As a child, BETTE MIDLER had one ambition in life - to be ETHEL BARRYMORE.

The Divine Miss M says, growing up, she was fascinated by the legendary actress, whose picture she used to study on the days her parents would leave her at the public library in Honolulu.

Midler says, "The first time I saw a picture of Ethel Barrymore she was on Broadway and she was wearing pearls. "I thought, 'That's who I should grow up to be. It's odd, because it was her physical image that I wanted; I had no idea what it was like actually to be her."

Although Midler admits she soon realised she wasn't likely to follow the same career path as her heroine, she says it was her admiration of Barrymore that sparked her career. Midler adds, "I saw a world that was not my own - and I realised that there was another world. "When I moved to New York City in 1965, I wanted to be in theatre. I was following my Ethel Barrymore dream."

(LE/O/CPT

Source: WENN