Bette Midler delighted fans on Thursday by reuniting with her Beaches co-star, Barbara Hershey, nearly four decades after their beloved film hit theaters.
The two iconic actresses garnered widespread acclaim for their roles as lifelong friends C.C. Bloom and Hillary Whitney in the 1988 classic directed by Garry Marshall.
Midler, now 80, shared her joy at reconnecting with Hershey, 78, by posting a selfie of the pair on Instagram, much to the delight of their followers.
Captioning the post, she wrote: ‘It’s a BEACHES reunion! Here I am with the great Barbara Hershey! We go back a-ways!!!’
Beaches tells the story of C.C. Bloom, played by Midler, a successful actress and singer from New York, and Hillary Whitney, portrayed by Hershey, a wealthy lawyer from San Francisco. Their friendship begins with a chance encounter under a New Jersey boardwalk in 1958.
The film’s success was highlighted by Midler winning two Grammy Awards in 1990 for the hit song “Wind Beneath My Wings,” which was honored as both Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
Bette Midler turned back the clocks on Thursday after reuniting with Beaches co-star Barbara Hershey – 38 years after the iconic film’s release
Reflecting on her relationship with the late director Garry Marshall, Midler told PEOPLE that despite the passage of time, she remembers the film set as being incredibly joyful.
‘He had such a talent for pulling together, and he had all these cameos. He had all his actor improv friends come and do cameos in these movies, in his movies. They were absolutely worth the price of admission.’
The Honolulu-born star previously revealed she would love to reprise her role as singer C.C. Bloom in a potential sequel to the 1988 adaptation of Rainer Dart’s bestselling novel.
‘I kind of would like to revisit her, but in a completely different way. I mean, obviously the years have taken their toll, or whatever. I’ve aged, the character has got to be my age,’ she told Newsweek.
‘That and the songs, the music that would be available to me at this point. Those catalogs are so vast, and these are all songs that people, three or four generations haven’t heard of now.
‘Never heard. And of course, they don’t really seek it out because it’s not cool. So it would be great if I could revisit that character at this age. I think it would be marvelous and the songs would be great.’
When audiences last saw Midler’s admittedly selfish, bawdy character C.C. she had gained primary physical custody of her late friend’s daughter Victoria Essex (Grace Johnston).
The actress also urged Disney to hurry up with the script for a proposed final instalment to the Hocus Pocus trilogy, in which shew stars alongside Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy.
‘I haven’t seen the script, but, I’ve heard rumblings,’ Midler told Busy This Week in 2024.
‘I think if they’re gonna, they oughta, because time is not just marching, time is barrel-***ing to the finish line. Get us while we’re still breathing, I mean, god!’
The legendary actresses won numerous accolades for their respective performances as lifelong friends C.C. Bloom and Hillary Whitney in director Garry Marshall’s 1988 tearjerker
Midler’s last screen appearance saw her play widow-turned-bride Marilyn in Jocelyn Moorhouse’s comedy The Fabulous Four.
‘They asked me because I think they needed a ham, a big ole ham,’ she told Newsweek of her casting in the film.
‘I was kind of trussed up like a Christmas goose, as they say, because I’m not just comic relief, I’m also the biggest conflict. I’m the biggest mystery because I behave in ways that are so crazy.
‘It has all the elements of farce. It has the physical comedy that people hope for and are surprised that women of a certain age are doing.’
