Bette Midler

Born: December 1st 1945
Where: Paterson, New Jersey, USA

The former go-go dancer, singer, gay icon and double Oscar nominee, "the Divine Miss M" is one of Hollywood's finest comedy actresses.

Career highs for the short, brassy star include The Rose and For The Boys and she also received plaudits for Get Shorty and Ruthless People.

After growing up and attending school in Hawaii, Midler studied drama at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.

To make ends meet she found herself working as a glove saleswoman, a secretary and even a nightclub dancer.

She also performed her cabaret act at legendary gay club The Continental Baths with Barry Manilow as her accompanist.

Her New York stage debut came in Miss Nefertiti Regrets, which was followed swiftly by a part in the Broadway chorus of Fiddler on the Roof.

After a few more musical stage roles, Midler eventually appeared in her first leading movie role in 1979.

The Rose, directed by Mark Rydell, was largely assumed to be loosely based on the life of Janis Joplin.

Midler received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress for the role.

Dividing her time between movies and the stage, she was never far from controversty thanks to her short fuse.

One of her most notorious episodes was when she fired her entire musical entourage, including her backup group, the Harlettes, after the close of Divine Madness.

She was successfully sued for $2 million, although one of the sacked Harlettes, Linda Hart, would later tour with Midler, who would introduce her each night as 'Linda 'I Sued and Won' Hart'.

In another clash with a colleague, Midler argued with her co-star Ken Wahl and the director Don Siegal during filming of Jinxed!

In 1983 Midler finally conformed to the true image of a Hollywood star and suffered a nervous breakdown.

She soon recovered and the following year she had her TV producing debut with Bette Midler: Art or Bust.

By 1988 she had formed her own production company, All Girl Productions. Their first project was Beaches, which she produced and also starred in.

The soundtrack featured Midler singing the track The Wind Beneath My Wings, which reached number one in the UK and US music charts.

In 1991 Midler won a huge lawsuit against an advertising agency for appropriating her musical style without her consent.

In the same year Bette received her second Best Actress Academy Award nomination playing a USO entertainer in For the Boys - which she also produced.

In 1996, she scored a hit with First Wives Club alongside Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton and Maggie Smith and and the following year starred in the comedy That Old Feeling.

In 2000, she starred opposite Danny DeVito in the crime comedy Drowning Mona and went on to play opposite Mel Gibson in the rom-com What Women Want.

Recent work includes Frank Oz's decent remake of The Stepford Wives with Nicole Kidman and Glenn Close.