Bette Midler

Bette Midler (birthname: Bette Davis Midler) has had a lively career as an actor, singer, comedian, and a durable pop icon in queer culture, properly launching her movie career spectacularly (after a few bit and uncredited roles) with her Oscar-nominated lead turn in 20^th Century Fox’s musical drama, The Rose (1979), with Alan Bates and Frederic Forrest under Mark Rydell’s direction. Midler collaborated with director-producer Michael Ritchie and cinematographer William A. Fraker for her concert film, Divine Madness! (1980), released by Warner Bros.

Midler went from major hits to a box-office and critical bomb with MGM’s comedy, Jinxed! (1981), directed by Don Siegel (and then directed—without credit—by Sam Peckinpah after Siegel had a heart attack) and co-starring Ken Wahl and Rip Torn. Midler, with her All Girl Productions, starred in a series of comedies for Disney/Touchstone Pictures: director/producer/co-writer Paul Mazursky’s hit comedy, Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), starring Nick Nolte and Richard Dreyfuss, and becoming Disney’s first R-rated release; followed by the $71.6-million-grossing Ruthless People (1986), with Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater under the co-direction of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker; the Arthur Hiller-directed comedy, Outrageous Fortune (1987), with Shelley Long, Peter Coyote, Robert Prosky, and George Carlin; Midler with Lily Tomlin in the Jim Abrahams-directed comedy, Big Business (1988); and the hit ($57 million gross) comedy-drama starring and produced by Midler, Beaches (1988), with Barbara Hershey, John Heard, Spalding Gray, Lanie Kazan, and Jenifer Lewis, under Garry Marshall’s direction.

Midler voiced her first role in a major animation feature with Disney’s musical, Oliver & Company (1988), with Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Cheech Marin, Richard Mulligan, Roscoe Lee Browne, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Dom DeLuise, William Glover, under George Scribner’s direction, and earning about $121 million globally. Midler starred in Touchstone/Samuel Goldwyn Pictures’ Stella Dallas (1937) remake, Stella (1990), with Trini Alvarado, John Goodman, Stephen Collins, and Marsha Mason, but returned a poor $20 million gross.

Bette Midler co-starred with Woody Allen in Paul Mazursky’s comedy, Scenes from a Mall (1991), suffering bad reviews but returning good box office ($19 million on $3 million costs) for Touchstone Pictures. Midler reunited as star-producer with director Mark Rydell for the 1940s musical comedy-drama, For the Boys (1991), co-starring James Caan and George Segal, but losing money for 20^th Century Fox with a paltry $23 million gross, followed by Midler co-starring in Disney’s fantasy comedy, Hocus Pocus (1993), with Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy under Kenny Ortega’s direction.

Midler had an uncredited role in the hit Elmore Leonard adaptation by screenwriter Scott Frank and director Barry Sonenfeld, Get Shorty (1995), with John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, and Danny DeVito. Midler then enjoyed one of her biggest box-office hits with Paramount Pictures’ comedy, The First Wives Club (1996), directed by Hugh Wilson and co-starring Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, Maggie Smith, and Marcia Gay Harden, and grossing a knockout $181 million on $26 million costs.

Bette Midler continued her movie work with Walt Disney Pictures as a segment introducer (for the section set to Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2) in the sequel, Fantasia 2000 (1999), with fellow introducers and music performers James Levine, Steve Martin, Itzhak Perlman, Quincy Jones, James Earl Jones, Penn & Teller, and Angela Lansbury, and grossing a poor $91 million globally. Midler starred as trash author Jacqueline Susann in the forgettable bomb, Isn’t She Great (2000), directed by Andrew Bergman and co-starring Nathan Lane, and then Midler co-starred in another commercial and critical failure, Drowning Mona (2000), with Danny DeVito, Neve Campbell, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Casey Affleck and directed by Nick Gomez.

Midler took a supporting role in the disastrous remake of the 1975 movie, The Stepford Wives (2004), co-starring Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Faith Hill, and Glenn Close under Frank Oz’s direction. Midler then joined star/director/producer/co-writer Helen Hunt for her comedy-drama, Then She Found Me (2007), with Colin Firth, Matthew Broderick, and Ben Shenkman, followed by Midler voicing a role in Warner Bros.’ $112-million-grossing animated movie, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010), alongside cast mates Christina Applegate, Michael Clarke Duncan, Neil Patrick Harris, Sean Hayes, James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Joe Pantoliano, Chris O’Donnell, Wallace Shawn, Roger Moore, and Paul Rodriguez.

Midler voiced the role of Grandmama Addams in the animated version of Charles Addams’ The Addams Family (2019), with the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, and Allison Janney, and then the sequel, The Addams Family 2 (2021), both directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon and released by United Artists Releasing. Midler portrayed Bella Abzug in Julie Taymor’s imaginative biopic, The Glorias (2020), starring Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Timothy Hutton, Lorraine Toussaint, and Janelle Monae, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Bette Midler co-starred with Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally, and Sheryl Lee Ralph in the wedding comedy, The Fabulous Four (2024), directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and released by Bleecker Street (U.S.) and Sierra/Affinity (ex-U.S.). Midler was co-writer with writer-director Molly Gordon of the comedy about two competitive female actors, Small Parts (date to be announced).