John Waters
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.
Known for
DirectingBirthday
April 22, 1946Gender
MaleKnown Movie Credits
149Place of birth
Baltimore, Maryland, USAAlso known as
John S. WatersCast credits
Seed of Chucky
Pete PetersSomething Wild
Used Car GuyThinking XXX
SelfPlagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
Self - Narrator (voice)Sweet and Lowdown
Mr. HaynesThe Wild World of Ted V. Mikels
NarratorBlood Feast 2: All U Can Eat
The ReverendMidnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
HimselfThis Film Is Not Yet Rated
Self - Director of 'A Dirty Shame'Homer and Eddie
Robber #1It Came from Kuchar
SelfThis Filthy World
SelfWilliam S. Burroughs: A Man Within
SelfDivine Trash
SelfThese Amazing Shadows
SelfMangus!
Excision
WilliamObscene
SelfMansome
SelfThe Advocate for Fagdom
SelfPaul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open
SelfCrew credits
Pink Flamingos
Producer, Director of Photography, Editor, Director, WriterHairspray
Director, Screenplay, Co-ProducerThe Diane Linkletter Story
Writer, Producer, Director, Director of Photography, EditorSerial Mom
Director, WriterPecker
Director, ScreenplayCry-Baby
Director, WriterA Dirty Shame
Director, WriterCecil B. Demented
Director, ScreenplayDesperate Living
Director, Producer, Writer, Additional PhotographyPolyester
Director, Screenplay, ProducerFemale Trouble
Director, Screenplay, Producer, Editor, Director of PhotographyThis Filthy World
ScreenplayAn American Crime
ThanksKiddie Flamingos
Director, Writer30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
DirectorMultiple Maniacs
Writer, Producer, Director of Photography, Director, EditorMondo Trasho
Producer, Editor, Director of Photography, Writer, Director