Bette Midler’s Daughter Sophie Has Grown Up And Looks Just Like Her Actress Mother

Feb 16, 2021 by apost team

Many celebrities have kids that look exactly like them, and Bette Midler is no exception. Her daughter, Sophie von Haselberg, is the spitting image of her mother and has even landed herself in the same career.

Following in her mother's showbiz footsteps, the 34-year-old is also an actress. The two look so similar, that aside from age they could be twins. Let's take a look at her life and career so far.

No matter your age, there's a great chance you know singer and actress Bette Midler. Having worked in show business for over five decades, she's truly one of the best—after all, her long career is no accident. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 1, 1945, Midler must have had star written all over her instantly, as she was named Bette after renowned actress Bette Davis, and she sure has lived up to her moniker. She left the island for New York City in 1965 and found her way to show business.

Her start in the industry was instant, as she first began by studying theater at HB Studio before appearing in various off-off-Broadway plays. Just one year later she landed the role of Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway, which she played for three years. She moved on to other musicals and even had a stint singing at local bathhouses, which is where she earned her core following of fans. It was around this time that she worked with and became close with her piano accompanist, who happened to be none other than Barry Manilow. He would produce her first album, 1972's The Divine Miss M, which would earn Midler her first Grammy.

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The '70s saw her fame continue to grow with appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and a number of other album releases, which only boosted her popularity. She eventually moved to television and movies, with her first film role in 1979's The Rose earning her an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe win. She continued to work in both the music and film worlds, appearing in the movies Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Big Business, and Beaches, which had her now-iconic song Wind Beneath My Wings on its soundtrack. For her role in 1991's For the Boys, Midler would earn her second Oscar nomination, but once again she wouldn't win.

The next few decades only added to her already stellar reputation in Hollywood and culminated in a Las Vegas stage show titled Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On, which premiered in 2008 and lasted two years. Since then she's continued to act in movies and theater, as well as releasing one album and performing live. With a career that's spanned over half a century and counting, Midler's contributions to the entertainment industry have been heavily praised and she has the awards to prove it. On top of countless nominations, in her career, she's won four Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Tony Awards. Now 75 years old, Midler shows no signs of slowing down, as she has proven that she is truly one of the best in the 'biz.

While she was conquering the entertainment industry, Midler also managed to make time for her personal life. After meeting Martin von Haselberg, a performance/comedy artist, the two got married in December 1984. Although he grew up in the UK, Martin comes from a German noble family. Two years after their wedding, the couple had a daughter named Sophie von Haselberg, who would be their only child. 

Born on November 14, 1986, Sophie was truly born into a privileged position—not only did her father's lineage come from nobility, but her mother is a kind of noblewoman in the entertainment industry. However, for the first part of her life, Sophie chose a path that was less in the spotlight and more focused on study. After graduating from New York's Nightingale Bamford School, she attended Yale University, where she majored in sociology and East Asian studies, but she would return again later to study at the prestigious university's drama school.

But when your mom is Bette Midler, it's probably unlikely that you would opt for a career entirely out of the limelight. Although, it seems that her mom was actually one of the reasons why Sophie chose to stay out of the spotlight for as long as she did. In a 2014 interview with the New York Post, she admitted:

“Acting was something I always knew I was going to do, but I didn’t for a long time because of my mom. You know you will always be compared to your parent.” 

Eventually, she realized her passion lay in acting and since then Sophie has been steadily working and building her career—and proving any naysayers that might think she's riding on her mom's coattails wrong. That year she had her New York City theater debut in a play titled Billy and Ray, and both of her parents were proudly in the audience.

Most notably she's made a name for herself in Hollywood with her role in the film Irrational Man from 2015. The movie was written and directed by Hollywood veteran Woody Allen, and Sophie told the New York Post in the same interview about how surreal it was at her audition for the part. She said,“[Allen] sort of stood over me while I was reading the scene...like, really close." Then afterward he told her, "Okay, that was good." She continued:

"And I just left. No handshake. Nothing...I walked down Park Avenue by myself, looking up to the sky thinking ‘that was so crazy!’"

But she wasn't the only one a little starstruck by the encounter. Allen also spoke highly of Sophie's audition, stating:

"She's wonderful. She came in with a lot of other women that read and she's the spitting image of her [mother] and she was just good...I thought she was so good that I combined her part. There was another part too and when I gave her the role, then I dropped the other character out of the movie and worked it so that she could have a double role, so could appear more frequently 'cause she was impressive…She projects intelligence because she's intelligent."

While her list of roles isn't too expansive, throughout the recent years she has stayed active in the industry. Since Irrational Man she's appeared in a few movies and a number of television shows including House of Cards, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, and Pose. Her latest role was that of Natasha in the 2019 TV series American Princess, while her IMDb states that she's acted in a short film titled Egg Party that's completed but not released yet. 

Other than acting, Haselburg has worked as a producer in the film industry. She has only one credit so far, the 2017 short YOYO, which appeared at the Tribeca Film Festival, but since then she hasn't done any further producing work. As of right now, it's unclear exactly what project she's working on, but fans will likely be able to receive updates via her Instagram account. Even though her account is fairly new and only has a few posts, she still looks like her famous mom in many photos. 

As well as a growing film career, Sophie also took the plunge in 2020 and got married. Her husband is Harry J. N. Guinness, of the aristocratic Guinness family. This means that she has esteemed family lineages both in her family line and now his. We can only imagine the kind of children they'll have, and Bette Midler will be their grandma! She announced her marriage on her Instagram, posting an adorable photo of her and her husband, as she's smiling widely and has cake all over her face! 

Sophie's mom certainly has a large discography and filmography, and she is still keeping busy even today. Midler has two films in current pre-production: The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and Family Jewels. Midler also recently voiced the Grandma in The Addams Family animated movie, as well as playing a role in the 2020 film The Glorias. Even at 75, Midler is still showing the world why she has earned her reputation for singing, acting, and performing in general. She's a true Hollywood icon and she has the career to prove it.

Perhaps we will get lucky and mother and daughter might even unite to work on a movie or project together. No doubt Midler has given her daughter plenty of advice in both how to act but also how to navigate the entertainment industry. In fact, Sophie was asked by the New York Post about the best advice her famous mom had ever given her. Showing that she has Midler's characteristic wit and comedic talents too, she replied with a laugh, “Um, always curl your lashes?”

Hopefully, there is more to come from both Sophie von Haselberg and her mom Bette Midler!

What do you think of Bette Midler's daughter, Sophie von Haselberg, looking so much like her? Would you like to see the two of them appear in a project together? Let us know your thoughts and be sure to pass this on to others so they can see the resemblance, too!

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