Divine

Wikipedia: English

Harris Glenn Milstead was born October 19, 1945. and died March 7, 1988.

Better known by his stage name Divine, he was an American actor, singer, and drag queen. Closely associated with the independent filmmaker John Waters, Divine was a character actor, usually performing female roles in cinematic and theatrical productions, and adopted a female drag persona for his music career.

Originally born Harris Glen Milstead just after the end of WWII, Baltimore's most outrageous resident eventually became the international icon of bad taste cinema, as the always shocking and highly entertaining transvestite performer, Divine.

Milstead met maverick film director & good friend, John Waters, at high school in Baltimore, and the two combined to star in and direct several ultra low budget, taboo breaking cult films of the early 1970s. Their first efforts included Roman Candles (1967), Eat Your Makeup (1968) and Mondo Trasho (1969)....however, their most infamous work together was the amazing Pink Flamingos (1972), in which Divine starred as "Babs Johnson", the "filthiest person alive" living in a pink trailer with her egg-eating grandmother, chicken-loving son and voyeuristic daughter.

Divine also starred as career criminal Dawn Davenport in Female Trouble (1974), as bored housewife Francine Fishpaw in Polyester (1981), as outlaw gal Rosie Velez in Lust in the Dust (1984) and in Waters' loving (but still slightly bizarre) salute to teen dance TV shows as Ricki Lake's mother in the superb Hairspray (1988).

Trivia

Idolized Elizabeth Taylor as a teenager, and dressed up as her character "Gloria" from Venus i mink (1960) for a Halloween party that he attended wearing a slip, fur coat, and stillettoes.

In Disney's The little mermaid (1989), the character of "Ursula" (voiced by Pat Carroll) was based on her. Had a successful singing career (dance/disco), touring the world's clubs, and released numerous albums.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001145/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

- IMDb Mini Biography By: firehouse44@hotmail.com

1966 Roman Candles The Smoking Nun

1968 Eat Your Makeup Jacqueline Kennedy

1969 The Diane Linkletter Story Diane Linkletter

1969 Mondo Trasho Divine

1970 Multiple Maniacs Lady Divine

1972 Pink Flamingos Divine / Babs Johnson
1974 Female Trouble Dawn Davenport / Earl Peterson

1979 Tally Brown, New York Himself Documentary

1980 The Alternative Miss World Guest of Honour / Interviewer Filmed in 1978

1981 Polyester Francine Fishpaw

1985 Lust in the Dust Rosie Velez

1985 Trouble in Mind Hilly Blue

1985 Divine Waters Himself Documentary

1987 Tales from the Darkside Chia Fung 1 episode ("Seymourlama")

1988 Hairspray Edna Turnblad / Arvin Hodgepile Nominated Harris Glenn Milstead, Jr. for The Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male

1989 Out of the Dark Det. Langella Released posthumously

1998 Divine Trash Himself Archive footage used for documentary

2000 In Bad Taste

2002 The Cockettes: The Cockettes were an gay avant garde psychedelic hippie theater group founded by Hibiscus (George Edgerly Harris III) in the fall of 1969. George Harris III, who became famous in San Francisco and New York as Hibiscus, the founder of a movement called Flower Power and the creator of musical glitter transgender extravaganzas known collectively as The Cockettes and later The Angels of Light.

2013 I Am Divine

DIVINE - YOU THINK YOU'RE A MAN (Extended Video Edit)

Milstead's health deteriorated due to to his obese frame, and he passed away in his sleep from a combination of heart attack and apnea in 1988.