While Bette Midler was growing up, she was starved for attention, and so she developed an arsenal of skills for making people notice her. Born and raised in Honolulu, her younger brother, Danny, had a severe mental disability that meant he required their parents' constant supervision and care. To steal her share of their time, Midler began dabbling in performing as a young girl.

Success came relatively easily. Midler began her awe-inspiring career as a film extra. Then she was a chorus member in "Fiddler on the Roof." She drew on her own life for inspiration, using highs and lows (including the deaths of her mother and sister) to create the persona of the Divine Miss M, the star of a cabaret show that enjoyed a record-breaking run at New York City's fabled Continental Baths and drew a celebrity audience, including stars such as Johnny Carson. Midler began touring the country and signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records.

In the 1970s, Midler began to enjoy true fame and fortune while winning meaty movie roles and award nominations. A true Renaissance woman, Midler has won recognition for her turns as a singer, stage actress and movie star. She holds four Golden Globes, four Grammys, two Emmys and a Tony. Her performance as the tragic, self-destructive rock singer in 1979 movie "The Rose" earned her two Golden Globe awards and an Oscar nomination. She followed that success with four hit movies, including 1986's "Ruthless People," in which she played a befuddled kidnapped wife, and "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," in which she played a spoiled, obnoxious West Coast "princess."

Bette Midler: This Rose Isn't Just a Rose Never one to rest on her laurels, Midler formed her own company, All Girl Productions, and produced two popular flicks, "Beaches" and "For the Boys." In 1996, at the age of 50, Midler starred in one of the biggest movies of her career, "The First Wives Club," alongside Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton. These days, she continues to break box office records whenever she takes her one-woman show on the road, a testament to her enormous fan base. If that wasn't enough, this fall, Midler has a brand-new TV sitcom, "Bette." But Midler is not all about showbiz. Since the 1990s, she has been deeply involved with causes ranging from eradicating AIDS to ending adult illiteracy. She formed the New York Restoration Project, which encourages families to clean up and preserve Manhattan parks, and has sung on an album to raise proceeds for saving rainforests. In 1997, Midler was one of 25 women honored by the United Nation's Environmental Program for her work to protect the environment.