Bette Midler To Receive 2023 Costume Designers Guild Distinguished Collaborator Award

The Costume Designers Guild said Tuesday that two-time Oscar nominee and Grammy, Tony and Emmy winner Bette Midler will receive the Distinguished Collaborator Award at the 25th Costume Designers Guild Awards.

The 25th annual CDGA ceremony is Monday, February 27 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

Midler joins an honorees list that night that already includes Angela Bassett, who will receive the Spotlight Award; Deborah L. Scott, getting the guild’s Career Achievement Award; and costume designer Rachael M. Stanley, who will receive the Distinguished Service Award.

In addition, winners will be announced in eight categories celebrating excellence in film, TV and short-form costume design. (See the nominees list here.)

“This is such an exciting awards year for us at the guild,” said Terry Gordon, president of the Costume Designers Guild, IATSE Local 892. “Not only are we celebrating our milestone 25th CDGA, but we’re also honoring an extraordinary group of talented women, a group that now includes the luminous Bette Midler. All of our illustrious honorees are leaders, amazing collaborators, glass-ceiling breakers, and proven icons in their art and craft. We are proud to stand beside them to celebrate their achievements, and we look forward to celebrating an amazing gathering of talent!”

The Distinguished Collaborator Award is bestowed on those who demonstrate unwavering support of costume design and creative partnerships with costume designers. Previous recipients include Shonda Rhimes, Adam McKay, Ryan Murphy, Meryl Streep, Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro and Lorne Michaels among others.

“In my very long career, I have been blessed to work with some of the greatest costume designers ever in the worlds of stage and film,” Midler said. “It’s been a wild ride, and I am delighted that they have chosen me as their honoree this year; I truly owe them everything. I look forward to thanking each and every one of them; geniuses all.”

Midler’s Best Actress Oscar nominations are for The Rose (1979) and For the Boys (1991). She has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and won a Tony for Hello, Dolly! in 2017. Most recently, she was part of the Kennedy Center Honors, starred in two seasons of Ryan Murphy’s The Politician on Netflix and last year reprised her Winifred Sanders role in Disney’s Hocus Pocus 2.