The 78-year-old star has recalled being overwhelmed by fame during her younger years, likening her experience to that of The Beatles - but acknowledges her life has changed in recent years.
"I cannot say that it was the most thrilling thing that ever happened," Midler, asked about her early experience of fame, told The Hollywood Reporter.
"I have a whole skill set of passing completely unnoticed," Grammy winner Bette Midler says. (AP PHOTO)
"It could be pretty scary and when I watch old footage of The Beatles or Liz Taylor getting crushed, it's a little bit of a trigger for me.
"But fortunately, those days are past and I have a whole skill set of passing completely unnoticed."
Asked how she manages to remain "unnoticed", Midler said she was "invisible because I'm old".
"But in the old days, I had no makeup and very down-market clothes, and I would put a hat on my head or a turban - and nobody wants to know you with a turban on your head," she said.
Midler's dad Fred hardly ever watched her perform - an "old-school" approach she believes provided her with a source of motivation.
"It was disappointing but I kind of got it," the Grammy winner said.
"He was very straitlaced, he was very puritanical and was the enforcer in his family - and he hated that role.
"But he was what he was - he did the best he could.
"He provided three square meals; he never struck my mother."
Midler said love and child-rearing "were a different thing in those days".
"If you didn't behave, you got the belt," she said.
"People didn't talk about their frickin' feelings every five minutes - they just didn't."
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