Born in Honolulu, Hawaii; educated at University of Hawaii and Herbert Berghof Studio, New York. Bawdy, red-haired, larger-than-life revue performer with a wide, toothsome smile, who performed on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof in the late 1960s and electrified New York in a series of shows early the following decade. Achieving success as a recording artist and performer in Divine Madness! and The Divine Miss M, Midler made her first impact as a film actress in THE ROSE (1979), in a role as a burned-out singer that fully exploited her singing talents and yen for the outrageous. After the failure of the aptly named comedy JINXED! (1982) Midler was off the screen for four years, but kept busy in concert work and TV specials. Signed by Disney in 1986, Midler proved herself a deft, aggressive comedienne in a skein of profitable comedies beginning with the bright satire DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS (1986) and continuing through the enjoyable if forgettable OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE (1987) and BIG BUSINESS (1988). Probably the best of her films in this period was the hilarious black comedy RUTHLESS PEOPLE (1986). An entertainer who combines an unabashedly sentimental nostalgia for showbiz tradition with a brassy, sometimes campy approach to its delivery, Midler next appeared in an updated "woman's picture," BEACHES (1988, also producer), and continued to enjoy box-office if not critical success. Such old-fashioned follow-up tearjerkers as STELLA (1990) and FOR THE BOYS (1991, also producer), however, were not successful with the public, though the latter occasionally showed a charismatic flair for drama Midler had not really tapped into since THE ROSE. SCENES FROM A MALL (1991) did not mimic Midler's earlier success in comedy, and her outlandish appearance in Disney's HOCUS POCUS (1993) suggested a return to the zany fare that had made Midler a bankable movie star seven years earlier. 1993 also marked a memorable, long-delayed return to live concert performances for the indefatigable star, who also appeared in an acclaimed TV production of the classic musical Gypsy, which aired on the CBS network in late 1993. She returned to network TV in 2000, starring as herself in her own weekly sitcom, for which she was also executive producer. Other notable credits include THE LOTTERY (1987), GET SHORTY (1995 - uncredited), THE FIRST WIVES CLUB (1996), THAT OLD FEELING (1997), DROWNING MONA, ISN'T SHE GREAT and WHAT WOMEN WANT (uncredited) (all 2000), THE STEPFORD WIVES (2004), THEN SHE FOUND ME (2007), and THE WOMEN (scheduled for 2008). She acted as executive producer for DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD (2002).  Nominated for Actress 1979: THE ROSE  Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1991: FOR THE BOYS 2 nominations