John Waters | |
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 Waters in 2025 | |
| Born | John Samuel Waters Jr. (1946-04-22)April 22, 1946 (age 79) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Education | Maryland Institute College of Art |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1964–present |
| Organization | Dreamland Productions |
| Relatives | George P. Whitaker (third-great-grandfather) |
| Signature | |
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John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for histransgressivecult films, includingMultiple Maniacs (1970),Pink Flamingos (1972) andFemale Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy filmHairspray (1988), which was later adapted into ahit Broadway musical and a2007 musical film. His other films includeDesperate Living (1977),Polyester (1981),Cry-Baby (1990),Serial Mom (1994),Pecker (1998), andCecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements ofpost-modern comedy andsurrealism.
As an actor, Waters has appeared in the filmsSweet and Lowdown (1999),Mangus! (2011),Excision (2012), andSuburban Gothic (2014), as well as theChild's Play franchise with the filmSeed of Chucky (2004) and thethird season of the television seriesChucky (2024). He hosted and produced the television seriesJohn Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You (2006).
Waters also works as a visual artist and across different media, such asinstallations, photography, and sculpture. The audiobooks he narrated for his booksCarsick andMr. Know-It-All were nominated for theGrammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015 and 2020, respectively.[1] In 2018, Waters was named an officer of theOrder of Arts and Letters in France.[2] He received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.[3]
Waters was born on April 22, 1946, inBaltimore, Maryland, one of four children born to Patricia Ann (née Whitaker) and John Samuel Waters, a manufacturer of fire-protection equipment.[4] He was raisedCatholic by his mother, though his father was not Catholic.[5] Through his mother, who immigrated as a child to the United States fromVictoria, British Columbia, Canada, he is the third-great-grandson ofGeorge P. Whitaker of theWhitaker iron family.[4][6] Waters grew up inLutherville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. His boyhood friend and muse, Glenn Milstead, later known asDivine, also lived in Lutherville.[7] Waters lived at 313 Morris Avenue in Lutherville from his early teenage years until he moved out in his early twenties. Waters and Milstead shot many of their early films at the house, dubbing the front lawn the "Dreamland Lot".[8]
The filmLili inspired an interest in puppets in the seven-year-old Waters, who proceeded to stage violent versions ofPunch and Judy for children's birthday parties. Biographer Robrt L. Pela says that Waters's mother believes the puppets inLili had the greatest influence on Waters's subsequent career (though Pela believes tacky films at a localdrive-in, which the young Waters watched from a distance through binoculars, had a greater effect).[9]
Cry-Baby was also a product of Waters's boyhood, because of his fascination as a seven-year-old with the "drapes" then receiving intense news coverage because of themurder of Carolyn Wasilewski, a young "drapette", and his admiration for a young man living across the street who had ahot rod.[10][11] Waters was privately educated at theCalvert School in Baltimore. After attending Towson Jr. High School in nearbyTowson,[12] andCalvert Hall College High School, he graduated fromBoys' Latin School of Maryland.[13] While still a teen, he made frequent trips into downtown Baltimore to visitMartick's, abeatnik bar, where he and Milstead met many of their later film collaborators.[14] He was underage and could not enter the bar proper, but loitered in the adjacent alley, where he relied on older patrons to slip him drinks.[15]
Waters's first short film wasHag in a Black Leather Jacket.[16] MGM'sThe Wizard of Oz (1939) had a profound effect on Waters' creative mind. He said about it:
I was always drawn to forbidden subject matter in the very, very beginning.The Wizard of Oz opened me up because it was one of the first movies I ever saw. It opened me up to villainy, to screenwriting, to costumes. And great dialogue. I think the witch has great, great dialogue.[17]
Waters has stated that he takes an equal amount of joy and influence from high-brow "art" films and sleazy exploitation films.[18] Waters once said, “To understand bad taste one must have very good taste.”[19] In January 1966, Waters and some friends were caught smoking marijuana on the grounds ofNew York University, and he was soon kicked out of his dormitory. He returned to Baltimore, where he completed his next two short films,Roman Candles andEat Your Makeup. They were followed by the feature-length filmsMondo Trasho andMultiple Maniacs.[20]
Water's became known as an underground filmmaker in the 1970s.[19]
Waters's films became Divine's primary star vehicles. All of Waters's early films were shot in theBaltimore area with his company of local actors, theDreamlanders—which, in addition to Divine, includedMink Stole,Cookie Mueller,Edith Massey,David Lochary,Mary Vivian Pearce,Susan Walsh, and others. Waters met Edith Massey while she was a bartender at Pete's Hotel.[21] Waters's early campy movies present exaggerated characters in outrageous situations with hyperbolic dialogue.Pink Flamingos,Female Trouble andDesperate Living, which he labeled theTrash Trilogy, pushed hard at the boundaries of conventional propriety and censorship.
Waters's 1981 filmPolyester starred Divine opposite former teen idolTab Hunter.[22] It was the first time that Waters was not the primary camera operator for his own work, as he had started collaborating with local film student David Insley.[23][24] Since then, his films have become less controversial and more mainstream, although works such asHairspray,Cry-Baby,Serial Mom,Pecker andCecil B. Demented still retain his trademark inventiveness.Hairspray became ahit Broadway musical that swept the2003 Tony Awards;[25] and afilm adaptation of the Broadway musical was released in theaters on July 20, 2007, to positive reviews and commercial success.[26]Cry-Baby, itself a musical, also became aBroadway musical.[27]
In 2004, theNC-17-ratedA Dirty Shame marked a return to Waters' earlier, more controversial work of the 1970s. Having received mixed reviews and bombing at the box-office, it is his last film so far. In 2007, Waters became the host ("The Groom Reaper") of'Til Death Do Us Part, a program on America'sCourt TV network. In 2008, he planned to make a children's Christmas film,Fruitcake[28] starringJohnny Knoxville andParker Posey.[29] Filming was set for November 2008,[30] but the project was shelved in January 2009.[31]
Waters has been open about financing problems for his movies. In 2010, Waters told theChicago Tribune that "Independent films that cost $5 million are very hard to get made. I sold the idea, got a development deal, got paid a great salary to write it—and now the company is no longer around, which is the case with many independent film companies these days."[32] In 2017, he stated that "they all want you to make a movie for under a million dollars, which I don’t want to. I don’t want to be a faux radical film-maker at 70. I did that. I don’t need to do it again."[33]
In October 2022, it was announced that Waters will adapt his novel,Liarmouth, into a film.Village Roadshow Pictures was set to produce, with Waters writing and directing.[34] However, in November 2024, it was reported that the film was "no longer happening".[35]
Waters has often created characters with alliterated names for his films, such as Corny Collins, Cuddles Kovinsky, Donald and Donna Dasher, Dawn Davenport, Fat Fuck Frank, Francine Fishpaw, Link Larkin, Motormouth Maybelle, Mole McHenry, Penny and Prudy Pingleton, Ramona Ricketts, Sandy Sandstone, Sylvia Stickles, Todd Tomorrow, Tracy Turnblad, Ursula Udders, Wade Walker and Wanda Woodward.[36]
On September 18, 2023, Waters was honored with a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame. DreamlandersRicki Lake andMink Stole were among the guest speakers.[37]
_with_film_director_and_comedian_John_Waters_after_the_political_podcast_Start_Making_Sense.jpg)
Waters is abibliophile, with a collection of over 8,000 books. In 2011, during a visit to the Waters house in Baltimore, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson observed:
Bookshelves line the walls but they are not enough. The coffee table, desk and side tables are heaped with books, as is the replica electric chair in the hall. They range from Taschen art tomes such asThe Big Butt Book toJean Genet paperbacks and a Hungarian translation ofTennessee Williams with apulp fiction cover. In one corner sits a doll from the horror spoofSeed of Chucky, in which Waters appeared. It feels like an eccentric professor's study, or a carefully curated exhibition based on the life of a fictional character.[38]
Waters has had his fan mail delivered to Atomic Books, an independent bookstore in Baltimore, for over 20 years.[39] Puffing constantly on a cigarette, Waters appeared in a short film, shown in film art houses, announcing that "no smoking is permitted" in the theaters. The spot was directed by Douglas Brian Martin and produced by Douglas Brian Martin and Steven M. Martin. They also created two other short films, for theNuart Theatre (aLandmark Theater) inWest Los Angeles, California, in appreciation for their showingPink Flamingos for many years. It is shown immediately before any of Waters' films, and before the midnight showing ofThe Rocky Horror Picture Show. Waters played a minister inBlood Feast 2: All U Can Eat, directed byHerschell Gordon Lewis.[40]
In the 1980s, Waters taught inmates at thePatuxent Institution, a Maryland prison. He was hired to teach literature, but his classes also encompassed discussions of film.[41][42] In 1985, he made a film with his students calledReckless Eyeballs, but it was not intended for release and was never publicly screened.[41]
Waters is a board member of theMaryland Film Festival, and has selected and hosted a favorite film there each year since its launch in 1999.[43] He is also on the advisory board of theProvincetown International Film Festival, and has hosted events and presented awards there every year since it was founded in 1999.[44][45] He is a contributor toArtforum magazine and author of its year-end Top Ten Films list.[46] Waters hosts an annual performance, "A John Waters Christmas", which was launched in 1996 at theCastro Theatre in San Francisco, and in 2018 toured 17 cities over 23 days.[47]
In 2017, Waters began hosting an annual "Camp John Waters" event inKent, Connecticut. Adult fans from as far away as Australia and Chile "relive theirsleepaway camping days" with an "extra-campy theme weekend".[48] Notable guests have includedDebbie Harry,Patricia Hearst,Kathleen Turner,Mink Stole andRandy Harrison.[49][50] In 2019, theFilm Society of Lincoln Center celebrated its 50th anniversary at a gala where John Waters spoke in tribute to the Center along withMartin Scorsese,Dee Rees,Pedro Almodóvar,Tilda Swinton,Jake Gyllenhaal,Michael Moore,Paul Dano andZoe Kazan.[51]
Since the early 1990s, Waters has been making photo-based artwork and installations that have been internationally exhibited in galleries and museums. Water's was offered his first art show byColin de Land with American Fine Art gallery in 1992.[19] In 2004, theNew Museum in New York City presented a retrospective of his artwork curated byMarvin Heiferman and Lisa Phillips. His most recent exhibitionJohn Waters: Indecent Exposure was exhibited at theBaltimore Museum of Art from October 2018 to January 2019 and later traveled to theWexner Center for the Arts.[52][53] Prior to that, Waters exhibitedRear Projection in April 2009, at the Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York and theGagosian Gallery in Los Angeles.[54] Waters has been represented byC. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland, since 2002 and by Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York since 2006.[55][56]
Waters's pieces are often comical, such asRush (2009), a super-sized, tipped-over bottle ofpoppers (nitrite inhalants), andHardy Har (2006), a photograph of flowers that squirts water at anyone who traverses a taped line on the floor. Waters has characterized his art as conceptual: "The craft is not the issue here. The idea is. And the presentation."[57]
In November 2020, Waters promised to donate 372 artworks from his personal collection, including some of his own work as well as pieces by 125 artists, includingAndy Warhol,Roy Lichtenstein,Cy Twombly,Cindy Sherman and more, to the Baltimore Museum of Art. In recognition of the donation, the museum named its rotunda after Waters, but Waters also insisted the museum name anall-gender bathroom after him.[58] Both the rotunda and the bathroom were renamed for Waters in time for the opening of the first exhibition of his bequeathed collection,Coming Attractions: The John Waters Collection on November 20, 2022.[59] Waters, who serves on the museum's board of directors, has stated the museum will acquire all of his art after his death.[60]
With the motif "My life is so over-scheduled, what will happen if I give up control?", Waters completed ahitchhiking journey across the United States from Baltimore to San Francisco, turning his adventures into a book titledCarsick.[61] On May 15, 2012, while on the hitchhiking trip, Waters was picked up by 20-year-oldMyersville, Maryland,councilman Brett Bidle, who thought Waters was a homeless hitchhiker standing in the pouring rain. Feeling bad for Waters, he agreed to drive him four hours toOhio.[62]
The next day,indie rock bandHere We Go Magictweeted that they had picked John Waters up hitchhiking in Ohio. He was wearing a hat with the text "Scum of the Earth".[63] InDenver, Colorado, Waters reconnected with Bidle (who had made an effort to catch up with him); Bidle then drove him another 1,000 miles (1,600 km) toReno, Nevada. Before parting ways, Waters arranged for Bidle to stay at his San Francisco apartment: "I thought, you know what, he wanted an adventure, too ... He's the first Republican I'd ever vote for."[61]
Bidle later said: "We are polar opposites when it comes to our politics, religious beliefs. But that's what I loved about the whole trip. It was two people able to agree to disagree and still move on and have a great time. I think that's what America's all about."[61]
Although he has maintained apartments in New York City and San Francisco'sNob Hill, as well as a summer home inProvincetown,[47] Waters mainly resides in Baltimore.[64][65] All his films are set and shot there.[66]
As agay man, Waters is an avid supporter ofgay rights andgay pride.[67] In a 2019 interview, he said that he dislikes publicly discussing his personal life, adding that he had a partner but that they both preferred to keep the relationship private.[68]
Waters was a great fan of the music ofLittle Richard when growing up. He has said that, ever since he shoplifted a copy of the Little Richard song "Lucille" in 1957, at the age of 11, "I've wished I could somehow climb into Little Richard's body, hook up his heart and vocal cords to my own, and switch identities." In 1987,Playboy magazine employed Waters, then aged 41, to interview his idol, but the interview did not go well, with Waters later remarking: "It turned into kind of a disaster."[69] Waters' signaturepencil moustache is an homage to him.[64][70]
Waters advocated for the parole of formerManson family memberLeslie Van Houten, writing in his 2010 bookRole Models, "Her crime was a long, long time ago and she has paid her dues to society".[71][72][73][74] After Van Houten was paroled in 2023, Waters said he would not speak further about her, in deference to her privacy.[75]
Throughout his life, Waters has been open about his recreational drug use, includingmarijuana andLSD, particularly with regard to his creative process. Waters began using LSD as a teenager, "tak[ing] LSD and see[ing]...movies all the time".[76] Waters was often on LSD while making his early films, claiming in a 2016 interview "I was on LSD [duringMultiple Maniacs], I don't remember [how long it took to shoot the film]!"[77] He tried LSD again in his 70s, and documented the experience in his 2019 bookMr. Know-It-All.[78]
Waters was a smoker before quitting around 2004, saying "the only thing I've ever regretted in my whole life [was] smoking cigarettes. Because it was a nightmare giving up. It's the only thing the government ever told me that was true: It does kill you!"[79] In 2022, Waters said that if he were to write his younger self a letter, he would say "quit smoking [cigarettes] and do everything else exactly the way you did."[80]
Waters continues to be involved in various creative ventures. In 2025, Waters narrated several different projects including an audio book collection where he voiced every character from his early movies[81] and screenplays which includedHairspray andPink Flamingos.[82]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | DoP | Editor | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Hag in a Black Leather Jacket | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film | [83] |
| 1966 | Roman Candles | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | [84] | |
| 1968 | Eat Your Makeup | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | [84] | |
| Dorothy, the Kansas City Pot Head | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Abandoned after two days of filming | [41] | |
| 1969 | Mondo Trasho | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | [85] | |
| 1970 | The Diane Linkletter Story | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film | [86] |
| Multiple Maniacs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | [86] | ||
| 1972 | Pink Flamingos | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | [87] | |
| 1974 | Female Trouble | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | [88] | |
| 1977 | Desperate Living | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | [89] | |
| 1981 | Polyester | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | [90] | |
| 1988 | Hairspray | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | [91] | |
| 1990 | Cry-Baby | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | [92] | |
| 1994 | Serial Mom | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | [93] | |
| 1998 | Pecker | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | [94] | |
| 2000 | Cecil B. Demented | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | [95] | |
| 2004 | A Dirty Shame | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | [96] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Mondo Trasho | Reporter | Voice cameo; uncredited | |
| 1972 | Pink Flamingos | Mr. J | Voice; uncredited | |
| 1986 | Something Wild | Used car salesman | Cameo | [97] |
| 1988 | Hairspray | Dr. Fredrickson | ||
| 1989 | Homer and Eddie | Robber No. 1 | Cameo | [98] |
| 1994 | Serial Mom | Ted Bundy | Voice cameo; uncredited | |
| 1998 | Pecker | Pervert on phone | ||
| 1999 | Sweet and Lowdown | Mr. Haynes | [99] | |
| 2000 | Cecil B. Demented | Reporter | Cameo; uncredited | [95] |
| 2002 | Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat | The Reverend | Cameo | [100] |
| 2004 | Seed of Chucky | Pete Peters | [101] | |
| 2006 | Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea | Narrator | Voice; documentary | [102] |
| This Film Is Not Yet Rated | Himself | Documentary | [103] | |
| Jackass Number Two | Himself | [104] | ||
| 2007 | Hairspray | Flasher | Cameo | [105] |
| The Junior Defenders | Narrator | Voice; direct-to-DVD | [106] | |
| In the Land of Merry Misfits | Narrator | Voice | [107] | |
| 2011 | Mangus! | Jesus Christ | [108] | |
| Of Dolls and Murder | Narrator | Voice; documentary | [109] | |
| 2012 | Excision | William | [110] | |
| 2014 | Suburban Gothic | Cornelius | [111] | |
| 2015 | Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip | Himself | Cameo | [112] |
| 2017 | Mansfield 66/67 | Himself | Documentary | [113] |
| TBA | Mugworth | Sir Butler | Voice | [114] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 21 Jump Street | Mr. Bean | Episode: "Awomp-Bomp-Aloobomb, Aloop Bamboom" | [115] |
| 1993, 1995 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Bartender; R. Vincent Smith | 2 episodes | [116] |
| 1997 | The Simpsons | John | Voice; episode: "Homer's Phobia" | [117] |
| 1998 | Frasier | Roger | Voice; episode: "The Maris Counselor" | |
| 2006 | John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You | Himself (host) | 13 episodes | [118] |
| 2006–2007 | 'Til Death Do Us Part | Groom Reaper | Main; 14 episodes | [119] |
| 2007 | My Name Is Earl | Funeral director | Episode: "Kept a Guy Locked in a Truck" | [120] |
| 2011 | Superjail! | Quetzalpocetlan | Voice; episode "Ghosts" | |
| 2012 | Fish Hooks | The Yeti Lobster | Voice; episode: "Rock Yeti Lobster" | |
| 2013, 2018 | Mickey Mouse | Wadsworth Thorndyke III | Voices; 2 episodes | |
| 2014 | Mr. Pickles | Dr. Kelton | Voice; episode: "Coma" | |
| 2015 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Himself | Guest judge; episode: "Divine Inspiration" | [121] |
| 2016 | Clarence | Captain Tom | Voice; episode: "Plane Excited" | |
| Hairspray Live! | — | Associate producer | ||
| 2017 | Feud: Bette and Joan | William Castle | Episode: "Hagsploitation" | [122] |
| 2018 | The Blacklist | Himself | Episode: "Sutton Ross (No. 17)" | [123] |
| Liverspots and Astronots | O-Dor | Voice; episode: "The Exorcism of O-Dor" | ||
| 2019 | Tigtone | Fertile Centaur | Voice; episode: "...and the Freaks of Love" | |
| 2020–2021 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Floyd Cougat (also credited as "Pornmonger man") | 2 episodes | [124] |
| 2021 | Finding Your Roots | Himself (guest) | Episode: "To the Manor Born" | [125] |
| 2022 | Search Party | Sheffield[126] | 2 episodes | [127][128] |
| The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Lazarus | Episode: "Interesting People on Christopher Street" | [129][130] | |
| Bubble Guppies | Baron Von Bland | Voice; episode: "Taste Buddies!" | ||
| 2023 | King Star King | God Star God | Voice; episode: "King Star King!/!/!/" | |
| 2024 | Chucky | Wendell Wilkins | Episode: "Final Destination" | [131] |
| The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy | Chtonk | Voice; episode: "That's Science, Baby!" | ||
| Monster High | Scarecrow Von Twolegs / Treat | Voice; 2 episodes | ||
| Helluva Boss | Rolando | Voice; episode: "Ghostf**ckers" | [132] | |
| 2025 | Digman! | Magnus Knight | Voice; episode: “The Arky Trials” |
Documentary appearances
In 1999, Waters was honored with the Filmmaker on the Edge Award at theProvincetown International Film Festival. In September 2015, theBritish Film Institute ran a programme to celebrate 50 years of Waters films which included all of his early films, some previously unscreened in the UK.
In 2014, Waters was nominated for aGrammy for the spoken word version of his book,Carsick. His follow-up record,Make Trouble, was produced by Grammy-winning producer,Ian Brennan, and released onJack White'sThird Man Records in the fall of 2017.[155] Waters received his second Grammy-nomination in 2020 forMr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder.[156]
In 2015, he received the Ted M. Larson Award at theFargo Film Festival for his contribution to filmmaking.[157]
In 2016, Waters received an honorary degree from theMaryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore during the college's undergraduate commencement ceremony. He received an honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Baltimore in 2023.[158]
In 2017, Waters received Timeless Star honors from the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (now GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics). The group's career achievement award goes to an entertainment figure "whose exemplary career is marked by character, wisdom and wit."[159]
In 2018, Waters was named an Officier of theOrdre des Arts et des Lettres, a cultural award from the French government.[160]
In 2023, Waters received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame. His friends and collaboratorsMink Stole,Greg Gorman, andRicki Lake spoke at the induction. Waters brought a photo of his parents to the unveiling, dedicating the honor to them.[161] Waters' star was placed in front of Larry Edmunds Bookshop onHollywood Boulevard, a store Waters frequents.[162]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Sundance Film Festival | Grand Jury Prize | Hairspray | Nominated | [163] |
| 1989 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Feature | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Nominated | ||||
| 1998 | Gijón International Film Festival | Grand Prix Asturias | Pecker | Nominated | |
| 2015 | Grammy Awards | Best Spoken Word Album | Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America | Nominated | [164] |
| 2020 | Mr. Know-It-All | Nominated |
You can feel the influence of rock'n'roll in so many of Waters's films. Hairspray and Cry Baby might seem the obvious candidates, but his filmography is littered with litanies, strewn with sharp-talking teens with alliterative names.
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
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