Bette Midler hits, including "In the Mood" and "Lullaby of Broadway". Her self-titled follow-up album was released at the end of 1973. Again, the album was co-produced by Manilow. It reached Billboard's Top 10 and eventually sold close to a million copies in the United States alone. Midler returned to recording with the 1976 and 1977 albums, "Songs for the New Depression" and "Broken Blossom." In 1974, she received a Special Tony Award for her contribution to Broadway, with "Clams on the Half Shell Revue" playing at the Minskoff Theater. From 1975–1978, she also provided the voice of Woody the Spoon on
Bette Midler father, Fred Midler, worked at a Navy base in Hawaii as a painter, and was also a housepainter. Both parents were born in New Jersey. She was named after actress Bette Davis, though Davis pronounced her first name in two syllables, and Midler uses one. She was raised in Aiea and attended Radford High School, in Honolulu. She was voted "Most Talkative" in the 1961 school Hoss Election, and "Most Dramatic" in her senior year (class of 1963). Midler majored in drama at the University of Hawaii at Manoa but left after three semesters. She earned money in the 1966