John Waters

The Irish John Waters is a columnist with The Irish Times and former editor of Magill, an Irish political magazine. He is also the father of a daughter with singer Sinead O'Connor.

The American John Waters (born April 22, 1946) has long been known as a "bad boy" among filmmakers. Dubbed The pope of trash by writer William Burroughs, his earlier film works included Female Trouble[?], Pink Flamingos[?] and Desperate Living[?] (sometimes referred to as the Trash Trilogy). These films pushed hard at the boundaries of conventional propriety and movie censorship and indeed, many felt, good taste (a particularly notorious segment of Pink Flamingos featured transvestite actor Divine (real name Glen Milstead) eating a fresh dog turd).

Mainly based around Baltimore in the USA, he tended to work with a regular team of actors (the Dreamlanders) who starred in most of his films, including Divine, Mink Stole[?], Cookie Mueller[?], Edith Massey[?], David Locary[?], Mary Vivian Pearce[?] and others.

Since 1981s Polyester[?], his films have become less controversial and more mainstream, although works such as Hairspray[?], Cry Baby[?] and Serial Mom[?] still retain his trademark inventiveness. The film "Hairspray" was turned into a hit Broadway Musical which swept the 2003 Tony Awards.

John Waters filmography

• Hag in a Black Leather Jacket[?] (8 mm) 1964 (b&w) starring Mary Vivian Pearce, Mona Montgomery; 17 minutes.
• Roman Candles[?] (three 8 mm shown simultaneously) 1966 (color) starring Maelcum Soul, Bob Skidmore, Mona Montgomery, Divine, Mink Stole, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary; 40 minutes
• Eat Your Makeup[?] (16mm) 1968 (b&w) starring Maelcum Soul, David Locary, Marina Melin, Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mona Montgomery; 45 minutes
• Mondo Trasho[?] (16mm) 1969 (b&w) starring Mary Vivian Pearce, Divine, David Lochary, Mink Stole; released through New Line Cinema; 95 minutes. $2,000 total cost
• Multiple Maniacs[?] (16mm) 1970 (b&W) starring Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Edith Massey; released through New Line Cinema; 90 minutes. $5,000 total cost.
• Pink Flamingos[?] (16 & 35 mm) 1972 (color) starring Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Danny Mills, Edith Massey; released through New Line Cinema; 93 minutes. $10,000. A re-edited version including extra scenes was released in 1997.
• Female Trouble (16 & 35 mm) 1974 (color) starring Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Danny Mills, Edith Massey; released through New Line Cinema; 92 minutes. $25,000.
• Desperate Living (16 & 35 mm) 1977 (color) starring Liz Renay, Mink Stole, Susan Lowe, Edith Massey, Mary Vivian Pearce, Jean Hill; released through New Line Cinema; 90 minutes. $65,000.
• Polyester[?] (35 mm) 1981 (color) starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, Stiv Bators, David Samson, Mary Garlington, Ken King, Mink Stole, Joni-Ruth White; released through New Line Cinema. This film was released in 'odorama[?]', which meant that a 'scratch and sniff' card corresponding to moments in the film (eg, Divine farting) was issued to cinema goers.
• Hairspray[?] (35 mm) 1988 (color) starring Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Divine, Deborah Harry, Ricki Lake, Jerry Stiller, Ric Ocasek, Pia Zadora; released through New Line Cinema; 90 minutes. Waters' first true 'big budget' ($2,000,000) foray into 'the mainstream'.
• Divine[?] 1990 (color) starring Divine. Video release, 110 minutes. Two films on one video, both starring Divine and directed by Waters. The first is the Diane Linkletter Story. The second is the Neon Woman.
• Cry-Baby[?] (35 mm) 1990 (color) starring Johnny Depp, Amy Locane, Susan Tyrrell, Iggy Pop, Ricki Lake, Traci Lords, Kim McGuire, Stephen Mailer, Darren Burrows, Polly Bergen, Patricia Hearst, David Nelson, Troy Donahue, Mink Stole, Joe Dallesandro, Joey Heatherton, Willem Dafoe; released through Universal Studios; 85 minutes
• Serial Mom[?] (35 mm) 1994 (color) starring Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Matthew Lillard, Scott Wesley Morgan, Walt MacPherson, Patty Hearst. 93 minutes.
• Pecker[?] (35 mm) 1999 (color) starring Edward Furlong, Christina Ricci, Martha Plimpton, Brendon Sexton, and Lili Taylor. New Line Cinema 86 minutes.

Weblinks

• John Waters Faculty Website European Graduate School (http://www.egs.edu/faculty/johnwaters)