FILM · 1988 · USA
Beaches
31 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (31)
- #001
Barbara Hershey's character contracts viral cardiomyopathy, most often caused by the Coxsackie B virus. It weakens the heart so severely that it eventually cannot pump enough blood to keep the patient alive. At the time the film was made, the disease was fatal. Since 2005, beta blockers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators have saved thousands of lives.
- #002
Mayim Bialik did not actually sing on camera. Bette Midler wanted someone whose voice sounded like that of a girl that age, so they used another person's voice.
- #003
Lainie Kazan did not want to play CC's mother, but in the end she said yes in order to work with Bette Midler.
- #004
In the book, CC's husband John Pierce turns out to be a pedophile. This subplot was not included in the film.
- #005
Mayim Bialik and Marcie Leeds reunited to reenact the scene in which CC and Hilary first meet. The clip of this prank appears on Bialik's Facebook page.
- #006
The beach house is cottage number 13 at Crystal Cove in Newport Beach, CA. It has been turned into a Beaches museum, where a document is kept that visitors can ask about on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The film's poster shows this cottage facing the beach.
- #007
Barbara Hershey's screen-test scenes were shot on the Plaza Hotel lobby set of Big Business (1988). The mid-film store fight between Hillary and C. C. was also shot on the same set (note the carpet).
- #008
According to Shelley Winters (on the 1989 Sally Jessy Raphael (1983) show), Bette Midler wanted her to play her mother in this film. She said she turned down the offer because she was afraid she would not pass the insurance exam.
- #009
The "Oh Industry" musical number was heavily influenced by the work of performance artist/musician Laurie Anderson.
- #010
The screenplay's original title was Remember Me. Depending on the region, the film is also known as Forever Friends, Remember Me (alternately), Along Life (France), Girlfriends (German), The Friends (Greece and Denmark), Eternally Friends (Spanish), On the Beach (Russia), Deeper Love Than Sisters (Taiwan) and Song on the Beach (Turkey).
- #011
Lainie Kazan, who plays CC's mother, is only five years older than her on-screen daughter Bette Midler.
- #012
It was included on the American Film Institute's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest American Movie Music with the song "Wind Beneath My Wings."
- #013
A planned television film sequel in which Barbara Eden would take over Bette Midler's role was never made.
- #014
The 1988 film trailer included on the DVD incorrectly states that Barbara Hershey was an Oscar nominee when the film came out; Hershey was not nominated for an Oscar until 1997, for The Portrait of a Lady (1996).
- #015
Joe Grifasi (Otto Breastling) also appears alongside Bette Midler in Big Business as a hotel employee in love with her.
- #016
In the scene where CC (Bette Midler) returns to her apartment, she discusses winning a Tony Award with the doorman. Now, 29 years later, Ms. Midler won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for "Hello Dolly."
- #017
The film is famously referenced in the Seinfeld episode The Understudy (1995), in which Jerry's girlfriend is moved to tears by the climactic scene but leaves him unmoved.
- #018
"The Stinger," the recipe for CC Bloom's drink at the bar, appears in the book Cocktails of the Movies.
- #019
The remake, starring Idina Menzel and Nia Long, was released in 2017 as an 87-minute TV film. Menzel took on Bette Midler's role, while Long played Barbara Hershey's role.
- #020
The film's theme song, "Wind Beneath My Wings," rose to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Grammy Awards in 1990 for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
- #021
Five years after this film, director Garry Marshall appeared in an uncredited role as a man dressed as the Devil for Halloween in Hocus Pocus (1993), which also starred Bette Midler.
- #022
The mansion used for Hillary Whitney's California home was later used in the film Real Women Have Curves (2002).
- #023
Anne Archer and Donna Mills auditioned for the role of the adult Hillary Whitney Essex.
- #024
The film's cast includes three Oscar nominees: Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey and Marc Shaiman.
- #025
The camera crew is reflected in the glass as Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey pass through the revolving door.
- #026
The beach house scenes were shot at Cottage 13, now part of the Crystal Cove Historic District, in Crystal Cove State Park in California.
- #027
Taylor Neff was considered for the role of Hillary Whitney Essex (age 11).
- #028
Although Lanie Kazan plays Bette Midler's mother, she is in fact only three years older than her.
- #029
The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction (Albert Brenner and Garrett Lewis).
- #030
Beaches is a 1988 American comedy-drama film adapted from Iris Rainer Dart's 1985 novel of the same name. Directed by Garry Marshall from a screenplay by Mary Agnes Donoghue, the film stars Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey, Mayim Bialik, John Heard, James Read, Spalding Gray and Lainie Kazan. The film is now considered a cult classic.
- #031
Hillary's convertible has no rear-view mirror.
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