Midler, Bette (1945– )

US actor, singer, and producer. She is known for her flamboyant style and comic roles. She began her career as a singer and continued her concert tours, which began in the 1970s, throughout her career. Her first major film was The Rose (1979), for which she received an Academy Award nomination. Later she established herself as a comic actor in such films as Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) and Ruthless People (1987). In 1988 she set up her own production company, and starred in and produced Beaches (1988) and For the Boys (1991).

Her first major singing role was as Tzeitel in the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof (1966). She also performed bawdy numbers in nightclubs as ‘The Divine Miss M’. She became a successful recording artist and won a Grammy Award in 1973. Other films include Big Business (1988), Scenes From A Mall (1990), Hocus Pocus (1993), Get Shorty (1995), The First Wives Club (1996), Drowning Mona (2000), What Women Want (2000), and The Stepford Wives (2004).