Bette Midler is sharing the secret to her nearly 40-year marriage with husband Martin von Haselberg.
“Separate bedrooms,” Midler, 78, told Entertainment Tonight on Thursday, July 25, while promoting her new comedy, The Fabulous Four. “My husband snores.”
The Hocus Pocus star – who tied the knot with von Haselberg in December 1984 in Las Vegas after six weeks of dating – also gushed about working with the duo’s only child, daughter Sophie von Haselberg, who also stars in the upcoming film alongside Susan Sarandon, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Megan Mullally.
“I was more than averse [to let her go into acting],” Midler said while recalling Sophie’s childhood dreams of being an actress like her. “I was frightened for her, and she was just a little girl. I made a terrible mistake by saying, ‘If you go into show business, I’ll kill you.’ And she took it very much to heart. She’s brilliant. She’s great. She’s the love of my life.”
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During an appearance on Today With Hoda & Jenna earlier this month, Midler reflected on her whirlwind marriage to Martin, 75, and shared details about their wedding day.
“I am very impulsive,” she told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. “We went to Vegas and got married by an Elvis impersonator, always a good idea.”
The Beaches actress previously reflected on what drew her to her husband when they first crossed paths in 1984.
“I knew immediately that Martin was outrageous when I first met him,” Midler said in an interview with journalist Elisa Leonelli. “I liked the fact that he was not afraid to be different, that he was an outsider like I am, that he was not complacent, that he stood aside from the mainstream.”
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In an interview with People in 2014, Midler opened up about why her and Martin’s marriage has stood the test of time, sharing some of her rules for a long-lasting union.
“I think the secret is giving each other a lot of lead and a lot of room and not being in each other’s faces all the time,” she said, adding that “listening” and “compromise” are “hard” but important virtues in a relationship.
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“It’s best to pick your fights wisely and just meditate. Stay calm. Don’t go from zero to 60 in two seconds. Just stay calm and try to breathe,” she continued. “Don’t diminish each other. Don’t make each other less. Don’t try to make each other wrong all the time. Don’t blame. Stop assigning blame. The blaming, I think, is the worst part. It’s so [easy to do], because you don’t want to carry the burden yourself. You want to push it onto someone else. But honestly, you have to learn not to do that.”
The Fabulous Four hits theaters on Friday, July 26.
