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John Waters (filmmaker)

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Image:Johnnwaters.jpg John Waters (born April 22, 1946, Baltimore, Maryland) is an American filmmaker, who became well known in the early 1970s for his intentionally transgressive comedies.

Contents

[edit] Directing career

Waters grew up in Towson, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. His boyhood friend and muse Glen Milstead, later known as Divine, also lived in Baltimore County, Maryland, a short distance away. Waters' films would become Divine's primary star vehicle. Waters' early films were all shot in the Baltimore area with his company of local actors, the Dreamlanders. In addition to Divine, the group included Mink Stole, Cookie Mueller, Edith Massey, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, and others. These early films were among the first picked up for distribution by New Line Cinema. Waters Premiers his films at the Baltimore Senator Theatre and sometimes at the Charles Theatre.

Image:Johnnwaterstrio.jpg Waters' early campy movies present filthily loveable characters in outrageous situations with hyperbolic dialogue. His early films, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living, which he labeled the Trash Trilogy, pushed hard at the boundaries of conventional propriety and movie censorship. A particularly notorious final segment of Pink Flamingos, simply added in as a non sequitur to the end of the film, featured, in one take without special effects, a small dog defecating and Divine eating the dog feces.

His 1981 film Polyester starred Divine opposite once-teen-idol Tab Hunter. 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, and a remake is currently being filmed.

Waters' most recent film, the NC-17 rated A Dirty Shame, is a move back toward his earlier, more controversial work. He also had a cameo in Jackass Number Two, which starred Dirty Shame co-star Johnny Knoxville.

He is currently a professor of Cinema and Subcultural Studies at the European Graduate School. [1]

[edit] John Waters Filmography (as Writer / Director)

[edit] John Waters Filmography (as Writer Only)

  • John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You (TV Series) 2006
  • World of Filth 2006
  • Hairspray (remake) 2007 (Original Screenplay)

[edit] Writings

Image:Johnshockvalue.jpg Waters has published collections of his writings including:

  • Shock Value (1981)
  • Trash Trio: Three Screenplays: Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living, Flamingos Forever (1988)
  • Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters (1987, Revised Edition 2003)
  • Hairspray, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs: Three more screenplays (2005)
  • Art: A Sex Book (2003) (with Bruce Hainley), an exploration of erotic content in the contemporary art landscape.

The photo collections:

  • Director's Cut (1997)
  • John Waters: Change of Life (2004)

[edit] Other Works

  • This Filthy World (aka World of Trash) Waters' touring one man show, which was recently turned into a feature film, directed by Jeff Garlin
  • A John Waters Christmas A CD of Christmas songs, compiled by John Waters
  • John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You A TV show for Here TV.
  • Mommie Dearest on the most recent DVD release, Waters provides audio commentary for the cult classic film from 1981.
  • The Little Mermaid Special Edition DVD (2006) - provides insight within the 'making of' documentary about Howard Ashman, the theatre (ie. Little Shop of Horrors), and the inspiration behind the character of Ursula; Divine.

[edit] Trivia

  • In 1997, John Waters guest-starred in an eighth season episode of The Simpsons (Homer's Phobia) and played a character called "John" (drawn in Waters' likeness), the owner of a pop culture memorabilia store who becomes friends with Homer until Homer realizes he is gay. On the DVD release, Waters contributed to the episode's commentary track.
  • Talk show host Ricki Lake started her career by appearing in various John Waters films in the late 1980s. She has appeared in Hairspray, Cry-Baby, Serial Mom and Cecil B. Demented.
  • According to Waters himself, he is often mistaken for Steve Buscemi and once sent Christmas cards containing photos of Buscemi to his friends just to see if any of them would notice. Buscemi, in kind, has been known to dress as John Waters for Halloween parties. This is referenced on "Homicide: Life on the Street" in the following:

Det. John Munch: [looking at corpse] With those beady eyes and that mustache he looks like a cross between Steve Buscemi, John Waters and Edgar Allan Poe.

Det. Tim Bayliss: Aren't they all the same person?

  • For years, Waters has been seen in movie art houses announcing that "no smoking" is permitted in the theatre. In this brief filmed announcement, he stares into the camera and he is smoking and obviously enjoying a cigarette. He then goes on: "...which I think is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I mean, how can anyone sit through a feature-length film; especially a ... foreign film without smoking?" He then takes a heavy drag, with sneering "Mmm, mmm, mmm... Don't you wish you had one, right now?" He reiterates the "no smoking" rule, gently exhales and then snappily re-inhales/snorts the smoke through his nose to suddenly end the 40-second spot. This short spot was filmed by Waters for the Nuart Theater (a Landmark Theater) in Santa Monica, CA in appreciation to the theater for showing Pink Flamingos for many years.
  • Waters is an avid fan of Court TV and for a time was known for going to high profile court cases as an observer. Waters has been quoted as saying that he saw many of the same people who were court observers all around the country at different trials. Waters eventually stopped going to trials when more fans started recognizing him and went to trials to meet him. He didn't feel it was appropriate to the seriousness of the court system.
  • Played a member of the paparazzi in Seed of Chucky, in which he was killed by acid being poured on his face, melting it off.
  • John Waters has been the subject of several documentaries such as Divine Waters (1985) (directed by Vito Zagarrio), Divine Trash (1998), and In Bad Taste (both by Steve Yeager)
  • John Waters has also been featured in Jackass 2, in a skit where he makes Wee-man Disappear.

[edit] External links

es:John Waters fr:John Waters (1946-) it:John Waters (regista) he:ג'ון ווטרס ja:ジョン・ウォーターズ fi:John Waters sv:John Waters

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