Tragic Details About Bette Midler's Life

Bette Midler is a powerhouse, both on stage and off. A Broadway performer, award-winning actor, and published author, she has seen incredible success. Her incredible acting skills, sharp comedic timing, and melodic voice have garnered her many awards, including three Emmys, two Oscar nominations (including one for her breakout role in 'The Rose"), three Grammys, and one Tony award. All of this success, as Midler joked in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, was due to her inability to hold down a normal job. "In my defense, I couldn't do anything else," she quipped. "I'd had jobs before and had always failed at them." 

Though the "Hocus Pocus" actor also pointed toward her self-motivation as a key factor to her success, explaining, "I was just going to make it no matter what." But what you might not know about Midler is that she dealt with many obstacles on her way to fame. The award-winning performer faced great challenges on her journey to stardom, including insurmountable loss, personal grief, and moments of doubt that changed her life forever. 

Though the Broadway star has become synonymous with New York, Bette Midler grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. For the most part, her girlhood was rather normal: playing with friends, discovering her hobbies, and attending Radford High School, where she met Beth Ellen Childers. As Midler tells it, they were inseparable all throughout high school. The BFFs did end up going their separate ways after graduating from high school. As the pair went off to college, tragedy soon struck Midler in 1964. Her first year apart from her girlhood best friend, Midler received the news that Childers had been struck and killed in a car accident. 

During a conversation for her episode of "Inside the Actor's Studio" back in 2004, Midler found herself reminiscing about her old friend. "She used to make me laugh so hard, I had never laughed like that in my life. I laughed until the tears rolled down my cheeks," she shared. The memories clearly drew up a powerful passion, as Midler turned to the audience to tell them to laugh until they cry often, saying, "That is it, that is the greatest thing in the world." The heartbreaking incident left a lasting impact on Midler, and, as her career grew, Midler would go on to give credit to Childers time and time again as the source of great change to her life and behavior.

It was 1968, just a year after Bette Midler begun starring in "Fiddler on the Roof," and the star was still performing in the show on Broadway. Her big move from Hawaii to New York brought great change and left Midler a little alone in the Big Apple. Especially with her father's distaste for Midler's career, which he did not shy away from sharing with his daughter, it must've been an overwhelming and lonesome change; however, Midler was not alone for long. Judith Midler, the "Hocus Pocus" actor's sister, had moved to New York as well, to pursue her passions as a photographer and film editor. With both sisters in New York and just four days before Christmas, Midler invited Judith to see her performance in "Fiddler on the Roof", to which Judith agreed. 

As she made her way over to the theater, while walking on W. 44th Street, a car lost control on the roadway. Driving erratically, the vehicle struck and killed Judith. Midler, unaware of what had happened, finished her production before discovering the heartbreaking news of her sister's death. The "Beaches" actor was the one who had to break the news to her parents, who were across the country. Judith's loss haunted Midler for years to follow, leading to the dedication of her album "The Divine Miss M" to her older sister. The dedication appears on the cover, reading, (via The New York Times) "This is for Judith." 

The #MeToo movement took the internet by storm when thousands of individuals banded together to raise awareness for sexual assault survivors. Among the many names that shared powerful and harrowing stories online was Bette Midler. It wasn't the first time that she had detailed her experience. Midler had previously told the story of her assault in 1991 while being interviewed by Barbara Walters, but her story, like many others, revealed a painful reality. According to the "First Wives Club" actor, she had been set to film an interview with Geraldo Rivera early in Midler's career, in the 1970s. During the production, Midler spoke to Rivera and the producer, before the pair, as Midler alleges, drugged and assaulted her. The star resurfaced her accusations against the TV personality and producer in a since-deleted November 2017 post on X (formerly Twitter). 

"Tomorrow is my birthday, I feel like this video was a gift from the universe to me," she wrote in her tweet, "Geraldo may have apologized for his tweets supporting Matt Lauer, but he has yet to apologize for this." Attached to the tweet was a video of Midler's interview with Walters, where the actor described the attack in detail. Midler's tweet was spurred on by Rivera's support of TV personality Matt Lauer, who was among the accused in the #MeToo movement, support that Rivera has since rescinded. A month following Midler's demand for an apology, Rivera tweeted, "Although I recall the time @BetteMidler has alluded to much differently than she, that does not change the fact that she has a right to speak out & demand an apology from me, for in the very least, publicly embarrassing her all those years ago. Bette, I apologize."

By her late 30s, there was little Bette Midler wasn't doing with her multi-faceted career. Already an Oscar nominee and two-time Grammy Award winner, Midler refused to take it easy. In 1983, Midler was on her second year of her "No Frills" tour across the United States, performing multiple times a week for her latest album rollout. To accompany her tour, the Broadway singer filmed a TV movie that she starred in. The huge event came hot off the heels of her 1979 tour, when Midler was also releasing her breakout Hollywood film "The Rose." Midler was everywhere, doing everything, and seemingly nothing could slow her down. 

However, the pressure of working non-stop caught up with her in 1983 at a concert in Michigan. Midler, not feeling well during a performance, excused herself off stage and quickly collapsed. She was only 38 at the time. An ambulance was called for the singer, and she was rushed to Pontiac General Hospital. Midler's collapse was attributed to severe exhaustion. Her condition was said to be so concerning that doctors recommended that she cancel a few additional shows. Midler saw her performing come to a screeching halt, at least for some time, as the wake-up call of a lifetime hit her with a hospital stay. 

Bette Midler experienced incredible success early in her career. After moving to New York, Midler landed her breakout role in the Broadway production of "Fiddler on the Roof" at just 21 years old. After making her mark on stage, Midler migrated to the silver screen, starring in iconic films like "The Rose", "Beaches," and "Ruthless People."  But with Midler's rise to stardom came criticism, and she was faced with intense media scrutiny. 

In a 2001 interview with Oprah Winfrey for O, Midler described a time during the beginning of her Hollywood career when comments about her behavior deeply affected her. "I was unjustly accused of grandstanding, and I never did any such thing," the actor explained. "It brought me up short, and I became very sad and depressed." The small criticism carried a great weight on Midler, who was still defining herself as an actor. "I cried a lot and I couldn't get out of bed," she revealed. Midler also referred to that period of her life as her "nervous breakdown."