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Today is December 1st, 2025, which means it’s Bette Midler’s 80th birthday (That’s right, the Divine Miss M is now the Divine Miss LXXX). Born in 1945 to a Jewish family in Honolulu, Midler briefly studied drama at the University of Hawaii. She left for New York to pursue a performing arts career, but not before making her (uncredited) film debut as a seasick boat passenger in the 1966 drama Hawaii.
A student of acting coach Uta Hagen, Bette landed her first off-Broadway parts in 1965 and two years took over as Tzeitel in the Broadway staging of Fiddler on the Roof, a role she played for three years. 1971 found her in Seattle for the first staging of The Who’s rock opera Tommy, playing both Mrs. Walker and the Acid Queen. Even more offbeat was her early ’70s singing gig at a Manhattan gay bathouse, the renowned Continental Baths (accompanied on the piano by one Barry Manilow).
After earning a Best New Artist Grammy Award for her 1972 album The Divine Miss M, a special Tony Award in 1974, and a 1977 Emmy Award for her TV special Ol’ Red Hair is Back, Bette’s big Hollywood film break arrived. As a doomed, Janis Joplin-like rock singer in 1979’s The Rose, she received the first of her two Academy Award nominations. 1980’s concert movie Divine Madness was followed two years later by the comedy Jinxed! Unfortunately, the box-office dud lived up to its title, and Midler was off theater screens for four years.
The late ’80s and early ’90s saw Bette regain her cinematic star status with a variety of popular releases, mostly from the Disney studios. Among these were Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Ruthless People, voice work in the animated Oliver & Company, Beaches, and more. 1991 saw Midler garner her second Oscar nom for the song-filled seriocomedy For the Boys, followed in 1993 by perhaps her most popular role, that of spell-casting sibling Winifred Sanderson in the bewitching family favorite Hocus Pocus. Key late ’90s and 2000s releases included The First Wives Club alongside Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton; as author Jacqueline Susann in Isn’t She Great; remakes of The Stepford Wives in 2004 and The Women in 2008; and opposite Billy Crystal in the 2012 family comedy Parental Guidance. She most recently teamed with Susan Sarandon, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Megan Mullally as The Fabulous Four (2024).
To salute the multi-talented Midler on her birthday, we’re asking you to pick which motion picture role you think is Bette’s best. Vote for your favorite film below, and let us know in the comments if your choice isn’t there.