Harris Glenn Milstead, aka Divine (1945-1988) was the ultimate outsider turned underground hero. Spitting in the face of the status quos of body image, gender identity, sexuality, and preconceived notions of beauty, Divine succeeded in becoming an internationally recognized icon, recording artist, and character actor of stage and screen. Glenn went from the often-mocked, schoolyard fat kid to underdog royalty, standing up for millions of gay men and women, drag queens and punk rockers, and countless other socially ostracized misfits and freaks. With a completely committed in-your-face style, he blurred the line between performer and personality, and revolutionized pop culture.
03-09-2013
1h 30m
THIS
HELLA
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Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Jeffrey Schwarz
Production:
Automat Pictures, Making it Big
Revenue:
$115,739
Key Crew
Producer:
Jon Glover
Producer:
Lotti Pharriss Knowles
Producer:
Lance Robertson
Producer:
Jeffrey Schwarz
Editor:
Phillip J. Bartell
Locations and Languages
Country:
US
Filming:
US
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Divine
Divine (19 October 1945 – 7 March 1988), né Harris Glenn Milstead, was an American actor, singer and drag queen. Described by People magazine as the "Drag Queen of the Century", Divine often performed female roles in both cinema and theater and also appeared in women's clothing in musical performances. Even so, he considered himself to be a character actor and performed male roles in a number of his later films. He was often associated with independent filmmaker John Waters and starred in ten of Waters's films, usually in a leading role. Concurrent with his acting career, he also had a successful career as a disco singer during the 1980s, at one point being described as "the most successful and in-demand disco performer in the world."
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, into a conservative, wealthy middle class family, he became involved with John Waters and his acting troupe, the Dreamlanders, in the mid-1960s and starred in a number of Waters's early films such as Mondo Trasho, Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble. These films have since become cult classics. In the 1970s, Milstead made the transition to theater and appeared in a number of productions, including Women Behind Bars and The Neon Woman, while continuing to star in such films as Polyester, Lust in the Dust and Hairspray.
The New York Times said of Milstead's '80s films: "Those who could get past the unremitting weirdness of Divine's performance discovered that the actor/actress had genuine talent, including a natural sense of comic timing and an uncanny gift for slapstick." He was also described as "one of the few truly radical and essential artists of the century… was an audacious symbol of man's quest for liberty and freedom." Since his death, Divine has remained a cult figure, particularly with those in the LGBT community.
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. Other films he has written and directed include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism.
As an actor, Waters has appeared in Sweet and Lowdown (1999), 'Til Death Do Us Part (2007), Mangus! (2011), Excision (2012), Suburban Gothic (2014), and has appeared in the Child's Play franchise with Seed of Chucky (2004) and third season of the television series Chucky (2024). He hosted and produced the television series John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You (2006). Throughout his career, Waters has often collaborated with actor and drag queen Divine and his regular cast of the Dreamlanders. More recently, he performs in his touring one-man show This Filthy World.
Waters also works as a visual artist and across different media, such as installations, photography, and sculpture. The audiobooks he narrated for his books Carsick and Mr. Know-It-All were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015 and 2020, respectively. In 2018, Waters was named an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.
Description above from the Wikipedia article John Waters, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American television host and actress. She is known for her lead role as Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film Hairspray, for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.
She is also known for her talk show, Ricki Lake, which was broadcast internationally from September 1993 until May 2004. When the show debuted, she was 24 and credited as being the youngest person to host a syndicated talk show at the time. In late 2012, Lake began hosting a second syndicated talk show, The Ricki Lake Show. The series was canceled in 2013 after a single season, but Lake won her first Daytime Emmy Award for the project.
She also starred in other Waters films including Cry-Baby, Cecil B. Demented, and Serial Mom. She starred in Mrs. Winterbourne, Cabin Boy, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Cookie, and Inside Monkey Zetterland.
She joined the cast of the Vietnam War drama series China Beach as a Red Cross volunteer, Holly "the Donut Dolly" Pelegrino, for the show's third season. She also had a recurring role on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens as Doug's sister Stephanie. She also had a cameo in the 2007 film Hairspray as a talent agent and sang "Mama I'm A Big Girl Now" with Nikki Blonsky and Marissa Jaret Winokur for the film's end credits.
In 2008, her documentary about home birth and midwifery, The Business of Being Born, was released. She also jointly wrote a book, Your Best Birth, on the world of natural childbirth and birthing options, along with Abby Epstein and Jacques Moritz, which was published in 2009. Lake and Epstein also launched MyBestBirth.com, an online social network, powered by Ning, intended to allow parents and medical professionals to dialogue about varying birthing options and resources.
She returned to television on May 11, 2009, succeeding Sharon Osbourne as host for the third season of VH1's Charm School. On November 10, 2010, Lake joined fellow talkers Phil Donahue, Sally Jessy Raphael, Geraldo Rivera, and Montel Williams as guests of Oprah Winfrey on The Oprah Winfrey Show, marking the first time those hosts appeared together on one show since their respective programs left the air.
She competed on the 13th season of Dancing with the Stars. She was partnered with three-time champion Derek Hough and cited Kirstie Alley's appearance as an inspiration to do the show. In October 2019, she began competing in The X Factor: Celebrity.
In March 2018, at SXSW, Lake and Epstein premiered their documentary film Weed the People, examining the use of cannabis as medicine and its status as a Schedule I prohibited drug in the United States. The film focused in particular on the use of cannabis in the treatment of pediatric cancer.
Lisa Jane Persky (born May 5, 1955) is an American actress.
Persky was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of Jane Holley (née Wilson) and Mort Persky. She grew up in New York's Greenwich Village and attended the High School of Art and Design.
She debuted as Robert Duvall's daughter in The Great Santini and went on to act in such movies as American Pop, The Big Easy, When Harry Met Sally..., Coneheads, KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, and Peggy Sue Got Married.
She wrote for New York Rocker magazine in the 1970s and dated former Blondie bass player Gary Valentine Lachman. On January 19, 2008, she married music historian and former co-star of the Comedy Central game show Beat the Geeks Andy Zax.
In 2009 and 2010, Persky began making appearances on The Best Show on WFMU radio program, as both as a regular caller and as an in-studio special guest.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Lisa Jane Persky, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Bruce Vilanch (born November 23, 1948) is an American comedy writer, songwriter and actor. He is a six-time Emmy Award-winner known to industry professionals in Hollywood and New York as "the fat guy who writes everyone's jokes." He is likely best known for his four-year stint on Hollywood Squares, as both a celebrity participant and head writer for the show. He also performed off-Broadway in his one-man show Bruce Vilanch: Almost Famous in 2000.
Since 2000, Vilanch has been the head writer for the Oscars, after being an Oscar program co-writer for the previous 10 years. He is a featured writer for the Tonys, Grammys and Emmys.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Bruce Vilanch, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Nancy Paine Stoll (born August 25, 1947) better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date (a distinction shared only with Mary Vivian Pearce). Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mink Stole, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Holly Woodlawn was a transgender Puerto Rican actress and Warhol superstar who appeared in his movies Trash and Women in Revolt. She was probably best known as the Holly in Lou Reed's hit pop song "Walk on the Wild Side".
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
David Crawford Lochary (August 21, 1944 – July 29, 1977) was one of the regular "Dreamlander" actors in early films of the controversial "trash" film director John Waters. He starred in such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs, in which he typically played exotically-dressed, sophisticated perverts. Lochary co-wrote The Diane Linkletter Story with Divine, and worked as an uncredited hair and makeup artist on many of Waters' films. Lochary met Divine at beauty school and used to style his wigs and makeup for parties. Divine later commented that he had "never even heard the word 'drag' before David."
Dolores DeLuce has done it all — and before they even had a name for it. Mentored by the legendary drag queen Divine and part of the infamous gender-bending 1970s troupe the Cockettes, DeLuce came of age in the decadent 1960s and 1970s, and lived to tell the tale in her raucous memoirs My Life, A Four Letter Word: Confessions of a Counter Culture Diva and Blow Jobs: A Guide to Making It in Show Business (or Not!). Featured in the documentary I Am Divine, this pint-sized powerhouse can also be seen (briefly!) in mainstream efforts like True Blood. Though her road has sometimes been bumpy, the world is a funkier, funnier place with DeLuce in it.
Peaches Christ is an American underground drag performer, emcee, filmmaker, and actor. Peaches currently resides in San Francisco where her Backlash Production Company and Midnight Mass movie series are based.
Jackie Beat is the drag persona of actor, singer, songwriter and screenwriter Kent Fuher. Beat has appeared in a number of independent feature films both in and out of drag, including Wigstock: The Movie, Flawless, and Adam & Steve. Beat is also the lead singer of the Electroclash band Dirty Sanchez and released 7 albums as a solo artist, primarily R-rated parodies of mainstream songs.
A dual citizen of Canada and the USA, David DeCoteau has worked professionally in the movie business since he was 18 years old. He got his start through a generous offer from movie legend Roger Corman, who hired him in 1980 as a production assistant at New World Pictures. In 1986, DeCoteau directed and produced his first feature film for another generous film legend, Charles Band. DeCoteau has gone on to produce and direct more than fifty motion pictures over the past twenty years. His passion lies in the creation of popular genre programming made for world consumption. DeCoteau's experience in creating content in countries all over the world makes him a proven choice for exceptionally challenging movie projects. He resides in British Columbia, Canada and Hollywood, California.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lainie Kazan (born May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Lainie Kazan, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
