Bette Midler, a multi-Grammy Award-winning singer, comedian, and author, has demonstrated that she is a very skilled actress in a number of dramatic and comic roles.
Midler received her education in acting from the University of Hawaii, and she began her career as a singer by playing in gay bathhouses with Barry Manilow providing musical support on the piano.
After the success of her debut album, “The Divine Miss M,” in November 1972, and her second album, “Bette Midler,” in November 1973, Bette quickly rose to the top of the music industry.
Following a string of supporting appearances in movies and TV shows, she shocked her audiences with her performance as a hard-partying rock star in The Rose (1979), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
List of All Bette Midler’s Movies
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Hawaii | Passenger | Uncredited |
| 1968 | The Detective | Girl at Party | Uncredited |
| 1969 | Goodbye, Columbus | Wedding Guest | Uncredited |
| 1971 | The Thorn | Virgin Mary | Also known as The Divine Mr. J |
| 1972 | Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers | Lullabye Singer (voice) | |
| 1979 | The Rose | Mary Rose Foster | |
| 1980 | Divine Madness! | Herself / Divine Miss M. | Concert film |
| 1982 | Jinxed! | Bonita Friml | |
| 1986 | Women in Rock | Herself | Documentary |
| 1986 | Down and Out in Beverly Hills | Barbara Whiteman | |
| 1986 | Ruthless People | Barbara Stone | |
| 1987 | Outrageous Fortune | Sandy Brozinsky | |
| 1988 | Big Business | Sadie Shelton / Sadie Ratliff | |
| 1988 | Oliver & Company | Georgette (voice) | |
| 1988 | Beaches | C. C. Bloom | Also producer |
| 1989 | The Lottery | Music Teacher | Short film |
| 1990 | Stella | Stella Claire | |
| 1991 | Scenes from a Mall | Deborah Fifer | |
| 1991 | For the Boys | Dixie Leonard | Also producer |
| 1992 | Earth and the American Dream | Reader (voice) | Documentary |
| 1993 | Hocus Pocus | Winifred ‘Winnie’ Sanderson | |
| 1994 | A Century of Cinema | Herself | Documentary |
| 1995 | Get Shorty | Doris Saphron | Uncredited |
| 1996 | The First Wives Club | Brenda Cushman | |
| 1997 | That Old Feeling | Lilly Leonard | |
| 1999 | Get Bruce | Herself | |
| 1999 | Fantasia 2000 | Herself / Hostess | Segment: “Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102” |
| 2000 | Drowning Mona | Mona Dearly | |
| 2000 | Isn’t She Great | Jacqueline Susann | |
| 2000 | What Women Want | Dr. J.M. Perkins | Uncredited |
| 2004 | The Stepford Wives | Bobbie Markowitz | |
| 2005 | The Divine Bette Midler | Herself | Documentary |
| 2007 | Then She Found Me | Bernice Graves | |
| 2008 | The Women | Leah Miller | |
| 2010 | Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore | Kitty Galore (voice) | |
| 2012 | Casting By | Herself | Documentary |
| 2012 | Parental Guidance | Diane Decker | |
| 2013 | 20 Feet from Stardom | Herself | Documentary |
| 2017 | Freak Show | Muv | |
| 2019 | The Addams Family | Grandmama (voice) | |
| 2020 | The Glorias | Bella Abzug | |
| 2021 | The Addams Family 2 | Grandmama (voice) | |
| 2022 | Hocus Pocus 2 | Winifred ‘Winnie’ Sanderson |
