Bootleg Betty
Happy Birthday to the Divine Miss M
The People’s Diva, Bette Midler
By Mister D
December 1, 2022
Happy Birthday to Bette Midler!
If my color combinations ever look weird, it’s because I’m unimaginally color blind! LOL
Happy Birthday to Bette Midler, The People’s Diva, the Divine Miss M. She’s celebrating her Birthday today! So are all of the BetteHeads. Won’t You Join Us! Everyone can be a BetteHead. Could you put your politics aside? She’s entertained us for almost 50 years with albums so diverse with a voice that can sing any genre of music. Her concerts were always in the Top 10 with the big boys and girls of rock and they loved her.
Many were her friends…including Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Ozzy, Sammy Hagar, Alice Cooper. and E.lton John. Dolly Parton wanted Bette to make a duet album with her of dance music. Now that would be fun. Her interpretations of these two celebrated singer-songwriters catapulted them into the spotlight at the beginning of their careers.
Of course she catapulted into the movies with probably the best debut in history with her portrayal of Mary Rose Foster in The Rose. Famous movie critic Pauline Kael said she had never heard lines delivered like that in 50 years. And she killed it playing a hard-boozing rock singer in the mold of Joplin, early Bonnie Bramlett, Moves like Jagger, Nicks, and Joe Cocker. Kael said if she didn’t win the Oscar for Best Actress, then the Oscars were rife in playing politics and were a farce. Well, Bette lost to Sally Field…She went on making movies and had a string of hits in the 80s and 90s, and even made a 30-year hit with the massive hit Hocus Pocus. Disney, who is kind of slow, turtle slow, maybe slug slow, finally made a sequel this year with Hocus Pocus 2, which was way overdue after 30 years was a worldwide phenomenon.
She has literally had hits in every decade and is still not slowing down. In 2017 she broke Broadway records by playing Dolly Levi and winning a Tony for Best Actress in a musical. But she’s always been a record breaker. And just last year won the biggest award you can get in the United States for Entertainment – The Kennedy Center Honors Award For Lifetime Achievement in The Performing Arts- only a few get this, so it is very special. Another huge moment for her was Johnny Carson inviting her and Robin Williams, where Bette was the last guest; she was on fire and brought her bawdiness, tender moments parody songs. Johnny even sang with her when she started singing a cappella, his favorite song, and she closed the show out with a heart-tugging ballad with some altered lyrics to make it more personal. It even brought tears to Johnny’s eyes. This was one of the most-watched shows in history. Bette won an Emmy for her performance on that show. But the moment and what it meant seemed to matter more.
I’ll end it here, but at 77 years old, it seems she is not ready to call it quits. She just had a huge hit playing her favorite character, the evil but funny Winifred Sanderson, along with her sisters. They make like a veritable female trio inspired by the Three Stooges. Now she’s making 3 more movies. She’s also written 3 best-selling books and has been on a mission to clean up New York by building beautiful gardens and other projects in underserved areas. She reached a goal of planting a million trees with her charity, NYRP, and other organizations. Now, I hear they’re going to plant a million more.
And many of us will never forget her contributions to the gay community during the AIDS epidemic and in the aftermath of 9/11, when many were afraid, but she wasn’t. Mayor Guiliani used her to soothe people and show it was safe to get out. She sang at the Dat of Prayer, where religious leaders worldwide and some of the biggest politicians on both sides came. She was the sole musical and sand WBMWs to a sad, traumatized crowd. She was perfect for this. Just very emotional yet cathartic. She sang at least 100 plus funerals. She also flew to Boston and helped there as well.
I wrote this while I was extremely ill in the early morning. It’s hard for me to look at the screen. but I couldn’t let this go. And Betteheads, I know I missed a lot, so none of that you missed this or that. I know, lol I just wanted to write something nice.
So let’s hear it for my only crush: Happy Birthday Ms. Midler! And thank you!
Bette Midler, I hope you had the best birthday ever, you deserve it, love you,