Bette Midler life and biography

Bette Midler is an American singer, actress and comedian, also known (by her informal stage name) as The Divine Miss M. She has starred in films such as Ruthless People, Beaches and Hocus Pocus.

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.

In June 2009, Midler appeared on the Bravo TV show My Life on the D-List with Kathy Griffin.

December 2009 saw Midler appear on the British Royal Variety Performance in front of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. She performed "In My Life" and "Wind Beneath My Wings" as the closing act.

In 2010, Midler voiced the character Kitty Galore in the animated film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. In November 2010, Midler also released another compilation of lesser known tracks from her back catalog, entitled Memories of You.

Midler is co-producer of the Broadway production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

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