Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook at #14 on The "Billboard" 200 with 71,000 copies sold in its initial week of release, and been certified Gold by the RIAA. (As of August 2005, the album had sold 721,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan). It was followed up with "Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook", which was somewhat less successful. Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook is an album by the American singer Bette Midler. It was produced by Barry Manilow and marked the first time that Midler had worked with Manilow in more
Bette Midler the PBS educational series "Vegetable Soup." In 1977, Midler's first television special, whose title, "Ol' Red Hair is Back", was a takeoff on Frank Sinatra's "Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back", premiered, featuring guest stars Dustin Hoffman and Emmett Kelly. It went on to win the "Emmy Award" for Outstanding Special — Comedy-Variety or Music. Midler made her first motion picture in 1979, starring in the 1960s-era rock and roll tragedy "The Rose", as a drug-addicted rock star modeled after Janis Joplin. That year, she also released her fifth studio album, "Thighs and Whispers." Midler's first foray into disco was a