Waters, John (1946-…), is an American motion-picture director, writer, and actor. He is known for his unconventional, outrageous, and sometimes shocking dark comedies that poke fun at American culture and society. Waters’s 1988 film Hairspray was adapted into a long-running Tony Award-winning musical that opened on Broadway in 2002. The comedy, set in Baltimore during the 1960’s, tells the story of a teenage girl who seeks to bring African American performers onto a television dance program. A motion-picture musical, adapted from the stage production, was released in 2007. That film was directed by the American director and choreographer (dance creator) Adam Shankman.
John Samuel Waters, Jr., was born in Baltimore on April 22, 1946. He briefly attended New York University. Waters’s first film was the short Hag in a Black Leather Jacket (1964). Waters achieved cult status with the release of Pink Flamingos (1972). The film starred Divine, a male actor who played mostly female roles, as Babs Johnson, a flashy and crude woman who competes for the title of “the filthiest person alive.” Pink Flamingos became notorious for several shocking acts that were performed by Divine and other actors in the film. Divine appeared in a number of other films by Waters, including Mondo Trasho (1969), Multiple Maniacs (1970), Female Trouble (1974), Polyester (1981), and Hairspray.
All of Waters’s films are set in Baltimore. In addition to a regular troupe of actors from his hometown, Waters also casts Hollywood stars in his films as well as nonprofessional actors and celebrities.
Waters’s other notable films include Desperate Living (1977), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), Cecil B. DeMented (2000), and A Dirty Shame (2004). He wrote the memoir Shock Value (1981), Art: A Sex Book (2003, with the American art critic Bruce Hainley), and the travel humor book Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America (2014). Waters’s essays are collected in Crackpot, The Obsessions of John Waters (1986), Role Models (2010), and Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder (2019).
