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Bette Midler
From Outcyclopedia, the free and queer encyclopedia. Bette Midler (born December 1, 1945) is a singer, actress and comedian. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, she majored in drama at the University of Hawaii, and made her film acting debut in an uncredited bit role in the 1966 film Hawaii as a seasick missionary. However, her professional career really began to take off when she began singing in gay bathhouses in New York City, most notably the Continental Baths, hence one of her early nicknames, "Bathhouse Betty." It was here where, among others, she became friends with Barry Manilow, who was her piano accompanist. He produced her first major album, The Divine Miss M (also the name by which she is known to her fans.) Midler appeared in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway, but it was her singing that made her a star. She was tapped for the role of the drug-addled rock music star in The Rose, modeled after Janis Joplin,for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1986, director Paul Mazursky cast her in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, beginning a successful comedic acting career. She appeared in such other popular comedies as Ruthless People, Outrageous Fortune and Big Business. In 1988 she starred in the film Beaches. Midler sang several of the film's songs including "Wind Beneath My Wings," which became one of Midler's most popular hits, receiving multiple Grammy Awards. Her rendition of 1990's " From a Distance" also earned her a Grammy and is another of her most popular songs. In 2004 she reunited with Manilow to record Bette Midler Records the Rosemary Clooney Songbook, which was nominated for a Grammy and was one of her best-selling albums in 20 years. Other films include Scenes From a Mall, For the Boys (for which she was again nominated for an Academy Award), Hocus Pocus, The First Wives Club, and the 2004 version of The Stepford Wives. Her television work includes a production of Gypsy and her sitcom Bette. She won an Emmy Award in 1993 for her memorable performance on the second to last episode of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. External links: Entry added 4 February, 2005. This article uses material from the Wikipedia article, "Bette Milder." All text is available for use under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (see Copyrights for details). DISCLAIMER: This is not an adult site, and does not contain any pornographic images or material. Any references to sex or other adult material or behavior is made from a purely academic standpoint. Images used on this site are credited whenever possible, and any whose copyright status is in dispute will be gladly removed or credited upon request. Not all persons listed on this site are or were openly homosexual, but reasonable conclusions about their sexuality may and has been made from diaries, letters, and other writings and accounts made by them and/or those who knew them. Several others are heterosexual and are included here for the impact, whether positive or negative, they have made on queer culture and history. |
