Divine

Acting

Divine

Born 1945-10-19 · Towson, Maryland, USA

Divine (October 19, 1945 – March 7, 1988), né Harris Glenn Milstead, was an American actor, singer and drag queen. Described by People magazine as the "Drag Queen of the Century", Divine often performed female roles in both cinema and theater and also appeared in women's clothing in musical performances. Even so, he considered himself to be a character actor and performed male roles in a number of his later films. He was often associated with independent filmmaker John Waters and starred in ten of Waters's films, usually in a leading role. Concurrent with his acting career, he also had a successful career as a disco singer during the 1980s, at one point being described as "the most successful and in-demand disco performer in the world." Born in Baltimore, Maryland, into a conservative, wealthy middle class family, he became involved with John Waters and his acting troupe, the Dreamlanders, in the mid-1960s and starred in a number of Waters's early films such as Mondo Trasho, Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble. These films have since become cult classics. In the 1970s, Milstead made the transition to theater and appeared in a number of productions, including Women Behind Bars and The Neon Woman, while continuing to star in such films as Polyester, Lust in the Dust and Hairspray. The New York Times said of Milstead's '80s films: "Those who could get past the unremitting weirdness of Divine's performance discovered that the actor/actress had genuine talent, including a natural sense of comic timing and an uncanny gift for slapstick." He was also described as "one of the few truly radical and essential artists of the century… was an audacious symbol of man's quest for liberty and freedom." Since his death, Divine has remained a cult figure, particularly with those in the LGBT community.

Acting credits

Pink Flamingos poster
6.1

Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".

Pink Flamingos

1972

Hairspray poster
6.8

'Pleasantly plump' teenager Tracy Turnblad achieves her dream of becoming a regular on the Corny Collins Dance Show. Now a teen hero, she starts using her fame to speak out for the causes she believes in, most of all integration. In doing so, she earns the wrath of the show's former star, Amber Von Tussle, as well as Amber's manipulative, pro-segregation parents. The rivalry comes to a head as Amber and Tracy vie for the title of Miss Auto Show 1963.

Hairspray

1988

Studio 54 poster
6.5

Studio 54 was the epicenter of 70s hedonism - a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era. Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly preside over a new kind of New York society. Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club's hallowed threshold, a feature documentary tells the real story behind the greatest club of all time.

Studio 54

2018

Multiple Maniacs poster
6.2

The Cavalcade of Perversion, a traveling freak show, acts as a front for Divine, who is out for blood after discovering her lover's affair.

Multiple Maniacs

1970

Female Trouble poster
6.9

Teenage delinquent Dawn Davenport, incensed after her parents do not give her the cha-cha heels she wanted for Christmas, runs away from home. After an illegitimate child and hairstylist husband bring her more misery, she's enticed into a life of crime when the owners of her husband's salon promise her fame and fortune.

Female Trouble

1976

Polyester poster
7.0

Blessed with a keen sense of smell and cursed with a philandering pornographer husband, a parasitic mother, and a pair of delinquent children, the long-suffering Francine Fishpaw turns to the bottle as her life falls apart -- until deliverance appears in the form of a hunk named Todd Tomorrow. Originally screened with "Odorama" scratch and sniff cards so the audience could (at their own risk) smell along with the film.

Polyester

1981

Disclosure poster
7.8

An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.

Disclosure

2020

Lust in the Dust poster
6.0

Assaulted by outlaws, donkey-riding Rosie joins a silent drifter's search for gold in the Old West.

Lust in the Dust

1985

Howard poster
6.8

Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman’s family, friends, associates, and longtime partner Bill Lauch, Howard is an intimate tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent and a rousing celebration of musical storytelling itself.

Howard

2018

The Cockettes poster
6.9

Documentary about the gender-bending San Francisco performance group who became a pop culture phenomenon in the early 1970s.

The Cockettes

2002

No artwork available
7.6

This documentary focuses on the careers of influential partners in trash film, John Waters and Divine. The film includes interviews with Waters' parents and sister, actress Edith Massey sings two songs (Punks, Get off the Grass and Fever), as well as a live performance of Divine performing his song Born to be Cheap.

Divine Waters

1985

Tab Hunter Confidential poster
7.3

Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. But throughout his years of stardom, Tab had a secret. Tab Hunter was gay, and spent his Hollywood years in a precarious closet that repeatedly threatened to implode and destroy him. Tab Hunter himself shares first hand, for the first time, what it was like to be a studio manufactured movie star during the Golden Age of Hollywood and the consequences of being someone totally different from his studio manufactured image.

Tab Hunter Confidential

2015

Out of the Dark poster
5.6

A deranged killer wearing a clown mask begins preying on a group of young women working at a phone-sex company.

Out of the Dark

1988

Trouble in Mind poster
5.8

The lives of an ex-con, a coffee-shop owner, and a young couple looking to make it rich intersect in the hypnotic Rain City.

Trouble in Mind

1985

I Am Divine poster
7.3

Harris Glenn Milstead, aka Divine (1945-1988) was the ultimate outsider turned underground hero. Spitting in the face of the status quos of body image, gender identity, sexuality, and preconceived notions of beauty, Divine succeeded in becoming an internationally recognized icon, recording artist, and character actor of stage and screen. Glenn went from the often-mocked, schoolyard fat kid to underdog royalty, standing up for millions of gay men and women, drag queens and punk rockers, and countless other socially ostracized misfits and freaks. With a completely committed in-your-face style, he blurred the line between performer and personality, and revolutionized pop culture.

I Am Divine

2014

In Bad Taste poster
8.0

A documentary on the career of filmmaker John Waters. Featuring interviews with actors and fellow film-makers. The life and death of the actor Divine is also discussed.

In Bad Taste

1999

No artwork available
NR

An in-depth portrait chronicling the rise of New Line Cinema, between 1967 and 1994, from the perspective of the filmmakers and executives involved in the company's early success—from collaborations with cult director John Waters to the smash hit Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

New Line: Independent Legacies

Divine Trash poster
7.2

The life and times of Baltimore film maker and midnight movie pioneer, John Waters.

Divine Trash

2000

No artwork available
6.8

Shot on 8mm, and featuring the introduction of Divine, John Waters' sophomore film is a plotless collage of random incidents involving sex, drugs, religion and The Wizard of Oz, it was shown with an equally random soundtrack mixing “obnoxious radio advertisements, rock 'n' roll and press conferences with Lee Harvey Oswald's mother”. It was shown three times publicly, but never released commercially.

Roman Candles

1967

Rhythm Divine: The Story of Disco poster
NR

The evolution of disco music through interviews and clips - Acid House, House, Disco, Funk, Italo-Disco, Italodance. Interviewed – Baby Ford, Deee-Lite, Frankie Knuckles, Mark Moore, Mel Cheren Featuring 5000 Volts, Amii Stewart, Anita Ward, Baby Ford, Bananarama, Black Box, Cerrone, Communards, The, Deee-Lite, Donna Summer, Eartha Kitt, Edwin Starr, Evelyn Champagne King, Evelyn Thomas, Farm, The, Giorgio Moroder, Gloria Gaynor, Hot Gossip, Hues Corporation, Isaac Hayes, Kool And The Gang, Kylie Minogue, M, Michael Zager, Miguel Brown, Musique, New Order, Odyssey, S'Express, Shannon, Shirley & Co, Sylvester, Three Degrees, Trammps, Van Mccoy, Village People

Rhythm Divine: The Story of Disco

1992

Eat Your Makeup poster
7.4

John Waters' first sixteen-millimetre film, about a deranged nanny who kidnaps young girls and forces them to 'model themselves to death' in front of her boyfriend and their crazed friends. It was never shown commercially.

Eat Your Makeup

1968

Queen: Magic Years  - A Visual Anthology poster
6.5

This video trilogy documents the music group Queen. Videos in this set are Magic Years Vol. 1 - The Foundations Magic Years Vol. 2 - Live Killers in the Making Magic Years, Vol. 3 - Crowned in Glory

Queen: Magic Years - A Visual Anthology

1987

Night Flight: Born Again poster
NR

Documentary tribute to what VH1 called “the single greatest rock omnibus program ever aired” and Brooklyn Vegan named “the most consistently weird and awesome thing on cable television in the ’80s.” This ‘Best Of’ episode features some of the most memorable moments of Night Flight's near-decade long run including restored interviews and segments from Kate Bush, New Wave Theatre, David Lynch, Prince, Wendy O Williams, Divine, Billy Idol, Johnny Rotten, and much more Night Flight treasures from the archive.

Night Flight: Born Again

2016

Starz Inside: In the Gutter poster
4.5

From the moment Shakespeare wrote his first fart joke, audiences have loved gross-out humor. In this 'Starz Inside' documentary, take a trip through the history of taboo-busting comedy that began with slapstick and led to the most notorious Internet video in history, with stops at every infamous penis, poo, puke and pie gag in-between. It’s a totally uncensored look at the scenes that make you want to look away.

Starz Inside: In the Gutter

2008

Behind the camera