A quarter-century ago, frustrated by Hollywood’s paucity of good roles for middle-aged women, Bette Milder renounced the industry, declaring, “Movies are over for me.” Today, at 78, with a new comedy in theaters and a handful of other flicks burbling in development, she’s obviously had second thoughts. “When did I say that?” she asks. “I must have been in the dumps. I’m often in the dumps.”
Any artist might find themselves in the dumps, and Midler, an admitted chronic tsuris sufferer, may have spent periods of her six-decade-plus career feeling down, even momentarily out of fashion, but she inevitably locates one opportunity or another to propel herself up. Because Midler can do it all — sing, act, tell jokes and hoof pretty well, too, even imprisoned onstage in a mermaid costume…
