How a Radford High grad became 'the Divine Miss M'

By Bob Sigall

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 28, 2012

~~<p>Ruth Midler named her baby, born on Dec. 1, 1945, after one of her favorite actresses, Bette Davis. "My mother was a seamstress," Bette Midler recalls. "She was supportive. She had a tinge of showbiz fever and named me and my sisters after Hollywood icons. My dad, Fred, a painter, was like, ‘Get a job.' But that gave me something to fight against. His saving grace was a wicked sense of humor. He was a good provider."</p>
<p>The Aiea girl worked at the Dole cannery one summer, as many local kids back then did. "I was the chief chunker in a pineapple canning factory. I used to come home smelling like a compote!"</p>
~~

Ruth Midler named her baby, born on Dec. 1, 1945, after one of her favorite actresses, Bette Davis. "My mother was a seamstress," Bette Midler recalls. "She was supportive. She had a tinge of showbiz fever and named me and my sisters after Hollywood icons. My dad, Fred, a painter, was like, ‘Get a job.' But that gave me something to fight against. His saving grace was a wicked sense of humor. He was a good provider."

The Aiea girl worked at the Dole cannery one summer, as many local kids back then did. "I was the chief chunker in a pineapple canning factory. I used to come home smelling like a compote!" Login for more...