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.

[4][5] Many of her songs became chart hits, including her renditions of "The Rose", "Wind Beneath My Wings", "Do You Want to Dance", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", and "From a Distance".

[11] Her mother, Ruth (née Schindel), was a seamstress and housewife, and her father, Fred Midler, worked at a U.S. Navy base in Hawaii as a painter, and also painted houses.

In the late 1990s, during the release of her album Bathhouse Betty (1998), Midler commented on her time performing there, "Despite the way things turned out [with the AIDS crisis], I'm still proud of those days.

"Bugle Boy" became a successful cover of the classic swing tune originally introduced and popularized in 1941 by the Andrews Sisters, to whom Midler has repeatedly referred as her idols and inspiration, as far back as her first appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Midler told Carson in an interview that she always wanted to move like the sisters, and Patty Andrews remembered: "When I first heard the introduction on the radio, I thought it was our old record.

During those four years, she concentrated on her music career and in 1983, released the album No Frills, produced by Chuck Plotkin, who was best known for his work with Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

[1] Later in 1988, Midler lent her voice to the animated character Georgette, a snobbish poodle, in Disney's Oliver & Company, and had a hit with Beaches, co-starring Barbara Hershey.

[24] Midler's 1990 cover of the Julie Gold song "From a Distance", the first offering from her seventh studio album Some People's Lives (1990), topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts and achieved platinum status in the US.

The third feature film adaptation of the 1920 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty, Midler portrayed a vulgar single mother living in Watertown, New York, who, determined to give her daughter all the opportunities she never had, ultimately makes a selfless sacrifice to ensure her happiness.

In the film, Allen's character reveals to his author wife Deborah, played by Midler, after years of a happy marriage, that he has had an affair, resulting in her request for divorce.

A historical musical drama, it tells the story of 1940s actress and singer Dixie Leonard, played by Midler, who teams up with Eddie Sparks, a famous performer, to entertain American troops.

[1] Released to initially mixed reviews, through various outlets (such as strong DVD sales and annual record-breaking showings on 13 Nights of Halloween), the film has achieved cult status over the years.

Airing on CBS, initial ratings were high, marking the best sitcom debut for the network in more than five years, but viewers percentage soon declined, resulting in the show's cancellation in early 2001.

[49] Also in 2000, Midler made an uncredited cameo appearance in Nancy Meyers' fantasy rom–com What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.

In Andrew Bergman's Isn't She Great, a highly fictionalized account of the life and career of author Jacqueline Susann, she played alongside Nathan Lane and Stockard Channing, portraying Susann with her early struggles as an aspiring actress relentlessly hungry for fame, her relationship with press agent Irving Mansfield, her success as the author of Valley of the Dolls, and her battle with and subsequent death from breast cancer.

Following a reported long-standing feud with Barry Manilow, the two joined forces after many years in 2003 to record Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook.

One of the Clooney Songbook selections, "This Ole House", became Midler's first Christian radio single shipped by Rick Hendrix and his positive music movement.

Also in 2004, she appeared in a supporting role in Frank Oz' science fiction satire The Stepford Wives, a remake of the 1975 film of the same name also based on the Ira Levin novel.

Also starring Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken and Glenn Close, Midler played Bobbie Markowitz, a writer and recovering alcoholic.

"[57] While the original book and film had tremendous cultural impact, the remake was marked by poor reviews by many critics, and a financial loss of approximately $40 million at the box office.

[61] Midler released a new Christmas album titled Cool Yule in 2006, which featured a duet of Christmastime pop standards "Winter Wonderland"/"Let It Snow" with Johnny Mathis.

Also starring Hunt along with Matthew Broderick and Colin Firth, the comedy-drama film tells the story of a 39-year-old Brooklyn elementary school teacher, who after years is contacted by the flamboyant host of a local talk show, played by Midler, who introduces herself as her biological mother.

[68] Midler received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2012, recognizing how she "captivated the world" with her "stylish presentation and unmistakable voice.

Despite generally negative reviews by critics, who felt the film was "sweet but milquetoast", box office totals for the movie were higher than initially expected.

[72] A December 2013 announcement cast Midler as actress Mae West in an HBO biopic written by Harvey Fierstein and directed by William Friedkin.

Midler performed the song "The Place Where Lost Things Go" from Mary Poppins Returns at the 91st Annual Academy Awards ceremony on February 24, 2019.

[85] Midler received the Kennedy Center Honor for a lifetime of achievement in the performing arts, with the medallion ceremony held at the Library of Congress on December 4, 2021.

[92] In 1991, Midler was an early sponsor of the Adopt-a-Highway, paying $2,000 a month for a crew to clean up a 2 miles (3.2 km) section of the Ventura Freeway in Burbank, California.

"[93] The location was so prominent that it became fodder for her 1993 guest appearance on the Simpsons episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled", where she is seen picking up trash along a stretch of highway she has adopted and causes car crashes for drivers who deliberately litter.