Bette Midler
Born: 1945-12-01 in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, USA [now Hawaii, USA]
Known For: Acting
Biography
Bette Midler (/bɛt ˈmɪdlər/ bet MID-lər; born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Kennedy Center Honor, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Midler began her professional career in several off-off-Broadway plays before her engagements in Fiddler on the Roof and Salvation on Broadway in the late 1960s. She came to prominence in 1970 when she began singing at the Continental Baths. In this local gay bathhouse, she managed to build up a core following. Since 1970, Midler has released 14 studio albums as a solo artist, selling over 30 million records worldwide, and has received four Gold, three Platinum, and three Multi-Platinum albums from the RIAA. Many of her songs became chart hits, including her renditions of "The Rose", "Wind Beneath My Wings", "Do You Want to Dance", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", and "From a Distance". She won Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "The Rose", and Record of the Year for "Wind Beneath My Wings". Midler made her starring film debut with the musical drama The Rose (1979), which won her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, as well as nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress. She went on to star in numerous films, including Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), Big Business (1988), Beaches (1988), Stella (1990), Hocus Pocus (1993) and its sequel (2022), The First Wives Club (1996), The Stepford Wives (2004), Parental Guidance (2012), and The Addams Family (2019) and its sequel (2021). Midler also had starring roles in For the Boys (1991) and Gypsy (1993), winning two additional Golden Globe Awards for these films and receiving a second Academy Award nomination for the former. Midler held a residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas with the show Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On from 2008 to 2010. She starred in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, which began previews in March 2017 and premiered at the Shubert Theatre in April 2017. The show was her first leading role in a Broadway musical. Midler received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bette Midler, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
2026
2025
2024
- The Greatest Night in Pop as Self (archive footage)
- The Fabulous Four as Marilyn
2023
- Sitting in Bars with Cake as Benita
2022
- Hocus Pocus 2 as Winifred Sanderson
- George Carlin's American Dream as Self
- Lucy and Desi as Self
2021
- The Addams Family 2 as Grandma (voice)
- Parkinson at 50 as Self (archive footage)
- When Ruby Wax Met... as Self (archive footage)
- The Circuit as Self - Singer/Actor
2020
- The Glorias as Bella Abzug
- Coastal Elites as Miriam Nessler
- Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special as Self
- In Search of the Sanderson Sisters: A Hocus Pocus Hulaween Takeover as Winifred Sanderson
- Mae West: Dirty Blonde ... (Executive Producer)
2019
- The Addams Family as Grandma (voice)
- Camp! The Movie as Self
- The Politician as Hadassah Gold
- What the World Needs Now: Words by Hal David as Host
2018
- Freak Show as Muv
- Hocus Pocus 25th Anniversary Halloween Bash as Self
2015
2014
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Self - Guest
- Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- BBC Imagine: The Divine Miss M as Self
- Bette Midler: One Night Only as Self
2013
- Six by Sondheim as Mama Rose (archive footage)
- 20 Feet from Stardom as Self
2012
- Parental Guidance as Diane Decker
- Casting By as Self
- Inside Comedy as Self
2010
- Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore as Kitty Galore (voice)
- The Marriage Ref as Self - Panelist
- Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On as Self
- The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story as Self
- The Divine Miss M in Performance as Self
2009
- Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as Self - Guest
- RuPaul's Drag Race as Self (archive footage)
- Waking Sleeping Beauty as Self - Barbara Whiteman / Barbara Stone (archive footage)
2008
- The Women as Leah Miller
2007
- The Graham Norton Show as Self
- The Alan Titchmarsh Show as Self - Guest
- Then She Found Me as Bernice Graves
- Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens as Self
- Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built as Self - Narrator
2006
- The One Show as Self - Guest
- Dancing on Ice as Self - Guest
- From the Big Apple to the Big Easy: The Concert for New Orleans as Self
2005
- The Reichen Show as Self - Guest
- Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List as Self
- Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook as Self
- Nos Bastidores de Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
- The Divine Bette Midler as Self
2004
- Strictly Come Dancing as Self
- Project Runway as Self - Guest Judge
- The Stepford Wives as Bobbie Markowitz
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies as Self
- Bette Midler: Kiss My Brass Live at Madison Square Garden as Self
- 'Twas the Night - A Holiday Celebration as Self
2003
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show as Self
- A Barry Manilow Christmas: Live by Request as Self
2002
- American Idol as Self
- Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood ... (Executive Producer)
2001
- Good Day Live as Self
2000
- What Women Want as Dr. J. M. Perkins (uncredited)
- Fantasia 2000 as Self - Host
- Drowning Mona as Mona Dearly
- Isn't She Great as Jacqueline Susann
- Bette as Bette
- Barry Manilow: Greatest Hits & Then Some as Self
1999
- Get Bruce! as Self
- Jackie's Back! as Bette Midler
- Bette Midler: Divine Miss Millennium as Self
1998
- Motown 40: The Music is Forever as Self (archive footage)
1997
- The View as Self
- That Old Feeling as Lilly Leonard
- Bette Midler: Diva Las Vegas as Self
1996
- The First Wives Club as Brenda Morelli Cushman
- The Rosie O'Donnell Show as Self - Guest
- Ruby Wax Meets as Self - Guest
1995
- Get Shorty as Doris Saphron
- How to Be Absolutely Fabulous as Self
- Peter Allen: The Boy From Oz as Self
1994
- A Century of Cinema as Self
- Inside the Actors Studio as Self
1993
- The Nanny as Bette Midler
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien as Self - Guest
- Intimate Portrait as Self (archive footage)
- Hocus Pocus as Winifred Sanderson
- Gypsy as Rose Hovick
- Annie Leibovitz 1993 Phaidon Documentary as Self
1992
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as Self - Guest
- Earth and the American Dream as Reader (voice)
- Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories as Narrator (voice)
1991
- For the Boys as Dixie Leonard
- Scenes from a Mall as Dr. Deborah Finegold-Fifer
1990
- Stella as Stella Claire
- The Earth Day Special as Mother Earth
- AN EVENING WITH: FRIENDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT as Self
1989
- The Simpsons as Bette Midler (voice)
- Seinfeld as Bette Midler
- The Lottery as Woman
1988
- LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self - Guest
- Oliver & Company as Georgette (voice)
- Beaches as CC Bloom
- Big Business as Sadie Ratliff / Sadie Shelton
- Bette Midler's Mondo Beyondo as Mondo Beyondo; Eudora P Quickly
- Mickey's 60th Birthday as Self
1987
- Outrageous Fortune as Sandy Brozinsky
1986
- American Masters as Self
- Down and Out in Beverly Hills as Barbara Whiteman
- Women in Rock as Self
- Ruthless People as Barbara Stone
- Barbra Streisand: One Voice as Self (Interviewee)
1985
- Live Aid as Self
- We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song as Self
1984
- MTV Video Music Awards as Self - Host
- Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper ... (Songs)
- Bette Midler: Art or Bust as Self
1983
- Bette Midler: No Frills as Herself
1982
- Wogan as Self
- Champs-Elysées as Self (archive footage)
- Jinxed! as Bonita Friml
1981
- Wetten, dass..? as Self
- Entertainment Tonight as Self
1980
- Divine Madness as Self - The Divine Miss M
- The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's as Self (archive footage)
1979
- The Rose as Mary Rose Foster
1977
- Bette Midler: Ol' Red Hair Is Back as Self - Host
- Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary as Self
1976
- The Bette Midler Show as Self - Host
1975
- Saturday Night Live as Self - Musical Guest
- Les Rendez-vous du dimanche as Self - Guest
- Numéro un as Self (archive footage)
- Cher as Self - Guest
- Vegetable Soup as Woody The Spoon
1974
- The Thorn as Virgin Mary
1972
- Musikladen as Self
1971
1969
- Goodbye, Columbus as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
1968
- The Detective as Woman at Party
1966
- Hawaii as Passenger (uncredited)
1962
1961
- The Mike Douglas Show as Self
1956
- Tony Awards as Self - Performer
1953
- The Oscars as Self
1952
- Today as Self