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.
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 |