NEED TO KNOW
- Bette Midler reunited with former co-star Billy Crystal, 13 years after the duo co-starred in the 2012 film Parental Guidance
- The two gave a surprise performance at the annual Hulaween event to benefit Midler’s New York Restoration Project
- Midler founded the project in 1995 as a way to broaden access to green spaces for underserved communications in New York
Bette Midler took the stage with fellow comedian and actor Billy Crystal — 13 years after the duo co-starred in the 2012 film Parental Guidance.
The two performed a rendition of “Pretty Legs and Great Big Knockers” — a tune Midler has performed in the past — at the Oct. 24, 2025 Hulaween gala at Cipriani South Street.
The event was held to benefit the New York Restoration Project, which Midler founded in 1995 as a way to broaden access to green spaces for underserved communications in New York.
Crystal’s appearance and performance was a surprise at the event, which also included a special recognition for Midler, who accepted the gala’s Catalyst Award.
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Billy Crystal and Bette Midle.
Danté Crichlow/BFA.com, Courtesy of New York Restoration Project
Calling the 30th annual event “moving,” 79-year-old Midler joked about her age saying, “Yes, it’s true — I’m no longer a spring chicken.
“I’m no longer a summer chicken. I’m not even a fall chicken. I’m an endangered chicken at this point. However, I am honored to accept the Catalyst Award tonight because I did do something. I did. I actually did do something,” she added.
Billy Crystal.
Michelle Kammerman/BFA.com, Courtesy of New York Restoration Project
Elsewhere in her speech, Midler said, “You know, when you’re old, you remember the old things better than you remember yesterday. You don’t remember what you ate yesterday, but you remember what it felt like to dig in a filthy park and to remove debris and to be amongst people who were like-minded. You really remember that.”
Billy Crystal.
Michelle Kammerman/BFA.com, Courtesy of New York Restoration Project
In June, Crystal celebrated his 55th wedding anniversary with wife Janice Crystal. After meeting in New York as teenagers in 1966, the two tied the knot on June 4, 1970 and later welcoming their two daughters Jennifer and Lindsay who have made them grandparents four times over.
Midler, meanwhile, married her husband, Martin von Haselberg — also known by his stage name, Harry Kipper — on Dec. 16, 1984, in a “spur of the moment” Las Vegas ceremony. The two are proud parents to one daughter, Sophie von Haselberg.
