Bette Midler has announced the passing of director Mark Rydell at the age of 97. Rydell, who directed Midler in her first movie, The Rose, died Friday morning, the actor said in an Instagram post. “He was an actor of note before he became a director, and I was so lucky to have met him when I did,” the Hocus Pocus star, 80, wrote, alongside a series of photos of Rydell on set. “He taught me so much on The Rose and later on For The Boys. Two Oscars nominations both because of him. He was the actor’s whisperer; just a few words was all it took to understand what was needed. Devoted to Meisner. So many happy memories. RIP.”Rydell was best known for directing the Oscar-nominated 1981 romance drama On Golden Pond, which starred Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda and his daughter Jane Fonda. Bette Midler credited director Mark Rydell for her two Oscar nominations (Getty)Rydell