Bootleg Betty
Photo: Delores Delago In Paris, France
By Mister D
Nov 5, 2025
Delores Delago, the flamboyant mermaid alter ego of Bette Midler, came to life during the singer’s 1978 world concert tour as a satirical nod to ambition unchecked by talent or decorum. In her memoir A View from A Broad, Midler described the character—a wheelchair-bound “Toast of Chicago” with swaying palms, dangling coconuts, and a fin-clad lower half—as a woman of “tremendous determination and absolutely no skill,” who zipped across stages belting tunes, cracking raunchy jokes, and even tumbling to the floor mid-performance before hauling herself back up. This bold, politically tinged persona, blending campy glamour with commentary on disability and showbiz excess, debuted to roaring crowds and was immortalized in Midler’s 1980 concert film Divine Madness.
