She’s portrayed a drug-addicted rock ‘n’ roll superstar, a centuries-old magic-wielding crone, and a frustrated, revenge-seeking divorcee. In short, there’s very little that Bette Midler, AKA The Divine Miss M, hasn’t done. But today, she’s taking on yet another role: birthday girl.
Happy Birthday, Bette Midler!
And that’s because she was born on December 1, 1945, in Honolulu, Hawaii, which means that this iconic actress and singer is turning 75 years old today! Midler made her professional acting debut in the 1966 film Hawaii, though her role as Miss David Buff would go uncredited.
Midler relocated to New York City in the mid-1960s and honed her craft under the tutelage of Uta Hagen. She made her professional stage debut in a series of Off-Off-Broadway plays by Tom Eyen, before being engaged in productions of Fiddler on the Roof and Salvation on the Great White Way.
But it would be her raucous vocal performances staged inside the Continental Baths that elevated Midler to prominence. Off a number of successful turns, she would collaborate with Barry Manilow on an album entitled The Divine Miss M (released in 1972).
Subsequently, Midler would star in the rock-opera Tommy, release several more successful albums (including Bette Midler, Songs for the New Depression, and Broken Blossoms), and appear in both the hugely popular Clams on the Half Shell Revue, and the Emmy Award-winning special Ol’Red is Back.
Midler made her first motion picture in 1979, and for her work in The Rose – a thinly disguised Janis Joplin biopic – Midler would receive the Golden Globe award for Best Actress and an Academy Award nomination.
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In the ensuing decade, Midler would appear in a string of successful films, including Jinxed! (1981), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), Big Business (1988), and the uber-popular Beaches (1988).
In the 1990s, Midler found further success with pictures like For the Boys (1991), which garnered her a second Academy Award nomination, Get Shorty (1995), and The First Wives Club (1996). And it would be in that decade that she would land the character for which some would say that she has become best known: Winifred Sanderson in the Halloween comedy Hocus Pocus.
Midler’s other credits include the movies Drowning Mona (2000), The Stepford Wives (2004), and Parental Guidance (2012). She has voiced several animated characters in fare such as Oliver & Company (1988), Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010), and The Addams Family (2019). In 2019, Midler began playing Hadassah Gold in the Netflix series The Politician with Ben Platt and Judith Light. As of 2014, Midler has released 14 studio albums.
Outside of her acting, Midler is known for her conservationism, and dedication to service members and their families. She is a published authoress, with two children’s books (The Saga of Baby Divine and The Tale of the Mandarin Duck: A Modern Fable) and an autobiography entitled A View From A Broad to her credit.
Midler has been married to artist Martin von Haselberg since December 16, 1984. The couple has one child together: a daughter, Sophie (born November 14, 1986). Like her mother, Sophie is an actress.
Entertainment Hub would like to wish Bette Midler a very happy birthday, and you can too by clicking on the Twitter link below.
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