Why Bette Midler Has A Lot To Sing About
George Haddad-Garcia

Special thanks to Paul Alleruzzo for sharing this article


"I've called myself the queen of trash, the inventor of sleaze-with-ease," says the earthy, often raucous, always impish Bette Midler. "Let's face it, I came from the pits.  How many other legendary divas do you know who got their start working at a 'gay' bathhouse where the customers' towels were always falling off, giving me a lot to sing about?!" 

There's nobody quite like the Divine Miss M., as she is universally known to her fans, who now include millions of "straights" as well.  In the beginning, she was so bizarre that people didn't know how to characterize her, so she was labeled "the new Streisand."  True, the two Jewish ladies have much in common, they are also quite dissimilar.  For one thing, Bette is far more vulgar than Barbra dares to be, and she laughs a lot more, too.  Whereas the Streisand image is now smooth and calm, Bette is still proud of the night when she bared her bosom to several thousand ecstatic concertgoers.  "Happy New Year!" she yelled, and right afterwards, she and her manager-boyfriend, Aaron Russo, had a fight so loud and physical that the police were summoned. 

"Aaron is . . . very much a part of my life, both personally and professionally," says Ms. Midler, who was reared in Hawaii and once canned pineapples for a living.  Russo is the man who helped mould Bette into a star, and after their romance ended, he stuck around, molding her into a superstar and deftly handing her booming career.  Now she's making the big move into movies, and Russo is her producer (just as Jon Peters is Streisand's). 

The redhead’s first film is The Rose, about a Joplinesque rock singer who destroys herself with booze and pills.  Her co-star is celebrated Alan Bates, about whom she says impishly, "He's such a classic fellow, so strong and silent.  But gorgeous?  My dear, he looks like a fuzzy old bear in our picture.  He's hairy, bearded and has something of a New York accent.  I loved working with him.  I liked teasing him by sending him little notes addressed to 'Master Bates'." 

Bette has been hard at work on her second film Strike And Hyde, in which she plays a Las Vegas blackjack operator.  Beyond that, she has other projects to do, and is making up for lost time. "We began considering motion pictures some time back," she reveals, "but nothing was quite right, and I'm picky.  I want to be more than a splash, I want the big time. I've done it in other fields, why not movies, too?" 

Midler was eagerly sought after by studios who figured she might be the new Streisand of films - especially since the genuine article only makes an occasional movie now.  However, Bette's vehicles will be earthier, more "real" than the typical Barbra-flick.  "Did you hear that story that was going around, that Babs and I were going to team up and do the story of The Dolly Sisters?" she inquires with mischief in her eyes. 

"Where do these stories get started, dear?" 

A while later, she states, "And did you hear that one that John Travolta and I are having a mad, passionate affair?  You didn't?  Well, we're not, but a girl can dream, can't she?" 

Actually, the girl whose professional start was playing an 'extra' in Julie Andrews' Hawaii is now romantically involved with a younger actor named Peter Riegert, who appeared in the unsuccessful American Hot Wax.  Bette declined to detail their relationship and won't even discuss marriage - "Who'd want to marry me?" she once asked - but she allowed that "we're happy in our new home, and we stay up until all hours of the night acting out little plays, stories and characters we invent on the spur of the moment.
”It’s not good for a woman to live alone, and even though Aaron and I are close, it's a brother-sister thing now.  I need a special man in my life, someone I can eat crackers 'n cheese in bed with, then turn the lights off and boogey with." 

Aaron Russo, who guards her like a hawk, has been widely criticized for being Ms. Midler's Svengali.  But the fact is, he is a clever businessman, one sincerely concerned with the well being of his client and good friend.  Says Bette, “Nobody does it on their own in this business, but some people like to pretend that's how it is. 

"Without him, I don't know where I'd be.  Maybe still at the Continental Baths, I dunno.  Nobody - no woman or man - makes it all alone, and thank goodness.” 

Another person crucial to Bette's earlier career was her musical arranger and conductor, Barry Manilow.  At the time, he never appeared on stage, but was persuaded one night to do so (not by his boss however).  When he got more applause than the star herself, friction supposedly began to develop.  Manilow discovered his song-writing and singing talents (he had previously composed several commercial jingles and set out to become a huge popular artist, one who now sells more American albums than any other singer.) 

What is Barry and Bette's relationship these days, since he left and began a virtuoso in his own right? "I wish him well," says the curly-haired singer.  Manilow has been quoted as saying his former boss is very "into herself," and may be a bit jealous, since she hasn't had a single-hit in a few years, since her disco-version of "Strangers In The Night." No doubt about it, the lady is rather defensive about her work, and when one of her albums was panned by a critic in L.A., she went up to him in a bar and slugged him in the kisser. 

"Oh, but we kissed and made up a while after," she says.  Nonetheless, the Divine One is known to have a strong temper and not a few personal quirks.  For a recent European tour, she caused resentment among some American stars by refusing to be paid in dollars (or local currencies), but insisting on gold.  She was warmly received in France and elsewhere, but by American standards, sales and ovations were half-hearted. 

"At least this time I'm not insulting anyone," she recalled before departing for Paris.  Last time there, she opined publicly that French people were rude and their cherished cuisine "overrated".  Bette does not like making enemies, although few superstars can’t help it.  Rather, she loves to make people laugh and want more of her. 

"They come to see me, and they keep coming back," she reasons, "because I say and do things they'd love to do, but wouldn't dare.  I can insult people or be outrageously tacky or vulgar, but people know I'm just kidding.  The divine Miss M is not necessarily Bette Midler, although I do admire the old girl a hell of a lot.