Bette Midler says Bette Davis was ‘not pleased’ after learning she was named after her
Bette Midler is known as the “Divine Miss M,” but she was named for another Hollywood legend.
Bette Midler is known as the “Divine Miss M,” but she was named for another Hollywood legend.
Midler says she was named after Bette Davis — but the two-time Oscar winner didn’t approve.
Midler, who’s enjoyed a stellar career with three Emmys, a trio of Grammys, a pair of Tony Awards and two Oscar nominations, said her father was a “straightforward” and “blue-collar” guy, so the inspiration to name her after Davis came from her mother, a tribute that Davis herself could’ve done without.
“My mother was more airy-fairy. My mother had imagination. She had dreams. She wanted to speak French. It was lovely. And so I have both of these people tugging at me all the time. And my mother named me for Bette Davis, which Bette Davis was not pleased to hear,” she told Hoda Kotb on the Wednesday episode of Hoda’s “Making Space” podcast.
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Rating: 5