Star a Sure Bette
The multi-talented Bette Midler talks politics, social media, old age and choosing yes over no with Michele Manelis
IF I were Chief of Staff, who would I like to work for?” Bette Midler repeats the question aloud, theatrically.
The singer- songwriteractress-producer is talking politics, naturally, while she promotes the second season of Ryan Murphy’s political satire,
The Politician, in which she resumes her post as Chief of
Staff Hadassah Gold.
“Well, I’d have to say, Mr Obama ran a great ship! He is one of our guiding lights and was a tremendous commanderin- chief. It was wonderful to feel you were safe,” she says.
It’s a cold day in Manhattan, shortly before COVID-19 would turn the world on its head, and before anyone had ever heard of George Floyd, let alone imagine the United States would find itself under siege.
Her words would prove portentous, particularly when she adds, “If you’re not a good tactician or a good strategic thinker, you can get yourself into a lot of trouble.”
Strategic thinking might not be a natural segue to the subject of President Donald Trump, with whom this staunch, feisty Democrat has had a longrunning feud, regularly trading barbs on social media.
The multi-award-winning star gives an example of their communication and his schoolboy retorts.
“‘ I used to be your fan’, that’s my favourite one,” she says with a chuckle.
“Or, ‘I’m never buying another record of yours’.”
She roars laughing: “Well, we don’t make records any more, fool. I get really nasty reactions from Trump supporters, but I don’t really care, they are not fans of mine.”
Midler lives in New York City, with her husband of 36 years, artist Martin von Haselberg. They listed their Upper East Side penthouse apartment for US$ 50 million in September 2019.
Her lookalike daughter, actress Sophie von Haselberg, who appeared in The Wizard of Lies and Irrational Man, lives nearby.
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Midler was raised by her New Jersey-born parents: her mother, a seamstress, and her father, a painter who worked at a Navy base.
After attending the University of Hawaii, majoring in drama, she moved to New York to pursue her career where she began in theatre productions such as The Fiddler on the Roof.
She can date the beginning of her popularity as a gay icon to her stint singing in a gay bathhouse alongside Barry Manilow, her accompanist, who also produced her first album,
The Divine Miss M, in 1972. In 1990, she released an album, Bathhouse Betty, as a nod to that formative time in her life.
But her breakthrough acting role came in 1979 when she starred in The Rose, earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and chart success for singing the title track.
Other career milestones include the soaring 1990 hit Wind Beneath My Wings
(earning her a third Grammy) and starring roles in Ruthless
People (1986), Beaches (1988),
Hocus Pocus (1993) and The First
Wives Club (1996).
She also performed on Broadway in I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers (2013) and in 2018 in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly! for which she earned her second Tony Award.
Showing no signs of slowing down, she will be seen next as feminist icon Bella Abzug in The
Glorias, a biopic about Gloria Steinem, alongside Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander and Janelle Monae.
So how does this 74-year- old maintain such a vibrant and energetic life?
“I’ve been reading a lot of Twyla Tharp. She’s a dancer and she talks about how movement will keep you alive. It’s not exercise that you don’t like doing, but movement that you like to do, like dancing or jumping jacks which is key.”
She shrugs: “Old age is a very difficult transition.”
Would she ever wish to be young again?
“No, I don’t think I could cope. It’s too complicated, too hard. When I was growing up, my generation had the best of it. We dodged a bullet.
“We had peace, we had contentment and we had civility. We don’t have any of those things anymore. And those gigantic platforms where people are allowed to say the worst things they can possibly think of, and injure people to their very core and destroy lives. It’s not fair.”
She shakes her head: “I wouldn’t make it.”
The interview comes full circle as the subject returns to politics.
“I try to be optimistic about the future. I try very hard because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning.”
She pauses: “It’s best to choose optimism, it’s best to choose ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’.”
So could Midler be described as a ‘glass half-full’ person?
She laughs again: “My family doesn’t think so, but I’m trying to be!”