Bette Midler (/bɛt/; born December 1, 1945) is an American singer,
songwriter, actress, comedian, and film producer. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Midler began her
professional career in several Off-Off-Broadway plays, prior to 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 in the Continental Baths, a local gay bathhouse where she managed to build up a core
following. In a career spanning almost half a century, Midler has won
three Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. 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 Multiplatinum albums by RIAA. Throughout
her career, many of her songs became hits on the record charts, including her
renditions of "The Rose", "Wind Beneath My Wings",
"Do You Want to Dance",
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy",
and "From a Distance." Midler
made her motion picture debut in 1979 with The Rose, which earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress, as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best
Actress. She has since starred in a number of hit films, which
include: Down and Out in Beverly
Hills (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), Big Business (1988), Beaches (1988), Hocus Pocus (1993), The First Wives Club (1996), The Stepford Wives (2004),
and Parental Guidance (2012).
She also starred in For the Boys (1991)
and Gypsy (1993),
winning two additional Golden Globes for these films and receiving a second
Academy Award nomination for the former. In 2008, she signed a contract
with Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to perform a show titled Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On,
which ended in 2010. Midler's latest work included appearing on Broadway in a revival of Hello, Dolly!, which
began preview performances on March 15, 2017 and premiered at the Shubert Theatre on
April 20, 2017.[5][6] It was her first leading role in a Broadway
musical.[7] On June 11, 2017, Midler received the Tony Award
for Best Actress in a Musical for the title role in Hello,
Dolly!.