Bio
Divine was truly unique. There was often some difficulty in how to refer to this one-of-a-kind talent- as the usual descriptions of ‘transvestite’ or ‘female impersonator’ fall completely short and fail to describe Divine properly- but perhaps there is none better than the way Divine described himself: ‘an actor who plays female roles’.
Born Harris Glenn Milstead in Baltimore in 1945, his family lived in very close proximity to the family of John Waters. The two of them became friends and Divine went on to feature in the majority of Waters’ earliest cinematic ‘atrocities’– Roman Candles (during which the moniker Divine was first applied), Eat Your Makeup, Mondo Trasho, Multiple Maniacs and the little-seen short The Diane Linkletter Story, based on the real-life suicide of radio and TV host Art Linkletter’s daughter.
Divine takes one of the leading roles in the infamous cult classic Pink Flamingos (1972), playing Babs Johnson who, along with her bizarre family, end up waging a war of perversity against a husband and wife for the title of ‘The Filthiest People Alive’. Whilst the whole film is filled with gross-out humour, it is the notorious final scene for which the film is remembered, in which Divine really eats dog excrement.
In 1974’s Female Trouble, Divine played the dual roles of teenage crime queen Dawn Davenport and Earl Peterson, the man who gets her pregnant! Running away from home after not getting the cha-cha heels she wanted for Christmas, Dawn hitches a lift with Earl and ends up pregnant. She then falls in with a demented couple that runs a hairdressing salon, who believe that ‘crime is beauty’ and then photograph Dawn as she commits various crimes.
Divine was unable to star in Desperate Living due to stage commitments (touring with the play Women Behind Bars), but returned for Waters’ next movie Polyester (1981), and played the role of Francine Fishpaw, a put-upon housewife with an amazing sense of smell. The gimmick for this movie was truly inspiring; ‘Odorama’. Scratch-and-sniff cards were handed out in the cinemas and the audience could smell their way through the action, along with Francine!
As well as acting, Divine had a singing career, which started in 1979. Divine’s first released single was ‘Born To Be Cheap/The Name Game’. Divine’s best-known hits came in the early and mid-Eighties, with high-energy disco tracks like ‘Shoot Your Shot’ (1983) and ‘Walk Like A Man’ (1985). But it is the song ‘You Think You’re A Man’ that was Divine’s biggest hit, reaching number 16 in the UK charts in 1984. Divine performed this song on well-known UK music show Top Of The Pops on July 19 1984, resulting in a barrage of complaints to the BBC.
Just as in Female Trouble, Divine played dual male and female roles in Hairspray (1988), those of Tracy Turnblad’s dowdy mother Edna and as Arvin Hodgepile, the segregationist owner of the TV station broadcasting ‘The Corny Collins Show’. This would be the last of John Waters’ films that Divine would feature in.
Divine also worked in other movies. In the spoof Western Lust In The Dust (1985), Divine played Rosie Velez, a dancehall girl with half a treasure map tattooed on her backside. This film reunited Divine with Polyester co-star and 1950s heartthrob Tab Hunter, who said of Divine ‘he’s one of my finest leading ladies’. Divine’s final film role was out of female attire, playing Detective Langella in 1989 crime thriller Out Of The Dark. Divine was due to play a recurring role in TV sitcom Married… With Children as Uncle Otto but sadly died the day before the shoot. Divine was interred at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Towson, Maryland – and fans often visit the grave.
Born Harris Glenn Milstead in Baltimore in 1945, his family lived in very close proximity to the family of John Waters. The two of them became friends and Divine went on to feature in the majority of Waters’ earliest cinematic ‘atrocities’– Roman Candles (during which the moniker Divine was first applied), Eat Your Makeup, Mondo Trasho, Multiple Maniacs and the little-seen short The Diane Linkletter Story, based on the real-life suicide of radio and TV host Art Linkletter’s daughter.
Divine takes one of the leading roles in the infamous cult classic Pink Flamingos (1972), playing Babs Johnson who, along with her bizarre family, end up waging a war of perversity against a husband and wife for the title of ‘The Filthiest People Alive’. Whilst the whole film is filled with gross-out humour, it is the notorious final scene for which the film is remembered, in which Divine really eats dog excrement.
In 1974’s Female Trouble, Divine played the dual roles of teenage crime queen Dawn Davenport and Earl Peterson, the man who gets her pregnant! Running away from home after not getting the cha-cha heels she wanted for Christmas, Dawn hitches a lift with Earl and ends up pregnant. She then falls in with a demented couple that runs a hairdressing salon, who believe that ‘crime is beauty’ and then photograph Dawn as she commits various crimes.
Divine was unable to star in Desperate Living due to stage commitments (touring with the play Women Behind Bars), but returned for Waters’ next movie Polyester (1981), and played the role of Francine Fishpaw, a put-upon housewife with an amazing sense of smell. The gimmick for this movie was truly inspiring; ‘Odorama’. Scratch-and-sniff cards were handed out in the cinemas and the audience could smell their way through the action, along with Francine!
As well as acting, Divine had a singing career, which started in 1979. Divine’s first released single was ‘Born To Be Cheap/The Name Game’. Divine’s best-known hits came in the early and mid-Eighties, with high-energy disco tracks like ‘Shoot Your Shot’ (1983) and ‘Walk Like A Man’ (1985). But it is the song ‘You Think You’re A Man’ that was Divine’s biggest hit, reaching number 16 in the UK charts in 1984. Divine performed this song on well-known UK music show Top Of The Pops on July 19 1984, resulting in a barrage of complaints to the BBC.
Just as in Female Trouble, Divine played dual male and female roles in Hairspray (1988), those of Tracy Turnblad’s dowdy mother Edna and as Arvin Hodgepile, the segregationist owner of the TV station broadcasting ‘The Corny Collins Show’. This would be the last of John Waters’ films that Divine would feature in.
Divine also worked in other movies. In the spoof Western Lust In The Dust (1985), Divine played Rosie Velez, a dancehall girl with half a treasure map tattooed on her backside. This film reunited Divine with Polyester co-star and 1950s heartthrob Tab Hunter, who said of Divine ‘he’s one of my finest leading ladies’. Divine’s final film role was out of female attire, playing Detective Langella in 1989 crime thriller Out Of The Dark. Divine was due to play a recurring role in TV sitcom Married… With Children as Uncle Otto but sadly died the day before the shoot. Divine was interred at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Towson, Maryland – and fans often visit the grave.
