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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Asked why Davis, who died in 1989 after a long and decorated career that included such films as “All About Eve,” “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” and “Jezebel,” didn’t like the name, Midler was at a loss.
“Who knows?” she said before giving a little background into a seemingly unpleasant chance encounter she had with the cinematic icon.
“I went to Liz Taylor’s 60th birthday party. It was very interesting. And Miss Davis came and I had just had my baby,” Midler said.
“And I was invited and I was so exhausted. And in those days there was no hair and makeup. You didn’t know about hair and makeup. You just did your hair and you put on a dress and you went.
“She showed up. And she said — and she was very offended that I had come to this event without putting on the dog. So she made that very clear. And then she wound up talking the whole night to Bob Dylan. So I can’t imagine what he said to her.”
The meeting left an impression on Midler.
“I was a little bit hurt,” she said.
Midler was not the only one among her siblings to get the star treatment.
“We were all named for (actors),” she said. “My sister Judy was Judy Garland. My sister Susan, Susan Hayward. And I was Bette Davis. Although I pronounced it ‘Bet,’ she pronounced it ‘Betty.’”
