Image of John Waters

John Waters

Growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s, John Waters was not like other children; he was obsessed by violence and gore, both real and on the screen. With his weird counter-culture friends as his cast, he began making silent 8mm and 16mm films in the mid-'60s; he screened these in rented Baltimore church halls to underground audiences drawn by word of mouth and street leafleting campaigns. As his filmmaking grew more polished and his subject matter more shocking, his audiences grew bigger, and his write-ups in the Baltimore papers more outraged. By the early 1970s he was making features, which he managed to get shown in midnight screenings in art cinemas by sheer perseverance. Success came when Pink Flamingos (1972) - a deliberate exercise in ultra-bad taste - took off in 1973, helped no doubt by lead actor Divine's infamous dog-crap eating scene. Waters continued to make low-budget shocking movies with his Dreamland repertory company until Hollywood crossover success came with Hairspray (1988), and although his movies nowadays might now appear cleaned up and professional, they retain Waters' playfulness, and reflect his lifelong obsessions.


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Born:
Apr 22, 1946 In Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Movie/TV Credits:
160
First Appeared:
In the movie L’estate di Joe, Liz e Richard
Latest Project:
Movie The Rooster 2024-02-22
Known For
Filmography
Movie L’estate di Joe, Liz e Richard 2025
Movie TURA! Self (archive footage) 2025
Movie My Life with the Waters Self 2025
Movie The Rooster Norris 2024-02-22
Movie Scala!!! Self 2024-01-05
Movie Lynch/Oz Host (Chapter 3: 'Kindred') (voice) 2023-05-15
Movie Little Richard: I Am Everything Self 2023-04-11
Series The Andy Warhol Diaries Self 2022-03-09
Movie Tell Me Iggy Self 2022-05-23
Movie Fragments of Paradise Self 2022-08-31
Movie Bad Romance Muscular Man 2022-11-30
Movie Don't Fall in Love with Yourself Self (Archival) 2022-11-13
Movie Blaze Magistrate 2022-08-25
Movie Living with Chucky Self 2022-08-13
Movie Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida Self [archival] 2021-11-08
Movie Overall Planning Christopher 2021-03-19
Series Pride Self 2021-05-14
Movie The Velvet Underground Self 2021-10-15
Movie Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears Professor Linnaeus 2020-02-27
Movie Joel Calls Indie Film Type Dudes 2020-03-23
Movie Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp Host 2020-06-23
Movie Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi Host 2020-05-19
Movie Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness Host 2020-04-21
Movie The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo Himself 2020-11-20
Movie 30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing Self 2019-12-14
Movie Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn Self 2019-09-29
Movie Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’ Self 2019-09-17
Movie At the Video Store Self 2019-10-11
Movie Mugworth Sir Butler 2018-11-02
Series Liverspots and Astronots O-Dor 2018-10-18
Movie Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution Self 2017-06-12
Movie Three Summers Eamon 2017-11-02
Movie 2:22 Bill 2017-06-29
Movie Mansfield 66/67 Self 2017-01-29
Movie Weiner Self (archive footage) 2016-05-20
Movie Whatever Happened to Gelitin Self 2016-03-10
Movie In Conversation With Director John Waters, Actress Kathleen Turner and Actress Mink Stole Self 2016-05-09
Movie Tab Hunter Confidential Self 2015-03-15
Movie Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip First Class Passenger 2015-12-17
Movie Sympathy For The Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment Self 2015-10-30
Movie The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin 2015-09-08
Movie Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story Self 2015-05-30
Movie Suburban Gothic Cornelius 2014-07-19
Movie I Am Divine Self 2013-03-09
Movie Jingle Bell Rocks! Self 2013-12-06
Movie Return to Nim's Island Booker 2013-03-15
Movie The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies Self 2013-03-27
Movie Paul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open Self 2013-04-04
Movie The Mystery of a Hansom Cab Mark Frettlby 2012-10-28
Movie Excision William 2012-09-12
Movie Mansome Self 2012-05-18
Movie These Amazing Shadows Self 2011-01-22
Movie Blank City Self 2011-04-06
Movie Kapyong Narrator 2011-04-28
Movie Mangus! 2011-04-01
Movie The Advocate for Fagdom Self 2011-11-04
Movie Beautiful Darling Self 2010-04-02
Movie Centre Place Jack Houghton 2010-07-27
Movie William S. Burroughs: A Man Within Self 2010-11-05
Movie Uncle Bob Self (archiveFootage) 2010-06-26
Movie Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore 2010-06-01
Movie It Came from Kuchar Self 2009-09-22
Movie For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism Self 2009-03-01
Movie Coven of the Heathenites Self 2008-01-01
Movie Starz Inside: In the Gutter Self 2008-07-29
Movie New Line Cinema: The First Generation and the Next Generation Self 2008-03-05
Movie Not Quite Hollywood Self 2008-08-28
Movie Obscene Self 2008-09-26
Movie The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels Narrator 2008-10-31
Movie Here’s Looking at You, Boy Self 2007-02-16
Movie Each Time I Kill Movie Watcher 2007-03-30
Series 'Til Death Do Us Part 2007-03-19
Movie Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis Self 2007-04-11
Movie Jackass 2.5 Himself 2007-12-18
Movie The Junior Defenders Narrator 2007-10-23
Movie Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story Self 2007-11-08
Movie There's a Hippo in my House Narrator (Voice) 2007-10-21
Movie Hairspray Flasher 2007-07-19
Movie Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema Self 2006-02-12
Movie This Film Is Not Yet Rated Self - Director of 'A Dirty Shame' 2006-01-26
Movie Meet The Kuchar Brothers 2006-01-01
Movie Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea Self - Narrator (voice) 2006-02-24
Movie Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades 2006-03-21
Movie Jackass Number Two Self 2006-09-22
Series I Love the '70s: Volume 2 Self 2006-07-10
Movie The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players: Off & On Broadway Self 2006-08-01
Movie Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream Himself 2006-06-20
Movie Busby Berkeley's Kaleidoscopic Eyes 2006-03-21
Movie (buz'be bur'kle) n. A Study in Style Self 2006-03-21
Movie Telling Schoolgirl Tales: The Making of 'The Getting of Wisdom’ Self 2006-03-06
Movie All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame' Self 2005-06-14
Movie It Came from... Baltimore!! Self 2005-07-12
Movie Stealth Black Ops Doctor 2005-07-27
Movie Inside Deep Throat Self 2005-02-11
Series Fireflies Perry Luscombe 2004-02-01
Movie Thinking XXX Self 2004-10-27
Movie Seed of Chucky Pete Peters 2004-11-12
Movie Abby Singer John Waters (uncredited) 2003-10-28
Movie Evil Never Dies Professor Arkin 2003-06-01
Movie A History of Sex Self 2003-01-14
Movie Totally Gay! Self 2003-08-29
Movie Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat The Reverend 2002-03-31
Movie The Cockettes Self 2002-01-16
Movie Divine Trash Self 2000-03-31
Movie Cecil B. Demented Reporter 2000-08-02
Movie Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story Self 2000-09-08
Movie Forever Hollywood Self 1999-01-01
Movie Sweet and Lowdown Mr. Haynes 1999-12-03
Movie Chameleon II: Death Match Henry Kubica 1999-01-01
Movie In Bad Taste Self 1999-09-03
Movie Yesterday's Tomorrows Self 1999-08-09
Movie The Sugar Factory Sam Lejeune 1999-03-04
Movie Anarchy TV 1998-01-31
Movie Welcome to Hollywood John Waters 1998-10-01
Movie Pecker Pervert on Phone (voice) (uncredited) 1998-09-25
Movie The Real Macaw Dr. Lance Hagen 1998-09-24
Movie Anthem Self 1997-07-25
Movie Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow! 1996-08-13
Movie God Save the Queens 1995-06-23
Series Family Album Vincent 1994-10-23
Movie Serial Mom Ted Bundy (voice) (uncredited) 1994-04-13
Movie Singapore Sling John Stamford 1994-03-09
Movie Ebbtide Michael Suresch 1994-01-01
Movie Jesus Christ Superstar Pontius Pilate 1992-06-06
Movie Which Way Home Steve Hannah 1991-01-28
Movie Heaven Tonight Johnny Dysart 1990-11-12
Series All The Rivers Run II Brenton Edwards 1990-03-18
Movie Homer and Eddie Robber #1 1989-08-17
Movie Grievous Bodily Harm Morris Martin 1988-10-26
Movie Hairspray Dr. Fredrickson 1988-02-26
Movie Boulevard of Broken Dreams Tom Garfield 1988-10-13
Movie Captain Johnno Frank 1988-04-17
Movie Way USA! 1988-01-01
Movie Passion Flower Leslie Gaitland 1987-03-04
Movie Bushfire Moon Patrick O'Day 1987-12-10
Movie The Last of the Mohicans Hawkeye Bumppo (voice) 1987-07-31
Series Nancy Wake Henri Fiocca 1987-11-04
Movie Going Sane Martin Brown 1987-07-30
Movie Something Wild Used Car Guy 1986-11-07
Movie The Ballad of Sexual Dependency 1985-01-01
Movie The Perfectionist Stuart Gunn 1985-12-01
Movie Divine Waters Self 1985-01-01
Movie High Country Ben Lomax 1984-08-29
Series All the Rivers Run Brenton Edwards 1983-10-04
Movie Attack Force Z Ted King 1982-06-01
Movie Breaker Morant Cpt. Alfred Taylor 1980-06-11
Movie Demolition 1979-06-21
Movie The Scalp Merchant 1978-01-01
Movie Weekend of Shadows Rabbit 1978-06-28
Movie Cass Mike 1978-10-30
Movie The Getting of Wisdom Rev. Shepherd 1977-08-25
Movie Summerfield David Abbott 1977-09-30
Movie Edith's Shopping Bag Self 1976-01-01
Movie End Play Mark Gifford 1976-01-01
Movie The Haunting of Hewie Dowker Hewie Dowker 1976-11-06
Movie The Adventures of Eliza Fraser David Bracefell 1976-12-16
Movie Love Letter to Edie Self 1975-01-01
Series Rush Sergeant Robert McKellar 1974-08-20
Movie Pink Flamingos Mr. J (voice) (uncredited) 1972-03-17
Movie Mondo Trasho Reporter (voice) (uncredited) 1969-03-14