By Brenda Jane Temple
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Bette Midler (/bɛt/; born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards and a Kennedy Center Honor, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award.
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Midler began her professional career in several off-off-Broadway plays, prior to her engagements in Fiddler on the Roof and Salvation on Broadway in the late 1960s. She came to prominence in 1970 when she began singing in the Continental Baths, a local gay bathhouse where she managed to build up a core following. Since 1970, Midler has released 14 studio albums as a solo artist, selling over 30 million records worldwide, and has received four Gold, three Platinum, and three Multiplatinum albums by RIAA. Many of her songs became chart hits, including her renditions of “The Rose“, “Wind Beneath My Wings“, “Do You Want to Dance“, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy“, and “From a Distance“. She won Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “The Rose”, and Record of the Year for “Wind Beneath My Wings”.
Midler made her starring film debut with the musical drama The Rose (1979), which won her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, as well as nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress. She went on to star in numerous films, including Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), Big Business (1988), Beaches (1988), Hocus Pocus (1993) and its sequel (2022), The First Wives Club (1996), The Stepford Wives (2004), Parental Guidance (2012), and The Addams Family (2019) and its sequel (2021). Midler also had starring roles in For the Boys (1991) and Gypsy (1993), winning two additional Golden Globe Awards for these films and receiving a second Academy Award nomination for the former.
In 2008, Midler signed a contract with Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for a residency, Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On, which ended in 2010. She starred in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, which began previews in March 2017 and premiered at the Shubert Theatre in April 2017. The show was her first leading role in a Broadway musical. Midler received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
December comes from the Latin word decem, meaning “ten,” because it was the tenth month of the early Roman calendar. Read more about everything happening in December.
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- William Henry Holmes (archaeologist) –
- Rex Stout (novelist) –
- David Fitzgerald Doyle (actor) –
- Woody Allen (actor & producer) –
- Lee Trevino (golfer) –
- Richard Pryor (comedian & actor) –
- Stephen Benton (American scientist) –
- Bette Midler (singer & actress) –
- Brad Delson (guitarist of Linkin Park) –
- Princess Aiko (first child of Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako) –
Died
- David Ben-Gurion (1st Prime Minister of Israel) –
- James Baldwin (author) –
- Capt. Edward L. Beach (author of Run Silent, Run Deep ) –
- Eugene Bob Gregoire (first design chief of Ford, creator of the Lincoln Continental) –
- Sandra Day O’Connor (first female U.S. Supreme Court justice) –
Events
- New York’s Erie Canal closed due to weather.–
- The Christmas Club savings account began–
- First drive-in gasoline service station opened, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania–
- Lt. Harry Colebourn officially donated Winnie (the bear Christopher Robin Milne named his bear after) to the London Zoo–
- First flight of helium-filled blimp (C-7), between Virginia and D.C.–
- Dupree Gardens opened, Land O’ Lakes, Florida–
- Nationwide gasoline rationing went into effect in the United States–
- Rosa Parks, a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger–
- First 12 nations signed the Antarctic Treaty–
- The Antarctic Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., guaranteeing peaceful international use of the continent–
- News anchor, Tom Brokaw, signed off after 23 years of bringing news to viewers–
- Astronaut Bob Thirsk returned to Earth after 6 months on the International Space Station–
Weather
- The Erie Canal was closed due to weather–
- The temperature at Kipp, Montana, rose 80 degrees over the course of the day–
- -25.6 degrees F, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
