: December 1, 1945, Paterson, NJ
Bette Midler counts singing as only one of her talents; at times, since 1972,
when she first came to national recognition, it has seemed to be the least
of her talents. Still, she has managed to score a number of major hits in
a roller-coaster career as a recording artist. Born in Paterson, NJ, and
raised in Hawaii, Midler early on showed an interest in singing and acting,
and by the '60s she had moved to New York and gotten a role in the long-running
Broadway hit Fiddler on the Roof. Midler developed a nightclub act that included
comedy and singing of a variety of kinds of material, including show tunes,
pop hits, and even a takeoff on the Andrews Sisters, and appeared with increasing
frequency in New York with her accompanist, Barry Manilow. She was signed
to Atlantic Records and released The Divine Miss M (1972), which went gold
and included a Top Ten single cover of the Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie
Bugle Boy." Bette Midler (1973) was similarly successful.
Midler's album sales fell off during the rest of the '70s, though her records
always reached the Top 100 in the album chart. But in 1979 she starred in
the film The Rose, a fictional account of the life of Janis Joplin, and the
title track became a Top Ten hit. 1980 saw the release of Midler's concert
film, Divine Madness, and her best-selling book, A View from a Broad. Her
next film, Jinxed (1982), however, was a major flop, and subsequent records
didn't fare well. Midler made a cinematic comeback with Down and Out in Beverly
Hills (1986), but it wasn't until 1989 that she had another pop hit, when
her version of "Wind Beneath My Wings" from her film Beaches became a number
one hit. This rejuvenated her singing career, and 1990's Some People's Lives
became a Top Ten, million-selling album, with the song "From a Distance"
hitting number two. Midler's soundtrack album to her 1991 film For the Boys
was also a gold-selling hit.
Midler appeared in a television production of the Broadway musical Gypsy
that produced a charting soundtrack album in 1993 following the release of
her million-selling hits collection Experience the Divine. The gold-selling
Bette of Roses (1995) was her first regular album release in five years.
Her 1996 film The First Wives Club was a major box office success. In 1998,
she switched to Warner Bros. Records and released Bathhouse Betty, which
went gold. With film opportunities drying up, the 54-year-old singer/actress
turned to television, developing a half-hour network comedy series based
on her own life. Though it didn't last long, Bette premiered on CBS on October
11, 2000; six days later, she released a second Warner Bros. album, also
called Bette. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Gloriously flamboyant American entertainer Bette Midler was born in Honolulu,
Hawaii to the only Jewish family in the neighborhood. After dropping out
of a drama course at the University of Hawaii, she took a tiny role in the
1966 film Hawaii, playing a seasick boat passenger (though it's hard to see
her when viewing the film today). Training for a dancing career in New York,
Midler made the casting rounds for several months, finally attaining a chorus
role, and then the featured part of Tzeitel, in the long-running Broadway
musical Fiddler on the Roof.
It helps to do something well that no one else does, and Midler found her
forte by singing at the Continental Baths, a gay hangout in New York. Most
bath house performers were painfully bad, but Midler established herself
by combining genuine talent with the tackiness expected of her. As "The Divine
Miss M," Midler did an act consisting of campy (and dirty) specialty numbers,
dead-on imitations of such earlier performers as the Andrews Sisters and
Libby Holman, and the most outrageously revealing costumes this side of Bob
Mackie. Soon she outgrew the bath houses and went on to nightclub and recording-artist
fame, earning a Grammy Award in 1973. After several years of sellout tours,
Midler re-entered films as the star of The Rose, an "a clef" film loosely
based on the life and times of Janis Joplin. The film was a success, but
it failed to establish Midler as a dramatic actress; audiences, particularly
the gay fans, still preferred the Divine Miss M.
Jinxed (1982), Midler's next film, lived up to its name with well-publicized
production squabbles between Midler, the director, the producers, and a few
of the co-stars. Following the the film's failure, Midler wasn't seen on
screen until she signed a contract with Disney Studios in 1986. Establishing
a new screen identity as a character comedienne, Midler sparkled in Down
and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), and was even better as a loudmouthed kidnap
victim in Ruthless People (1987). Using her restored film stature, Midler
set up her own production company and produced Beaches (1988), a "pals through
the years" saga that proved to be a four-hankie audience favorite. Once again
attempting to establish herself as a tragedian, Midler starred in Stella
(1990), a poorly-received remake of Stella Dallas. For the Boys (1992), offered
Midler in tons of old-age makeup as a Martha Raye-style USO star (Raye responded
to this "tribute" by suing the studio). The subsequent Scenes from a Mall
(1991), which paired Midler with Woody Allen, and Hokus Pokus, a "witchcraft"
fantasy, also failed to truly showcase her talents. She rebounded somewhat
in 1995 with a role in the wildly acclaimed Get Shorty, and had even greater
success the following year starring with Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn in
The First Wives Club. In 1999, Midler played herself in two documentaries,
the first the TV "mockumentary" Jackie's Back and the second the big-screen
Get Bruce!, a documentary about legendary comic writer Bruce Vilanch.
In addition to her film work, Midler still performs live in concert to turnaway
crowds and continues to release albums, including Bathouse Bette, a tribute
to her days at the Continental Baths. And in late 1993, she scored an enormous
success in a superb TV adaptation of the Broadway musical Gypsy. In 2000,
Midler also extended her talents to television, starring as herself in the
aptly-named sitcom Bette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide