Bette Midler
Page 42
Her stage shows have always been unforgettable—for their outrageous brassiness and for the amazing amount of energy she expends on stage. Indeed, she stops at nothing to please an audience. And she has in the past really given her all.
“I think I like singing more than any of that. The singing is the biggest challenge. The rest of it is very, very simple for me. Other people, you know, probably grind their teeth and say, ‘Oh, she’s so full of it.’ But you have to hone that gift constantly—you cannot let it go, otherwise it disappears. That, I think, is the greatest challenge, and I’ve always liked the challenge” (164).
In her own words, she proclaims, “I think the reason I was put here is to make people happy” (8). Indeed, she’s done everything in her power to stand out from the crowd. She’s bared her soul in a song, and she’s bared her breasts to shock and please an audience. She’s mooned Harvard, dropped her dress for St. Louis, flashed Detroit, and performed great feats without fear of convention, taste, or scandal. And, through it all, it has been internationally acknowledged that she IS beautiful, DAMN IT!
She is unpredictable, and there’s no telling what she is going to do next. She is famous for her charitable work as well. Bette Midler has come to be known as a champion of the downtrodden. She’s never afraid to stand up for what she believes in—no matter what the odds. She has proved her versatility, and she again has the confidence to take chances. Her ability to look at life and laugh at it, and her talent for bringing to life so many vivid characters, have brought her international fame. She’s had several disappointments, but at this point in her career, she has so many irons in the fire and her position in show business is so well established that her star stature is secure. Her legion of loyal fans support her outlandishness, and her critics know what she’ll tell them to do if they can’t take a joke! Fortunately, the public’s love affair with the Divine Miss M has only just begun.
Three decades ago she knew she wanted to get into the movies, and since that time, what an amazingly rich body of filmed work she has created—from dramas like The Rose, Beaches, and Stella to comedies like Ruthless People, Down & Out in Beverly Hills, and First Wives Club. She’s been a cartoon character in Oliver & Company, and often her mere guest appearance in a film brightens up the screen, as it did in Get Shorty, Jackie’s Back, and What Women Want. She has starred in her own TV series, won Emmys for her television specials, and penned best-selling books.
According to her, “I’m very glad I lived the life that I lived. It made me what I am. I’m having a fabulous time” (164).
Books, records, songwriting, television, movie production, motherhood . . . it’s clear that Bette Midler and her talent know no boundaries. She isn’t easily intimidated by challenge—or by critical or artistic disappointment. As she has been for many years, she is in total control of her career. Who knows? She may even end up playing Lady Macbeth before she’s done. To recall the magic word from Baby Divine, there is only one thing better than all of this creativity from Bette, and that is “more!”
SOURCES OF QUOTED MATERIAL
(1)
Jenny Allen, “Bette Midler: The Divine Secrets of Bette Midler,” Good Housekeeping (October 2000).
(2)
“Bette Midler,” Current Biography (June 1973).
(3)
Chris Chase, “Good, Better, Best, Bette,” New York Times, January 14, 1973.
(4)
Charles Michener, “Here Comes Bette!/Bette Midler,” Newsweek (December 17, 1973).
(5)
Robb Baker, Bette Midler: The Divine Miss M (Popular Library, 1975).
(6)
Cynthia Spector, “Bette Midler: I Want to Be the Most Desired Woman on Earth/Bette: There Is Only One Bette Midler,” Zoo World (October 25, 1973).
(7)
Bette Midler, Mud Will Be Flung Tonight! (Atlantic Records, 1985).
(8)
Mark Bego, Bette Midler: Outrageously Divine (New American Library, 1987).
(9)
J. E. Burgoyne, “Midler Liking Home, Hubby,” New Orleans Times Picayune, July 15, 1986.
(10)
“Stargazing,” Kansas City Star, column item; Kansas City, Missouri; July 3, 1986.
(11)
Jan Hodenfield, “Divine Miss Superstar,” New York Post, December 30, 1972.
(12)
May Okon, “Today’s Best Bette,” New York Sunday News, October 28, 1973.
(13)
Timothy White, “ ‘The Rose’—Bette Midler Conquers Hollywood/The Homecoming—Bette Midler Outgrows Her Hollywood Dreams in ‘The Rose,’ ” Rolling Stone (December 13, 1979).
(14)
Patricia Burstein, “Bette Midler: Tender, Tacky and Back on Top/A Showbiz Dropout for 15 Months, Bette Midler Returns in Tacky Triumph,” People (June 30, 1975).
(15)
Dave Hirshey, “Return Engagement: Bette Midler,” Sunday News Magazine, New York Daily News, November 4, 1979.
(16)
James Spada, The Divine Bette Midler (Collier Books, 1984).
(17)
Melinda Gerosa, “Best Bette,” Ladies’ Home Journal (September 1999).
(18)
Mark Morrison, “With a New Husband, Two Hit Movies and a Baby on the Way, Who Wants to Be Ruthless? BETTE MIDLER,” Us (July 28, 1986).
(19)
Al Rudis, “Bette Comes On Strong and Some Can’t Take the Heat,” Showcase/Chicago Sun Times, July 25, 1971.
(20)
Richard Corliss, “You Bette! Midler Strikes Again in Outrageous Fortune/Bette Steals Hollywood,” Time (March 2, 1987). Reported by Mary Cronin/New York; Elaine Dutka and Denise Worrell/Los Angeles.
(21)
Claudia Dreifus, “Bette Midler: The Outcast Who’s Finally ‘In’ ” Playgirl (1975).
(22)
Lynn Hirschberg, “Bette’s Bet/Meta Midler,” New York Times Magazine, October 8, 2000.
(23)
Alan J. Gansberg, “ ‘Tacky’ Places and Future Plans Top Divine Miss M Talk,” Herald-News, Passaic, New Jersey, August 10, 1973.
(24)
Judith Stone, “An Even Better Bette,” McCalls (March 1986).
(25)
Patrick and Barbara Salvo, “Bette Midler Had to Kill ‘The Divine Miss M,’ ” Touch (July 1974).
(26)
“Trash with Flash,” Time (September 10, 1973).
(27)
Marsha Blyth, “Bette Tells All/Bette on Bette,” Ladies’ Home Journal (January 1992).
(28)
Radford High School newspaper, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1963.
(29)
Kay Holmes, “A Visit to the Pad of the Queen of Camp,” Sunday News Magazine, New York Daily News, August 5, 1973.
(30)
Nancy Collins, “Bette Midler: The Cheese-Bomb American Crapola Dream,” Rolling Stone (December 9, 1982).
(31)
Mark Bego’s interview with Baby Jane Dexter, New York City, December 5, 1986.
(32)
Mark Bego’s interview with a confidential source, New York City, October 15, 1986.
(33)
Rex Reed, “That Wacky Little Waif, Bette Midler,” Sunday New York Daily News, February 20, 1972.
(34)
The Tonight Show, NBC-TV, October 1970.
(35)
Mark Bego’s interview with a confidential source, who was once employed by Bette Midler, New York City, October 18, 1986.
(36)
Mark Bego’s telephone interview with Moogy Klingman, April 9, 2002.
(37)
Mark Bego’s telephone interview with Buzzy Linhart, April 11, 2002.
(38)
Craig Zadan, “Bette’s Back!” New York (April 14, 1975).
(39)
Mark Bego’s interview with Marie Morreale, New York City, December 4, 1986.
(40)
Kevin Sessums, “Bette’s Back/La Belle Bette,” Vanity Fair (December 1991).
(41)
John S.
Wilson, review of Bette Midler at Downstairs at the Upstairs, New York Times, October 3, 1971.
(42)
Gerald Clarke, “Midler: Make Me a Legend!” Time (December 31, 1979).
(43)
Barry Manilow, Sweetlife: Adventures on the Way to Paradise (McGraw Hill, 1986).
(44)
Mike Jan, review of The Divine Miss M, Cue (1972).
(45)
Jim Spada, quoting a 1973 Rolling Stone article on Bette Midler, in his book The Divine Bette Midler (Collier, 1984).
(46)
Bette Midler, A View from a Broad (Simon and Schuster, 1980).
(47)
A review by Henry Edwards in the New York Times, 1972, quoted in a press release from Atlantic Records that was sent out with the Broken Blossom album.
(48)
Rob Baker, “Above and Beyond the Call of Trash,” Soho Weekly News, May 5, 1977.
(49)
Lillian Roxon, “The Divine Miss M. and Those Rotten Old Days,” Sunday New York Daily News, January 7, 1973.
(50)
Mark Bego’s interview with Barry Manilow, 1975.
(51)
“Bette Midler,” a review of her act at the Palace Theater, New York City, Variety, December 5, 1973.
(52)
Michael LaChetta, “Not Divine . . . but Miss M Is Very Special,” New York Daily News, December 4, 1973.
(53)
Richie Rothenstein’s interview with Melissa Manchester, late 1970s.
(54)
Stan Mieses, “Surprise! Bette’s Grown Up,” Sunday New York Daily News, March 7, 1976.
(55)
Jon Laudau, review of the album Bette Midler, Rolling Stone (1973).
(56)
Kay Gardella, “Will Cher Be a Long-Playing Single?” New York Daily News, February 9, 1975.
(57)
Robert G. Smith, “Cher’s TV Clothes Cost Up to $30,000 a Week,” National Enquirer, June 24, 1975.
(58)
Robert Wahls, “The Very Odd Couple,” New York Daily News, April 13, 1975.
(59)
Mike Jahn, “Guaranteed Taste-Free,” Cue (March 14–20, 1975.
(60)
Rex Reed, review of Bette Midler’s Clams on the Half-Shell Revue, New York Daily News, 1975.
(61)
Clive Barnes, Revue: Bette Midler, New York Times, April 18, 1975.
(62)
Mark Bego, “In Manhattan,” Portland Opera (May 14, 1975).
(63)
Richard Goldstein, “The Dark Side of Bette Midler,” Village Voice, April 21, 1975.
(64)
Victoria Kingston, Simon & Garfunkel: The Biography (Fromm International, 1988).
(65)
Mark Bego’s interview with a confidential source, 2002.
(66)
Mark Bego’s interview with Gary Herb, New York City, December 4, 1986.
(67)
Grover Lewis, “Bette and Aaron: One Sings, the Other Doesn’t,” New West (March 13, 1978).
(68)
Steven Gaines, “Top of Pop: ‘I’m Real Sorry—But That’s Show Biz,’ ” New York Daily News, 1976.
(69)
David Tipmore, “Bette Midler Bids for Fame,” Village Voice, February 9, 1976.
(70)
“Bette: Shuffle Off in Buffalo,” New York Post, February 16, 1978.
(71)
Peter Lester, “Bette Midler: Give Me Some Respect—I’m a Screen Goddess Now/After Capturing Janis and Being Compared to Barbara, Nothing’s Too Lofty for the Divine Miss M,” People (January 7, 1980).
(72)
Liz Smith, “Publicity, Privacy & Personality,” New York Daily News, 1977.
(73)
A press release bulletin sent out to journalists by Atlantic Records, advertising the album Live at Last (Album Reviews, 1977).
(74)
Frank Rose, “Bette Midler Spreads It Around,” Village Voice, June 20, 1977.
(75)
Bill Sievert, “Dispatch: Marred but Successful ‘Star Spangled Night,’ ” Advocate (October 1977).
(76)
by Leon MacDonald, “Sharon Redd, Ula Hedwig, Charlotte Crossley,” Routes (June 1978).
(77)
Mark Bego’s telephone interview with Brooks Arthur, April 17, 2002.
(78)
Arthur Bell, “Bette Midler at $20 a Head,” Village Voice, January 23, 1978.
(79)
Nicolas Yanni, review of the Bette Midler TV special, Soho Weekly News, December 8, 1977.
(80)
Ol’ Red Hair Is Back, TV special, 1977.
(81)
David Shaw, “I’ve Got All These Characters Living Inside of Me,” TV Guide (December 3, 1977).
(82)
Press release sent out by Rogers & Cowan (1975), “Bette Midler Refuses $3,000,000: Will Do Intimate Tour Instead.”
(83)
Mark Bego’s review notes, the Copacabana, January 20, 1978.
(84)
Rex Reed, “Place Your Bettes,” New York Daily News, January 18, 1978.
(85)
Corby Kummer, “Best Bette Yet,” Cue (November 23, 1978)
(86)
“The Midler Touch,” Marquee (January/February 1980).
(87)
Paul Grien, “A Rejected ‘Rose’ Blooms for Midler, Enhancing Credibility,” Billboard (February 4, 1981).
(88)
Armistead Maupin, “Bette Midler,” Interview (1982).
(89)
Warren Hoge, “Bette Midler Goes Hollywood,” New York Times, December 10, 1978.
(90)
Stephen Holden, review of Thighs and Whispers, Village Voice, 1979.
(91)
“People” page item, Time (November 19, 1979).
(92)
Judy Klemesrud, “Bette Midler Takes Her Party in Stride,” New York Times, November 8, 1979.
(93)
Frank Rich, “Flashy Trash,” a review of The Rose, Time (November 12, 1979).
(94)
No Frills, Cinemax special 1983.
(95)
Lee Grant, “Midler: In the Hubbub of Jinxed,” Los Angeles Times, Calendar, September 5, 1982.
(96)
Lee Grant, “Trouble on the Set of Jinxed? You Can Bet on It,” Los Angeles Times, Calendar, September 27. 1981.
(97)
Thomas O’Connor, “Bette Midler is Up and In in Hollywood,” New York Times, June 22, 1986.
(98)
Tower Records.com, 2002, Internet site, quoting press reviews from various sources, as individually indicated.
(99)
Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, Video Movie Guide 2001 (Ballantine Books, 2000).
(100)
Carol Wallace, “Bette Midler: At 40, the Sassiest Mouth in Showbiz Surprises Herself with a Happy Marriage/Happy at Last? You Bette,” People (February 3, 1986).
(101)
Jack Curry, “Bette Is Back: The Refined Miss M,” USA Weekend (January 31–February 2, 1986).
(102)
John Corry, review of Bette Midler: Art or Bust! New York Times, 1984.
(103)
“Random Notes: The Prime of Miss Bette Midler,” Rolling Stone (January 30, 1986).
(104)
Stephen M. Silverman, “Mazursky Up & At ‘Em, Thanks to Down & Out,” New York Post.
(105)
Bruce Cook, “Up and into Beverly Hills,” News, Van Nuys, California, January 31, 1986.
(106)
Roger Ebert, review of Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Chicago Sun Times, January 31, 1986.
(107)
Richard Shickel, review of his Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Time, 1986.
(108)
Bill Morrison, review of Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Raleigh, North Carolina, News and Observer, February 12, 1986.
(109)
Michael Neill, “The Divine Misses M,” “Chatter” item, People, 1986.
(110)
&nb
sp; Monica Collins, “Miss M Never Divined She’d Be This Happy,” USA Today (July 14, 1988).
(111)
Cathleen McGuigan, “The Divine Mrs. M,” Newsweek (June 30, 1986).
(112)
“ ‘The Divine Miss M’ Plays a Hellish Hostage in Ruthless People,” News, Armadillo, Texas; August 3, 1986.
(113)
Eleanor Ringel, “Dandy DeVito vs. Best Bette,” Atlanta Journal, June 27, 1986.
(114)
“Ruthless People at Holiday Cinemas,” Register Citizen, Torrington, Connecticut; July 1, 1986.
(115)
Peter Travers, review of Outrageous Fortune, People (February 16, 1987).
(116)
David Ansen with Peter McAlevey, “Some Down and Dirty Zingers,” Newsweek (January 26, 1987).
(117)
Richard Corliss, “Femeraderie” a review of Outrageous Fortune, Time (February 2, 1987).