On What Bette Midler Thinks Of Herself On The Road: “I think of myself as a sort of tacky grand-dame,” she says. “I was calling people ”˜dah-ling’ when I was in the sixth grade. I don’t know where I got it from. I must have seen too many movies or Noel Coward plays. The ”˜Divine Miss M’ routine was a trademark for me in the beginning. In ”˜The Women’ there was a wonderful character called The Contessa who’s very arch, very grand and very loud. She always says ”˜l’amour, l’amour,’ and she runs off with a singing cowboy. That’s where the ”˜DivineMiss M’ thing came from.” (October 1978)
