Existing comment:
Bette Midler, born 1945
"She's 5'1" . . . absolutely dizzy, and rarer than a homemade honeybun" raved an awed reporter in 1972 about the singer-comedienne Bette Midler, then performing at New York City's Continental Baths. "Her hair is "red as a Pomegranate. . . . Her bosom is formidable. . . . She moves fiercely on tiny feet strapped into the highest platform wedgies since Carmen Miranda." Richard Amsel, an emerging talent who had recently won a nationwide contest to design the poster for Hello, Dolly!, caught her energy and flair in his 1973 poster. Midler's accompanist, Barry Manilow, who produced her first and second albums, admired Amsel's work, and Midler agreed he should design the cover and advertising art. His stylized strutting figure graced Midler's second album, promoted a national tour, and here announced her appearance to sold-out audiences at New York's Palace Theater in December 1973. A similar image was reused for later albums and tours.
Richard Amsel, 1973 |