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John Waters
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Biography
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. Other films he has written and directed include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism.
As an actor, Waters has appeared in Sweet and Lowdown (1999), 'Til Death D…
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John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. Other films he has written and directed include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism. As an actor, Waters has appeared in Sweet and Lowdown (1999), 'Til Death Do Us Part (2007), Mangus! (2011), Excision (2012), Suburban Gothic (2014), and has appeared in the Child's Play franchise with Seed of Chucky (2004) and third season of the television series Chucky (2024). He hosted and produced the television series John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You (2006). Throughout his career, Waters has often collaborated with actor and drag queen Divine and his regular cast of the Dreamlanders. More recently, he performs in his touring one-man show This Filthy World. Waters also works as a visual artist and across different media, such as installations, photography, and sculpture. The audiobooks he narrated for his books Carsick and Mr. Know-It-All were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015 and 2020, respectively. In 2018, Waters was named an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.
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BODY OF WORK
John Waters's Filmography
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Vincent Price: What Keeps Us Alive
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
as Self
Return to Mortville
as Self
Eddie Cochran: Don't Forget Me
as Self
Gays Against Guns
Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh
as Stage Manager
TURA!
as Self
Velvet Vision: The Story of James Bidgood and the Making of Pink Narcissus
as Self
It's Dorothy!
as Self
A Summer with Joe, Liz and Richard
as Self
As Time Goes By
Doc of Chucky
as Self
Scala!!!
as Self
Lynch/Oz
as Host (Chapter 3: 'Kindred') (voice)
Little Richard: I Am Everything
as Self
Don't Fall in Love with Yourself
as Self (Archival)
Fragments of Paradise
as Self
Living with Chucky
as Self
The Book of Harth
as Self
Tell Me Iggy
as Self
Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida
as Self [archival]
The Velvet Underground
as Self
No Poster
My Life with the Waters
as Self
The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo
as Himself
Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
as Host
Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi
as Host
Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness
as Host
Joel Calls Indie Film Type Dudes
30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
as Self
At the Video Store
as Self
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
as Self
Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’
as Self
Mugworth
as Sir Butler
No Poster
Crime and Beauty: Making ‘Female Trouble’
Female Trouble: On-Set Footage
Sickies Making Films
as Self
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
as Self
Mansfield 66/67
as Self
Wall Writers
as Narrator (voice)
In Conversation With Director John Waters, Actress Kathleen Turner and Actress Mink Stole
as Self
Whatever Happened to Gelitin
as Self
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
as First Class Passenger
Sympathy for the Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment
as Self
The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin
Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story
as Self
Tab Hunter Confidential
as Self
Suburban Gothic
as Cornelius
The Last Impresario
as Self
I Am Divine
as Self
Jingle Bell Rocks!
as Self
Paul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open
as Self
The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies
as Self
Frankenstein: A Modern Myth
as Self - Director
Excision
as William
Mansome
as Self
The Advocate for Fagdom
as Self
Blank City
as Self
Mangus!
as Jesus Christ
These Amazing Shadows
as Self
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
as Self
Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore
Beautiful Darling
as Self
The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3D! On Ice!
as Self
It Came from Kuchar
as Self
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
as Self
The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels
as Narrator
Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press
as Self
Starz Inside: In the Gutter
as Self
New Line Cinema: The First Generation and the Next Generation
as Self
Coven of the Heathenites
as Self
365 Day Project
as Self
You Can’t Stop the Beat: The Long Journey of "Hairspray"
as Self
The Roots of 'Hairspray'
as Self
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
as Self
The Junior Defenders
as Narrator
Jessica the Hippo
as Narrator (Voice)
Hairspray
as Flasher
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
as Self
Each Time I Kill
as Movie Watcher
Here’s Looking at You, Boy
as Self
This Filthy World
as Self
No Poster
Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid'
as Self
Jackass Number Two
as Self
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
as Self - Director of 'A Dirty Shame'
No Poster
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players: Off & On Broadway
as Self
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
as Self
Mommie Dearest: Joan Lives On
(buz'be bur'kle) n. A Study in Style
as Self
Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
as Self
No Poster
Busby Berkeley's Kaleidoscopic Eyes
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
as Self
That Man: Peter Berlin
as Self
Meet The Kuchar Brothers
I, of the Cyclops
It Came from... Baltimore!!
as Self
All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame'
as Self
Inside Deep Throat
as Self
Seed of Chucky
as Pete Peters
Thinking XXX
as Self
Closer Than That: A Documentary on Low
as Himself
Abby Singer
as John Waters (uncredited)
A History of Sex
as Self
No Poster
Sylvester: Mighty Real
as Self
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat
as The Reverend
The Cockettes
as Self
Memories of Oz
as Self
Welcome to Hollywood
as John Waters
Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story
as Self
Cecil B. Demented
as Reporter
Divine Trash
as Self
Sweet and Lowdown
as Mr. Haynes
In Bad Taste
as Self
Yesterday's Tomorrows
as Self
Forever Hollywood
as Self
Pecker
as Pervert on Phone (voice) (uncredited)
Anarchy TV
Anthem
as Self
Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow!
God Save the Queens
Serial Mom
as Ted Bundy (voice) (uncredited)
The Big Wet
as Narrator
Growing Up with John Waters
as Self
Gastronomic Getaway
Homer and Eddie
as Robber #1
Hairspray
as Dr. Fredrickson
Way USA!
Something Wild
as Used Car Guy
The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
No Poster
Divine Waters
as Self
Nuart Theatre No Smoking PSA
as Self
Edith's Shopping Bag
as Self
Love Letter to Edie
as Self
Pink Flamingos
as Mr. J (narration) (uncredited)
Mondo Trasho
as Reporter (voice) (uncredited)
Baltigore
as The Broker
Mary Woronov: Cult Queen
as Self
No Poster
New Line: Independent Legacies
as Self
The Brandon Novak Story
as Self
No Poster