Bette Midler - rare British interview (1973)

Hays off to presenter Whispering Bob Harris for another excellent interview from 50 years ago with then-unknown star 27-year-old Bette Midler. Having recorded her debut album The Divine Miss M just weeks before, she'd hit the charts with the Andrews Sisters Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and never look back. Bette, all class from the get-go, talks about her recent rise to fame from theatre to a gay NY bath-house

[@mothgirlx6707]

Intelligent, witty and assertive - love Bette Midler - great interview

[@carolehowe5956]

That's how an interviewer should treat artists. Discussing their work not personal lives & prompting with interesting questions only when needed.

[@NonsensicalReality]

Absolutely

[@tylerthompson1842]

Well yea, that’s how all the music programs did it.

[@TheJoeySheehan]

Casually smoking in the middle of an interview ... gotta love the 70s 😂

[@nikinak42]

What a fantastic interview!.. outspoken and true to herself, plus I just love her take on Jagger in ‘73!!

[@mahler71]

Everyone seems so softly spoken in these old interviews, even Bette Middler

[@GothLunaMoth]

Midler” but I wish interviews were still like this it is so calming

[@KJBigBelter]

WONDERFUl! Had no idea she really wanted to STAY on B'way!

[@SoberOKMoments]

Beautiful then, beautiful now. Legend!

[@fatboycheese]

Love this. Bettes a legend

[@alicehenderson7983]

She has always been beautiful, love to hear her talk, love her songs, what talent she has, 😊

[@fraternityfoundation9403]

Chamberlain Grey Have Eljay

[@ckrtom2]

Love her bluntness; always speaking her mind. Rare to see her so serious as her younger self. She’s usually so wacky and silly in her early years.

[@cstephenfoster]

fabulous!

[@GothLunaMoth]

Her little smile after saying “m” SO CUTEEEEe

[@kristopherwilhite]

That was great...thank you for sharing!!

[@pampoovey6722]

What an incredible legend and professional to boot. Hard to find.

[@JJosephineify]

A lady she is ❤️

[@HeartofAdelaide]

Thank you for sharing this - for those that know in her heyday who The Divine Miss M is: what a real treat!

[@krisscanlon4051]

Woah ole Whispering Bob of OGWT with the Divine Miss M...this is classic stuff...

[@MattRyanPA]

Oh how lovely to see! 😍 Thank you for posting and sharing - a real treat x

[@pattibrooks1907]

Bette is a classy nice lady ! She is one of the best female singers around !

[@allthings80]

incredible!

[@Nylgk]

Never saw this, thank you for posting it👍🏼

[@davidturner3617]

British tv show The Old Grey Whistle TEST. Classic 70's show.

[@BetteTwain]

Love you bathhouse Betty. Divine miss m ❤

[@rosshowarth3266]

What a cutie.

[@GothLunaMoth]

She’s the cutest!

[@ralphsepulveda5335]

Wow!!!!! This is pop culture history. What a treasure. How'd you find it? Thank you

[@pietrob7420]

Bette looks really beautiful here.

[@logantyrelle97]

This is definitely very rare and great to see her in her early days!! Thank you so much for posting!! Do you by chance have anything else of Bette or of Tina Turner and/or Cher???

[@slydogmania]

No but always on the look-out, trawling through VHS tapes etc

[@deltabourke1005]

She was so beautiful. Still is.

[@elizabethstanley4541]

Wow

[@ericschindle9347]

The interviewer smoking right there? Oh those were different times.

[@britturk123]

She almost made Bob Harris animated, but not quite, lol.

[@renzy5270]

Man Amy Winehouse looked so much like Bette

[@Karen-mi3yz]

Her voice sounds to me as if she was a smoker at this time

[@br4insful]

Nope. It's a professional singer's thing to save the voice.

[@kristopherwilhite]

I love Bette Midler and wouldn't change a thing...but yes at that time she did smoke...not sure how frequently or how often but I've seen early pictures...that being said she also did her fair share of drugs during the 70's decade...

[@firouz256]

Before AIDS!

[@CharlesBallard-f3t]

Spent her early career trashing Karen Carpenter. The divine miss m. was off her rocker . ❤ Karen Carpenter forever❤

[@tipitii7388]

Not rockin’ that eyebrow-less look..

[@skylamad7866]

And who’s richer and who’s making more movies 😂?

[@kristopherwilhite]

She looks great as always!

[@SomeGuy-mg5jy]

The eyebrows are there, just finely tweezed.

[@DonatoDamiano-r2g]

Like Jean Harlow's, God love her. The early seventies, embracing the thirties brow.

[@davidpar2]

Mina Mazzini era