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Divine (Glen Milstead)
Encyclopedia
Divine born 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, upper 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
(1969), Multiple Maniacs
(1970), Pink Flamingos
(1972) and Female Trouble
(1974). 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
(1981), Lust in the Dust
(1985) and Hairspray (1988). Meanwhile, in 1981 Divine had embarked on a disco career, producing Hi-NRG
tracks, most of which had been written by Bobby Orlando
, and went on to achieve chart success with hits like "You Think You're A Man
", "I'm So Beautiful
" and "Walk Like a Man." Divine died from cardiomegaly
in 1988.
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… [who] 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, of which he was a part, being openly gay.
Harris Glenn Milstead was born on October 19, 1945, at the Women's Hospital in Baltimore
, Maryland
, at the under-average weight of 5 pounds, 14 ounces. His father, Harris Bernard Milstead (May 1, 1917 – March 4, 1993), after whom he was named, had been one of seven children born in Towson, Maryland
to a plumber who worked for the Baltimore City Water Department. Divine's mother, Frances Milstead (née Vukovich; April 12, 1920 – March 24, 2009), was one of fifteen children born to an impoverished Serbian immigrant couple who had grown up near to Zagreb
, Yugoslavia
, before moving to the United States in 1891. When she was 16, Frances moved to Baltimore where she worked at a diner in Towson, and it was here that she met Harris, who was a regular customer. They entered into a relationship and were married in 1938, before both gaining employment working at the Black and Decker factory in Towson. Due to his problems with muscular dystrophy
, Harris Milstead was not required to join the United States armed forces and fight in the Second World War, and instead both Harris and Frances worked throughout the war in what they saw as "good jobs". They wanted a family, and so attempted to conceive a child, but Frances suffered two miscarriages in 1940 and 1943.
By the time of Divine's birth in 1945, the Milsteads were relatively wealthy, and had adopted conservative and conventional views, adhering to the Baptist
denomination of Christianity
. Later describing his upbringing, Divine would recollect: "I was an only child in, I guess, your upper middle-class American family. I was probably your American spoilt brat." Indeed, his parents would lavish almost anything that he wanted upon him, including food, and he soon developed an eating problem, becoming overweight, a condition that he would live with for the rest of his life. Despite being named after his father, Divine preferred to use his middle name of Glenn to distinguish himself from his father. His parents and friends also called him Glenn out of affection.
At age 12, Divine and his parents moved to Lutherville, a Baltimore suburb, where he attended Towson High School
, graduating in 1963. It was there that he was bullied, partly because of his weight and his perceived effeminacy, and he later reminisced that he "wasn't rough and tough" but instead "loved painting and I always loved flowers and things." Due to this horticultural interest, he took a part-time job at a local florist's shop while age 15. Several years later, he went on a diet that enabled him to drop in weight from 180 pounds to 145 pounds, giving him a new sense of confidence. Aged 17, his parents sent him to a psychiatrist, where he first began to realize his sexual attraction to men as well as women
, something then taboo in conventional American society. Soon after, in 1963, he began attending the Marinella Beauty School, where he learned hair styling and after completing his studies gained employment at a couple of local salons, where he specialised in the creation of beehives and other upsweept hairstyles. He also sometimes helped out at his parents' day care
business, for instance dressing up as Santa Claus
to entertain the children at Christmas
time. Milstead eventually decided to give up his job and for a while was financially supported by his wealthy parents, who catered to his expensive taste in clothes and cars, and reluctantly paid the many bills that he ran up financing a number of lavish parties, where he would often dress up in drag
, in particular, liking to impersonate his favourite celebrity, the actress Elizabeth Taylor
. In December 1964, he became locally recognized when gossip spread that he was the chief suspect in the murder investigation of his friend Sally Crough. However, he was later cleared when the real culprit, a serial killer
who had already killed ten other people, was apprehended.
(1944-1977), who would go on to become an actor and co-star in several of Divine's later films. In the mid-1960s, Milstead also met and befriended a young man named John Waters
(1946-) through their mutual friend Carol Wernig; Waters and Milstead were the same age and from the same neighbourhood, and both embraced many of the countercultural and underground elements of Baltimore society that were around at the time. Along with friends like Waters and Lochary, Milstead began hanging out at "a beatnik
bar" in downtown Baltimore named Mardick's, where they would associate with hippies
and members of other countercultural groups and smoke marijuana, eventually bonding into what Waters described as "a family of sorts".
Waters liked to give his friends new nicknames, and it was he who first began calling Milstead 'Divine', later remarking that he had borrowed the name from a character in Jean Genet
's novel Our Lady of the Flowers
(1943), a controversial book about homosexuals living on the margins of Parisian society, which Waters - who was himself a homosexual - was reading at the time. It was Waters who also began introducing Divine as "the most beautiful woman in the world, almost", a description that would be widely repeated in ensuing years.
Waters was an aspiring filmmaker, intent on making "the trashiest motion pictures in cinema history" and had begun getting his friends, who would come to be known as "the Dreamlanders
" (and who included Divine, Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce
and Mink Stole
), to appear in some of his low budget productions, which were filmed on Sunday afternoons. Following the production of his first short film, Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
(1964), Waters decided to begin production of a second work, Roman Candles (1966), that was influenced by the pop artist Andy Warhol
's recently created short Chelsea Girls
(1966) by consisting of three 8-millimeter movies played simultaneously side by side. The first film to star Divine, in this instance in drag as a smoking nun, Roman Candles featured the Dreamlanders modeling their shoplifted clothes and performing various other surreal activities. Being both a short film and of an avant-garde nature, Roman Candles would never receive widespread distribution, instead holding its premier at the annual Mt. Vernon Flower Mart in Baltimore, which had become popular with "elderly dames, young faggots and hustlers, and of course a whole bunch of hippies", and Waters would go on to screen it at several local venues alongside Kenneth Anger
's short film Eaux d'Artifice
(1953).
Waters followed Roman Candles with a third short film, entitled Eat Your Makeup
(1968), in which Divine once more wore drag, this time in order to portray a fictionalised version of Jackie Kennedy, the widow of recently assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy
, who in the film had turned to kidnapping models and forcing them to eat their own make-up. Divine kept his involvement with Waters and these early underground films a secret from his conservative parents, whom he felt would not understand them or the reason for his involvement in such controversial and bad-taste films, and indeed they would not find out about them for many years to come. Divine's parents had decided to buy him his own beauty shop in Towson, in the hope that this financial responsibility would help him to settle down in life and stop spending so extravagantly, and whilst he agreed to work there, he refused to be involved in owning and managing the establishment, leaving this to his mother. Not long after, in the summer of 1968, he also moved out of his parental home and began renting his own apartment.
(1969), which had initially designed to simply be a test for a new sound camera that he had obtained. A black comedy
that carried on in Waters' tradition of making "bad taste" films that would shock conventional American society, The Diane Linkletter Story was based upon the true story of Diane Linkletter
, the daughter of media personality Art Linkletter
, who had commited suicide earlier that year. Her death had led to a flurry of media interest and speculation, with various sources erroneously claiming that she had done so under the influence of the hallucinogen LSD
. Waters' dramatised version starred Divine in the leading role as the teenager who rebels against her conservative parents after they try to break up her realtionship with hippie boyfriend Jim, before proceeding to consume a large quantity of LSD and then commit suicide. Although screened at the first Baltimore Film Festival, the film was not publicly released at the time, largely for legal reasons.
In 1970, Divine decided that he was fed up of earning his livelihood as a hairdresser, and chose to open up a vintage clothing store in Provincetown, Massachusetts
instead, using his parents' money to rent the premises. Opening in 1970, the store, which was named Divine Trash, sold items that Divine had purchased in thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales, although had to move from its original location after he had failed to obtain a licence from the local authorities. Eventually realising that this venture was not proving financially viable, Divine sold off his stock at "bottom-of-the-barrel prices", and in the hope of raising some extra money, sold all of the furniture in his rented flat as well, something which led the landlady to put out a warrant for his arrest, forcing him to flee Provincetown. Travelling to the other side of the country, Divine then spent some time in San Francisco, California
, a city which at the time had a large gay subculture that attracted Divine, who was then embracing his homosexuality
.
In 1969, soon after the production of The Diane Linkletter Story, Waters began filming a full-length motion picture, Mondo Trasho
, which starred Divine as one of the main characters, a "portly blonde bombshell" who drives around town and runs over a hitchhiker. In one of the scenes, an actor was required to walk about a street naked, which was a crime in the state of Maryland at the time, leading to the arrest of Waters and most of the actors associated with the film; Divine however escaped, having speedily driven away from the police when they arrived to carry out the arrests.
In 1970, Divine played Lady Divine, the operator of an exhibit known as The Cavalcade of Perversion who turned to murdering visitors in Waters' film Multiple Maniacs
. At the film's end, a scene was shot that involved Divine's being raped by a giant lobster named Lobstora, before she runs around Baltimore in a craze attempting to kill anyone who passed. Multiple Maniacs was the first of Waters's films to receive widespread attention, and, as such, so did Divine. KSFX
remarked that "Divine is incredible! Could start a whole new trend in films."
. Designed by Waters to be "an exercise in bad taste," the film featured Divine as Babs Johnson, "the filthiest person alive," who is forced to prove her right to the title from challengers, jealous perverts Connie and Raymond Marble. At the film's end, Divine notoriously placed fresh dog feces in her mouth, symbolizing the character's right to the title. The movie became one of the biggest cult hits of the 1970s and made Divine somewhat famous in the underground circuit.
Whilst he had been keeping his involvement with Waters' underground film-making a secret from his parents, he had continued to rely on them financially, charging them for expensive parties that he held and writing bad cheques. After he charged them for a major repair to his car in 1972, his parents confiscated it from him and told him that they would not continue to financially support him in such a manner. In retaliation, he came by their house the following day, collected his two pet dogs and then disappeared, not seeing or speaking with them for the next nine years. Instead, he would send them over fifty postcards from all over the world, informing them that he was fine, but on none of them did he leave a return address so that they could contact him.
When the filming of Pink Flamingos finished, Divine returned to San Francisco, where, along with fellow Dreamlander Mink Stole
, he became the star in a number of small-budget plays as part of a group known as The Cockettes
, including Divine and Her Stimulating Studs, Divine Saves the World, Vice Palace, Journey to the Center of Uranus and The Heartbreak of Psoriasis.
In 1974, Divine returned to Baltimore again to film Waters's next motion picture, Female Trouble
, in which he played the lead role, a teenage delinquent, Dawn Davenport, who holds to the idea that "crime is art" and who is eventually executed in the electric chair
for her violent behavior. Divine also played his first on-screen male role, Earl Peterson, in the film, and Waters included a scene during which these two characters had sex as a joke on the fact that both characters were played by the same actor. Female Trouble would prove to be Divine's favorite part, because it both allowed him to develop his character and to finally play a male role, something he had always felt important because he did not want to be typecast as a female impersonator.
Soon after, he returned to theater, this time taking the role of prison matron Pauline in Tom Eyen
's prison-based comedy Women Behind Bars
. Produced in New York City
, the play proved popular and for this reason was later taken to London
, where it was less successful. Playwright Eyen was however particularly impressed with Divine's performance and decided to write a new play that would feature him in a starring role. The result was The Neon Woman, set in the 1960s, featuring Divine as Flash Storm, the owner of a Baltimore strip club.
where his unscripted act included shouting "fuck you" repeatedly at the audience and then getting into a fight with another drag queen, a gimmick that proved popular with the club's clientele. Subsequently, he saw the commercial potential of including disco songs in with his act and, with composer Henry Krieger
created the song "Born to be Cheap." He then joined forces with young American composer Bobby Orlando
, who wrote a number of singles for Divine, including "Native Love (Step By Step)
," "Shoot Your Shot
" and "Love Reaction
". To help publicize these singles, which proved to be successful in many discos across the world, Divine went on a series of tours and combined his musical performances with comedic stunts and routines that often played up to his characters' stereotype of being "trashy" and outrageous. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, Divine took his musical performances on tour across the world.
Meanwhile, in 1981 Divine appeared in John Waters's next film, Polyester
, starring as Francine Fishpaw, a figure who, unlike earlier roles, was not a strong female but a meek and victimized woman who falls in love with her dream lover, Todd Tomorrow, played by Tab Hunter
. In real life, tabloid publications claimed a romantic connection between them, an assertion both denied. The film was released in "odorama," accompanied by "scratch 'n' sniff" cards for the audience to smell at key points in the film. Soon after Polyester, Divine auditioned for a male role in Ridley Scott
's upcoming science-fiction film Blade Runner
. Even though Scott thought Divine unsuitable for the part, he claimed to be enthusiastic about Divine's work and was very interested in including him in another of his films, but ultimately this never came about.
That same year, Divine decided to get back in contact with his estranged parents. His mother had learned of his cinematic and disco career after reading an article about the films of John Waters in Life magazine, and had gone to see Female Trouble at the cinema, but had not felt emotionally able to get back in contact with her son until 1981. She got a friend of hers to hand Divine a note at one of his concerts, leading Divine to telephone her, and the family were subsequently reunited. The reconnection resulted in a mended relationship, and he bought them lavish gifts, informing them of how wealthy he was despite the fact that, according to his manager Bernard Jay, he was already heavily in debt due to his extravagant spending.
's company, InTune Music Limited, for whom Divine released several new disco records, including "You Think You're A Man
" and "I'm So Beautiful
."
The next Divine film, Lust in the Dust
(1985), reunited him with Tab Hunter and was Divine's first film not directed by John Waters. Set in the Wild West during the nineteenth century, the movie was a sex comedy that starred Divine as Rosie Velez, a "slut
" who works as a singer in saloons and competes for the love of Abel Wood (Tab Hunter) against another woman. Divine followed this production with a very different role, that of male gangster Hilly Blue in Trouble in Mind
(1985). The script was written with Divine in mind, and although not being a major character in the film, Divine had been eager to play the part, because he wished to perform in more male roles and leave behind the stereotype of simply being a female impersonator.
He again became involved with a John Waters project, the film Hairspray (1988), set in the 1960s. Divine played two roles, male and female, as in Waters's earlier Female Trouble. In one interview, Divine admitted that he had hoped to play both the role of mother and daughter in Hairspray, but that the producers had been "a bit leery" and chosen Lake for the latter role instead. Divine went on to state his opinion on Lake, relating that "She is nineteen and delightful. I hate her."
He was originally cast as an airplane passenger in the film Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
, but died before the film was in production.
Appearing on American television chat shows such as Late Night with David Letterman
, Thicke of the Night
and The Merv Griffin Show
to promote both his music and his film appearances throughout the 1980s, Divine became a well-known celebrity
, and Divine-themed merchandise was produced, including greeting cards and The Simple Divine Cut-Out Doll Book. Because of this, several famous artists, including David Hockney
and Andy Warhol
, both of whom were known for their works which dealt with popular culture, painted portraits of him.
On March 7, 1988, three weeks after Hairspray was released nationwide, Divine was staying at the Regency Hotel in Los Angeles
, where he also stayed three weeks prior to attend the L.A. premier of the movie. He was scheduled to film a guest appearance as Uncle Otto on the Fox network
's television series Married... with Children
in the second season wrap-up episode. After spending all day at the studios in rehearsals, as shooting was to begin the following day, Divine returned to his hotel where he dined with friends at the hotel restaurant before returning to his room. He died that evening in his sleep of an enlarged heart
at age 42.
He became increasingly known for outlandish stunts onstage, each time trying to outdo what he had done before. At one performance, held in the Hippodrome
in London, that coincided with American Independence Day
, Divine rose up from the floor on a hydraulic lift, draped in the American flag, and declared that "I'm here representing Freedom, Liberty, Family Values and the fucking American Way of Life." When he performed at London Gay Pride parade
, he sang on the roof of a hired pleasure boat that floated down the Thames past Jubilee Gardens
, whilst at a performance he gave at the Hippodrome in the last year of his life, he appeared onstage riding an infant elephant
, known as Bully the Elephant, who had been hired for the occasion. Nonetheless, Divine was not overly happy being known primarily for his drag act, and would tell an interviewer that "my favorite part of drag is getting out of it. Drag is my work clothes. I only put it on when someone pays me to", a view that he also echoed to his friends.
Divine and his stage act proved particularly popular amongst gay audiences, and he appeared at some of the world's biggest gay clubs, such as Heaven
in London. According to Divine's manager, Bernard Jay, this was "not because Divine happened to be a gay person himself… but because it was the gay community that openly and proudly identified with the determination of the female character Divine".
or transsexual. During his entire childhood and adolescence, he was called "Glenn" by his friends and family. During his adult career, he used the term "Divine" as his personal name, telling one interviewer that both "Divine" and "Glenn Milstead" were "both just names. Glenn is the name I was brought up with, Divine is the name I've been using for the past 23 years. I guess it's always Glenn and it's always Divine. Do you mean the character Divine or the person Divine? You see, it gets very complicated. There's the Divine you're talking to now and there's the character Divine, which is just something I do to make a living. She doesn't really exist at all." At one point he had the name "Divine" officially recognized, as it appeared on his passport, and in keeping with his personal use of the name, his close friends nicknamed him "Divy".
Divine was homosexual, and during the 1980s had an extended relationship with a married man named Lee, who accompanied him almost everywhere that he went. They later separated, and Divine would go on to have a brief affair with the gay porn star Leo Ford, something that was widely written and gossiped about in the gay press. Divine would also regularly engage in sexual activities with young men that he would meet whilst performing, sometimes becoming infatuated with them: in one case, he met a young man in Israel
whom he slept with and subsequently wanted to bring back to the United States, something that his manager prevented him from doing. Divine initially avoided informing the media about his sexuality, even when questioned by interviewers, and would sometimes hint that he was bisexual
, but in the latter part of the 1980s decided to change this attitude, and began being open about his homosexuality. Nonetheless, he avoided getting into discussions regarding gay rights, partially at the advice of his manager, realising that it would have had a negative effect on his career.
Divine's mother, Frances Milstead, remarked that whilst Divine "was blessed with many talents and abilities, he could be very moody and demanding." She went on to note that whilst he was "incredibly kind and generous", he always wanted to get things done the way that he wanted, and would "tune you out if you displeased him."
Despite his stature as a trend-setter in gay culture, Divine was also a big fan of what he called "macho action films". He told Terry Gross
in an interview conducted shortly before his death that he was a fan of Sylvester Stallone
films, and that his favorite actor was Charles Bronson
.
Divine had suffered from problems with obesity
ever since he was a child, for the reason that he "liked to eat... and eat... and eat... and drink gallons of Coca-Cola
", with his hunger being increased by his smoking marijuana daily. In the last few years of his life, when Divine began to realize that his career in disco was coming to an end, and he was having difficulty finding acting jobs, he began to feel suicidal
and threatened to kill himself on a number of occasions. Meanwhile, Dutch friends of Divine gave him two bulldog
s in the early 1980s, which he doted on, and named Beatrix and Klaus after the Queen Beatrix
and her husband Prince Claus of the Netherlands
. On numerous occasions he would have his photograph taken with them, and sometimes use these images for record covers and posters.
Another book entitled Postcards From Divine was released from the Divine estate on November 5, 2011. It is a collection of more than 50 postcards Divine sent to his parents while traveling the world as a pop star between 1977 and 1987. The ibook version of the book includes a narration by a vocal impersonator which John Waters
called "Spooky" and "channeling". It also includes quotes and stories from his friends and colleagues including John Waters
, Mink Stole
, Mary Vivian Pearce
, Channing Wilroy, Susan Lowe, Jean Hill
, Tab Hunter
, Lainie Kazan
, Alan J. Wendl, Ruth Brown, Deborah Harry, Jerry Stiller
, Ricki Lake
and more.http://www.facebook.com/PostcardsFromDivine
Divine was the inspiration for the design of Ursula the Sea-Witch, the villain in the Disney
1989 animated film The Little Mermaid
.
Meanwhile, Divine has left an influence on a number of musicians as well. Antony Hegarty
of the band Antony and the Johnsons
wrote a song about Divine which was included in the group's self-titled debut album
, released in 1998. The song, titled "Divine", was an ode to the actor, who was one of Antony's life-long heroes. His admiration is expressed in the lines: "He was my self-determined guru" and "I turn to think of you/Who walked the way with so much pain/Who holds the mirror up to fools". Another such example of Divine's influence on musicians appeared in 2008, when Irish
electronic
singer Róisín Murphy
paid homage to Divine in her music video for her song "Movie Star
" by reenacting the attack by Lobstora from his 1970 film Multiple Maniacs
and by the appearance of Divine lookalikes.
Due to Divine's portrayal of Edna Turnblad in the original comedy-film version of Hairspray, later musical adaptations of Hairspray have commonly placed male actors in the role of Edna, including Harvey Fierstein
and others in the 2002 Broadway musical
and John Travolta
in the 2007 musical film
.
I Am Divine, a feature documentary on the life of Divine, is currently in production. It is produced and directed by Jeffrey Schwarz
of Los Angeles
based production company Automat Pictures
.
A 12 foot tall statue in the likeness of Divine by Andrew Logan
can be seen on permanent display at The American Visionary Art Museum
in Divine's home town of Baltimore, Maryland.http://www.avam.org/
records which were club music
hits in the United States
, Canada
, Europe
, and Australia
. Divine's records comprised synth
-heavy Hi-NRG
music, most of it composed, created, performed, and produced by Bobby Orlando
. In the United States, Divine's highest-charting songs were "Native Love", peaking at #21 on the Club Play Singles chart, and "Shoot Your Shot", which reached #39 among Club Play Singles. Divine's early UK releases on the Design Communications label included "Love Reaction" (which "borrowed" elements of New Order
's big hit "Blue Monday
"), "Shake It Up", and "Shoot Your Shot". The Stock, Aitken & Waterman-produced song "You Think You're A Man" was Divine's most successful UK hit, reaching #16; the song was also a Top 10 hit in Australia, reaching #8 (thanks in part to a popular promotional tour in that country which included an appearance on the popular Australian music show Countdown.) Among the material Divine released on the Proto label in the United Kingdom was "I'm So Beautiful" (the follow-up single to "You Think You're A Man"), "Walk Like A Man" and "Twistin' the Night Away
". These Proto label tracks saw their initial CD release on the "Maid In England" album and compilation of tracks from his Proto catalogue, entitled The Essential Divine, is currently available on iTunes.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, singer and drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
. Described by People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
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
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
and performed male roles in a number of his later films. He was often associated with independent filmmaker John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
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
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
singer during the 1980s, at one point being described as "the most successful and in-demand disco performer in the world."
Born in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, into a conservative, upper middle class family, he became involved with John Waters and his acting troupe, the Dreamlanders
Dreamlanders
Dreamlanders refers to the cast and crew of regulars whom John Waters has used in his films. The term comes from the name of Waters' production company, Dreamland Productions...
, in the mid-1960s and starred in a number of Waters's early films such as Mondo Trasho
Mondo Trasho
Mondo Trasho is a 1969 16mm mondo black comedy film by Baltimore, Maryland filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary and Mink Stole. It contains very little dialogue, the story being told mostly through musical cues.-Plot:...
(1969), Multiple Maniacs
Multiple Maniacs
Multiple Maniacs is a 1970 comedy film by American cult filmmaker John Waters; his second feature film. The film features several actors who were part of the Dreamland acting troupe for Waters' films, including Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, and Cookie...
(1970), Pink Flamingos
Pink Flamingos
Pink Flamingos is a 1972 transgressive black comedy film written, produced, composed, shot, edited, and directed by John Waters. When the film was initially released, it caused a huge degree of controversy and thus became one of the most notorious cult films ever made. It made an underground star...
(1972) and Female Trouble
Female Trouble
Female Trouble is a 1974 dark comedy film co-composed, filmed, co-edited, written, produced, and directed by John Waters starring Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Michael Potter, Cookie Mueller, and Susan Walsh....
(1974). These films have since become cult classics
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
. In the 1970s, Milstead made the transition to theater and appeared in a number of productions, including Women Behind Bars
Women Behind Bars
Women Behind Bars is a play by Tom Eyen.A camp spoof of the exploitation films produced by Universal, Warner's, and Republic Pictures in the 1950s, this black comedy is set in the Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Village...
and The Neon Woman, while continuing to star in such films as Polyester
Polyester (film)
Polyester is a 1981 comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, and Mink Stole...
(1981), Lust in the Dust
Lust in the Dust
Lust in the Dust is a 1985 Western comedy film starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Cesar Romero, and Lainie Kazan, and directed by Paul Bartel. It takes its title from a longstanding nickname given to the 1946 Western Duel in the Sun...
(1985) and Hairspray (1988). Meanwhile, in 1981 Divine had embarked on a disco career, producing Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
tracks, most of which had been written by Bobby Orlando
Bobby Orlando
Robert Philip Orlando , also known as Bobby Orlando, is an American record producer, dance music artist, musician and songwriter.- Early life :...
, and went on to achieve chart success with hits like "You Think You're A Man
You Think You're a Man
"You Think You're a Man" is the fifth single from the album The Story So Far by Divine. It was also covered by The Vaselines in 1987 and appeared on the EP Son of a Gun.-Chart performance:...
", "I'm So Beautiful
I'm So Beautiful
Divine released "I'm So Beautiful" in 1984 as the sixth single from his album The Story So Far.-Chart performance:"I'm So Beautiful" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #58 before climbing to and peaking at #52 in its second week...
" and "Walk Like a Man." Divine died from cardiomegaly
Cardiomegaly
Cardiomegaly is a medical condition wherein the heart is enlarged. It is generally categorized in the following manner:* Cardiomegaly due to dilation* Cardiomegaly due to ventricular hypertrophy** Left ventricular hypertrophy...
in 1988.
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… [who] 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
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community, of which he was a part, being openly gay.
Early life: 1945–1965
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, at the under-average weight of 5 pounds, 14 ounces. His father, Harris Bernard Milstead (May 1, 1917 – March 4, 1993), after whom he was named, had been one of seven children born in Towson, Maryland
Towson, Maryland
Towson is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 at the 2010 census...
to a plumber who worked for the Baltimore City Water Department. Divine's mother, Frances Milstead (née Vukovich; April 12, 1920 – March 24, 2009), was one of fifteen children born to an impoverished Serbian immigrant couple who had grown up near to Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, before moving to the United States in 1891. When she was 16, Frances moved to Baltimore where she worked at a diner in Towson, and it was here that she met Harris, who was a regular customer. They entered into a relationship and were married in 1938, before both gaining employment working at the Black and Decker factory in Towson. Due to his problems with muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy is a group of muscle diseases that weaken the musculoskeletal system and hamper locomotion. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.In the 1860s, descriptions of boys who...
, Harris Milstead was not required to join the United States armed forces and fight in the Second World War, and instead both Harris and Frances worked throughout the war in what they saw as "good jobs". They wanted a family, and so attempted to conceive a child, but Frances suffered two miscarriages in 1940 and 1943.
By the time of Divine's birth in 1945, the Milsteads were relatively wealthy, and had adopted conservative and conventional views, adhering to the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
denomination of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Later describing his upbringing, Divine would recollect: "I was an only child in, I guess, your upper middle-class American family. I was probably your American spoilt brat." Indeed, his parents would lavish almost anything that he wanted upon him, including food, and he soon developed an eating problem, becoming overweight, a condition that he would live with for the rest of his life. Despite being named after his father, Divine preferred to use his middle name of Glenn to distinguish himself from his father. His parents and friends also called him Glenn out of affection.
At age 12, Divine and his parents moved to Lutherville, a Baltimore suburb, where he attended Towson High School
Towson High School
Towson High School is a high school in Baltimore County, Maryland, founded in 1873. The school's current stone structure was built in 1949. Located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson and serving the surrounding communities of Towson, Lutherville, and Ruxton, it is part of the Baltimore...
, graduating in 1963. It was there that he was bullied, partly because of his weight and his perceived effeminacy, and he later reminisced that he "wasn't rough and tough" but instead "loved painting and I always loved flowers and things." Due to this horticultural interest, he took a part-time job at a local florist's shop while age 15. Several years later, he went on a diet that enabled him to drop in weight from 180 pounds to 145 pounds, giving him a new sense of confidence. Aged 17, his parents sent him to a psychiatrist, where he first began to realize his sexual attraction to men as well as women
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
, something then taboo in conventional American society. Soon after, in 1963, he began attending the Marinella Beauty School, where he learned hair styling and after completing his studies gained employment at a couple of local salons, where he specialised in the creation of beehives and other upsweept hairstyles. He also sometimes helped out at his parents' day care
Day care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
business, for instance dressing up as Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
to entertain the children at Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
time. Milstead eventually decided to give up his job and for a while was financially supported by his wealthy parents, who catered to his expensive taste in clothes and cars, and reluctantly paid the many bills that he ran up financing a number of lavish parties, where he would often dress up in drag
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
, in particular, liking to impersonate his favourite celebrity, the actress Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
. In December 1964, he became locally recognized when gossip spread that he was the chief suspect in the murder investigation of his friend Sally Crough. However, he was later cleared when the real culprit, a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who had already killed ten other people, was apprehended.
John Waters and Divine's first films: 1966–1968
Milstead had begun to build up a large collection of friends around him, amongst them David LocharyDavid Lochary
David Crawford Lochary was one of the regular "Dreamlander" actors in early films of the controversial "trash" film director John Waters. He starred in such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs, in which he typically played exotically-dressed, sophisticated perverts...
(1944-1977), who would go on to become an actor and co-star in several of Divine's later films. In the mid-1960s, Milstead also met and befriended a young man named John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
(1946-) through their mutual friend Carol Wernig; Waters and Milstead were the same age and from the same neighbourhood, and both embraced many of the countercultural and underground elements of Baltimore society that were around at the time. Along with friends like Waters and Lochary, Milstead began hanging out at "a beatnik
Beatnik
Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
bar" in downtown Baltimore named Mardick's, where they would associate with hippies
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
and members of other countercultural groups and smoke marijuana, eventually bonding into what Waters described as "a family of sorts".
Waters liked to give his friends new nicknames, and it was he who first began calling Milstead 'Divine', later remarking that he had borrowed the name from a character in Jean Genet
Jean Genet
Jean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
's novel Our Lady of the Flowers
Our Lady of the Flowers
Our Lady of the Flowers is the debut novel of French writer Jean Genet, first published in 1943. The free-flowing, poetic novel is a largely autobiographical account of a man's journey through the Parisian underworld...
(1943), a controversial book about homosexuals living on the margins of Parisian society, which Waters - who was himself a homosexual - was reading at the time. It was Waters who also began introducing Divine as "the most beautiful woman in the world, almost", a description that would be widely repeated in ensuing years.
Waters was an aspiring filmmaker, intent on making "the trashiest motion pictures in cinema history" and had begun getting his friends, who would come to be known as "the Dreamlanders
Dreamlanders
Dreamlanders refers to the cast and crew of regulars whom John Waters has used in his films. The term comes from the name of Waters' production company, Dreamland Productions...
" (and who included Divine, Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
and Mink Stole
Mink Stole
Nancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
), to appear in some of his low budget productions, which were filmed on Sunday afternoons. Following the production of his first short film, Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket is a John Waters short film made in Baltimore, Maryland, starring Mona Montgomery and Mary Vivian Pearce.-Plot:...
(1964), Waters decided to begin production of a second work, Roman Candles (1966), that was influenced by the pop artist Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
's recently created short Chelsea Girls
Chelsea Girls
Chelsea Girls is a 1966 experimental underground film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was Warhol's first major commercial success after a long line of avant-garde art films...
(1966) by consisting of three 8-millimeter movies played simultaneously side by side. The first film to star Divine, in this instance in drag as a smoking nun, Roman Candles featured the Dreamlanders modeling their shoplifted clothes and performing various other surreal activities. Being both a short film and of an avant-garde nature, Roman Candles would never receive widespread distribution, instead holding its premier at the annual Mt. Vernon Flower Mart in Baltimore, which had become popular with "elderly dames, young faggots and hustlers, and of course a whole bunch of hippies", and Waters would go on to screen it at several local venues alongside Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger is an American underground experimental filmmaker, occasional actor and author...
's short film Eaux d'Artifice
Eaux d'artifice
Eaux d'artifice is a short experimental film by Kenneth Anger. The film was shot in the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, Italy. The film consists entirely of a woman dressed in eighteenth-century clothes who wanders amidst the garden fountains of the Villa d'Este , until she steps into a fountain and...
(1953).
Waters followed Roman Candles with a third short film, entitled Eat Your Makeup
Eat Your Makeup
Eat Your Makeup is a short film by filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, and Maelcum Soul.It was John Waters' first film production made in 16mm film.It has never been released on video...
(1968), in which Divine once more wore drag, this time in order to portray a fictionalised version of Jackie Kennedy, the widow of recently assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, who in the film had turned to kidnapping models and forcing them to eat their own make-up. Divine kept his involvement with Waters and these early underground films a secret from his conservative parents, whom he felt would not understand them or the reason for his involvement in such controversial and bad-taste films, and indeed they would not find out about them for many years to come. Divine's parents had decided to buy him his own beauty shop in Towson, in the hope that this financial responsibility would help him to settle down in life and stop spending so extravagantly, and whilst he agreed to work there, he refused to be involved in owning and managing the establishment, leaving this to his mother. Not long after, in the summer of 1968, he also moved out of his parental home and began renting his own apartment.
The Diane Linkletter Story, Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs: 1969-1970
Now living independently, Divine once more appeared in Waters' work, acting in the director's next short film, The Diane Linkletter StoryThe Diane Linkletter Story
The Diane Linkletter Story is a 16mm short film by Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce and David Lochary....
(1969), which had initially designed to simply be a test for a new sound camera that he had obtained. A black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
that carried on in Waters' tradition of making "bad taste" films that would shock conventional American society, The Diane Linkletter Story was based upon the true story of Diane Linkletter
Diane Linkletter
Diane Linkletter was the daughter and youngest child of popular American media personality Art Linkletter, and his wife Lois Foerster...
, the daughter of media personality Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter
Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years...
, who had commited suicide earlier that year. Her death had led to a flurry of media interest and speculation, with various sources erroneously claiming that she had done so under the influence of the hallucinogen LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
. Waters' dramatised version starred Divine in the leading role as the teenager who rebels against her conservative parents after they try to break up her realtionship with hippie boyfriend Jim, before proceeding to consume a large quantity of LSD and then commit suicide. Although screened at the first Baltimore Film Festival, the film was not publicly released at the time, largely for legal reasons.
In 1970, Divine decided that he was fed up of earning his livelihood as a hairdresser, and chose to open up a vintage clothing store in Provincetown, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
instead, using his parents' money to rent the premises. Opening in 1970, the store, which was named Divine Trash, sold items that Divine had purchased in thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales, although had to move from its original location after he had failed to obtain a licence from the local authorities. Eventually realising that this venture was not proving financially viable, Divine sold off his stock at "bottom-of-the-barrel prices", and in the hope of raising some extra money, sold all of the furniture in his rented flat as well, something which led the landlady to put out a warrant for his arrest, forcing him to flee Provincetown. Travelling to the other side of the country, Divine then spent some time in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, a city which at the time had a large gay subculture that attracted Divine, who was then embracing his homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
.
In 1969, soon after the production of The Diane Linkletter Story, Waters began filming a full-length motion picture, Mondo Trasho
Mondo Trasho
Mondo Trasho is a 1969 16mm mondo black comedy film by Baltimore, Maryland filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary and Mink Stole. It contains very little dialogue, the story being told mostly through musical cues.-Plot:...
, which starred Divine as one of the main characters, a "portly blonde bombshell" who drives around town and runs over a hitchhiker. In one of the scenes, an actor was required to walk about a street naked, which was a crime in the state of Maryland at the time, leading to the arrest of Waters and most of the actors associated with the film; Divine however escaped, having speedily driven away from the police when they arrived to carry out the arrests.
In 1970, Divine played Lady Divine, the operator of an exhibit known as The Cavalcade of Perversion who turned to murdering visitors in Waters' film Multiple Maniacs
Multiple Maniacs
Multiple Maniacs is a 1970 comedy film by American cult filmmaker John Waters; his second feature film. The film features several actors who were part of the Dreamland acting troupe for Waters' films, including Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, and Cookie...
. At the film's end, a scene was shot that involved Divine's being raped by a giant lobster named Lobstora, before she runs around Baltimore in a craze attempting to kill anyone who passed. Multiple Maniacs was the first of Waters's films to receive widespread attention, and, as such, so did Divine. KSFX
KSFX
KSFX may refer to:* KOZL-TV, a television station licensed to Springfield, Missouri, United States, which held the call sign KSFX-TV from 2005-2011* KSFX , a radio station licensed to Roswell, New Mexico, United States...
remarked that "Divine is incredible! Could start a whole new trend in films."
Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and theatre work: 1971–1979
Following his San Francisco sojourn, Divine returned to Baltimore and participated in John Waters's next project, the film Pink FlamingosPink Flamingos
Pink Flamingos is a 1972 transgressive black comedy film written, produced, composed, shot, edited, and directed by John Waters. When the film was initially released, it caused a huge degree of controversy and thus became one of the most notorious cult films ever made. It made an underground star...
. Designed by Waters to be "an exercise in bad taste," the film featured Divine as Babs Johnson, "the filthiest person alive," who is forced to prove her right to the title from challengers, jealous perverts Connie and Raymond Marble. At the film's end, Divine notoriously placed fresh dog feces in her mouth, symbolizing the character's right to the title. The movie became one of the biggest cult hits of the 1970s and made Divine somewhat famous in the underground circuit.
Whilst he had been keeping his involvement with Waters' underground film-making a secret from his parents, he had continued to rely on them financially, charging them for expensive parties that he held and writing bad cheques. After he charged them for a major repair to his car in 1972, his parents confiscated it from him and told him that they would not continue to financially support him in such a manner. In retaliation, he came by their house the following day, collected his two pet dogs and then disappeared, not seeing or speaking with them for the next nine years. Instead, he would send them over fifty postcards from all over the world, informing them that he was fine, but on none of them did he leave a return address so that they could contact him.
When the filming of Pink Flamingos finished, Divine returned to San Francisco, where, along with fellow Dreamlander Mink Stole
Mink Stole
Nancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
, he became the star in a number of small-budget plays as part of a group known as The Cockettes
The Cockettes
The Cockettes were a psychedelic drag queen troupe founded by Hibiscus in the late 1960s in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. The troupe performed outrageous parodies of show tunes and gained an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure.In 1971, over differences in...
, including Divine and Her Stimulating Studs, Divine Saves the World, Vice Palace, Journey to the Center of Uranus and The Heartbreak of Psoriasis.
In 1974, Divine returned to Baltimore again to film Waters's next motion picture, Female Trouble
Female Trouble
Female Trouble is a 1974 dark comedy film co-composed, filmed, co-edited, written, produced, and directed by John Waters starring Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Michael Potter, Cookie Mueller, and Susan Walsh....
, in which he played the lead role, a teenage delinquent, Dawn Davenport, who holds to the idea that "crime is art" and who is eventually executed in the electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
for her violent behavior. Divine also played his first on-screen male role, Earl Peterson, in the film, and Waters included a scene during which these two characters had sex as a joke on the fact that both characters were played by the same actor. Female Trouble would prove to be Divine's favorite part, because it both allowed him to develop his character and to finally play a male role, something he had always felt important because he did not want to be typecast as a female impersonator.
Soon after, he returned to theater, this time taking the role of prison matron Pauline in Tom Eyen
Tom Eyen
Tom Eyen was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and theatre director.Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends of the theatrical spectrum...
's prison-based comedy Women Behind Bars
Women Behind Bars
Women Behind Bars is a play by Tom Eyen.A camp spoof of the exploitation films produced by Universal, Warner's, and Republic Pictures in the 1950s, this black comedy is set in the Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Village...
. Produced in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the play proved popular and for this reason was later taken to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where it was less successful. Playwright Eyen was however particularly impressed with Divine's performance and decided to write a new play that would feature him in a starring role. The result was The Neon Woman, set in the 1960s, featuring Divine as Flash Storm, the owner of a Baltimore strip club.
Early disco work and Polyester: 1980–1983
After abandoning his former agent, Robert Hussong, for the British theater director Bernard Jay in 1979, Divine became involved in the club scene. He first appeared at a gay club in Fort Lauderdale, FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
where his unscripted act included shouting "fuck you" repeatedly at the audience and then getting into a fight with another drag queen, a gimmick that proved popular with the club's clientele. Subsequently, he saw the commercial potential of including disco songs in with his act and, with composer Henry Krieger
Henry Krieger
Henry Krieger is an American composer.Krieger wrote the music for the Broadway shows Dreamgirls , The Tap Dance Kid , and Side Show , as well as other works of musical theatre.He was nominated for the Tony Awards for Best Score for both Dreamgirls and Side Show, won a Grammy...
created the song "Born to be Cheap." He then joined forces with young American composer Bobby Orlando
Bobby Orlando
Robert Philip Orlando , also known as Bobby Orlando, is an American record producer, dance music artist, musician and songwriter.- Early life :...
, who wrote a number of singles for Divine, including "Native Love (Step By Step)
Native Love (Step By Step)
"Native Love " is the first single from Divine's album The Story So Far.-Chart performance:"Native Love " became Divine's first single to chart on the Dutch Singles Chart. It debuted at #37 before climbing to and peaking at #28 in its second week...
," "Shoot Your Shot
Shoot Your Shot
"Shoot Your Shot" is a single by Divine released in 1983 from his album The Story So Far.-Chart performance:"Shoot Your Shot" became Divine's second single to chart on the Dutch Singles Chart after "Native Love ". It debuted at #32 and eventually peaked at #7.The song spent a total of 11 weeks on...
" and "Love Reaction
Love Reaction
"Love Reaction" is the third single from the album The Story So Far by Divine. "Love Reaction" was recorded twice upon the suggestion of Divine's Dutch record company, the second version modeled after New Order's successful "Blue Monday" single...
". To help publicize these singles, which proved to be successful in many discos across the world, Divine went on a series of tours and combined his musical performances with comedic stunts and routines that often played up to his characters' stereotype of being "trashy" and outrageous. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, Divine took his musical performances on tour across the world.
Meanwhile, in 1981 Divine appeared in John Waters's next film, Polyester
Polyester (film)
Polyester is a 1981 comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, and Mink Stole...
, starring as Francine Fishpaw, a figure who, unlike earlier roles, was not a strong female but a meek and victimized woman who falls in love with her dream lover, Todd Tomorrow, played by Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
. In real life, tabloid publications claimed a romantic connection between them, an assertion both denied. The film was released in "odorama," accompanied by "scratch 'n' sniff" cards for the audience to smell at key points in the film. Soon after Polyester, Divine auditioned for a male role in Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
's upcoming science-fiction film Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
. Even though Scott thought Divine unsuitable for the part, he claimed to be enthusiastic about Divine's work and was very interested in including him in another of his films, but ultimately this never came about.
That same year, Divine decided to get back in contact with his estranged parents. His mother had learned of his cinematic and disco career after reading an article about the films of John Waters in Life magazine, and had gone to see Female Trouble at the cinema, but had not felt emotionally able to get back in contact with her son until 1981. She got a friend of hers to hand Divine a note at one of his concerts, leading Divine to telephone her, and the family were subsequently reunited. The reconnection resulted in a mended relationship, and he bought them lavish gifts, informing them of how wealthy he was despite the fact that, according to his manager Bernard Jay, he was already heavily in debt due to his extravagant spending.
Later disco work, Lust in the Dust and Hairspray: 1984–1988
Whilst his career as a disco singer continued, Divine and his management felt that, despite the fact that Divine's records had sold well, they were not receiving their share of the profits, and so they went to court against Orlando and his company, O-Records. Successfully nullifying their contract, they went on to sign with Barry EvangeliBarry Evangeli
Barry Evangeli is a British-Greek Cypriot music producer who has produced records for such artists as Gloria Gaynor and the Divine Record Album Collection. He was the Executive Officer for Proto Records, an independent British label with guaranteed distribution deals...
's company, InTune Music Limited, for whom Divine released several new disco records, including "You Think You're A Man
You Think You're a Man
"You Think You're a Man" is the fifth single from the album The Story So Far by Divine. It was also covered by The Vaselines in 1987 and appeared on the EP Son of a Gun.-Chart performance:...
" and "I'm So Beautiful
I'm So Beautiful
Divine released "I'm So Beautiful" in 1984 as the sixth single from his album The Story So Far.-Chart performance:"I'm So Beautiful" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #58 before climbing to and peaking at #52 in its second week...
."
The next Divine film, Lust in the Dust
Lust in the Dust
Lust in the Dust is a 1985 Western comedy film starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Cesar Romero, and Lainie Kazan, and directed by Paul Bartel. It takes its title from a longstanding nickname given to the 1946 Western Duel in the Sun...
(1985), reunited him with Tab Hunter and was Divine's first film not directed by John Waters. Set in the Wild West during the nineteenth century, the movie was a sex comedy that starred Divine as Rosie Velez, a "slut
Slut
Slut or slattern is a pejorative term applied to an individual who is considered to have loose sexual morals or who is sexually promiscuous...
" who works as a singer in saloons and competes for the love of Abel Wood (Tab Hunter) against another woman. Divine followed this production with a very different role, that of male gangster Hilly Blue in Trouble in Mind
Trouble in Mind (film)
Trouble in Mind is a 1985 neo-noir film which follows an ex-cop just released from jail after serving time for a murder sentence as he returns to the mean streets of the fictional "Rain City"....
(1985). The script was written with Divine in mind, and although not being a major character in the film, Divine had been eager to play the part, because he wished to perform in more male roles and leave behind the stereotype of simply being a female impersonator.
He again became involved with a John Waters project, the film Hairspray (1988), set in the 1960s. Divine played two roles, male and female, as in Waters's earlier Female Trouble. In one interview, Divine admitted that he had hoped to play both the role of mother and daughter in Hairspray, but that the producers had been "a bit leery" and chosen Lake for the latter role instead. Divine went on to state his opinion on Lake, relating that "She is nineteen and delightful. I hate her."
He was originally cast as an airplane passenger in the film Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare is a 1991 American slasher film. It is the sixthand as the title suggests, intended to be the lastfilm in the series of films featuring Freddy Krueger...
, but died before the film was in production.
Appearing on American television chat shows such as Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
, Thicke of the Night
Thicke of the Night
Thicke of the Night is an American late night talk show produced by MGM Television, distributed in syndication by Metromedia and broadcast in first-run syndication during the 1983-1984 TV season....
and The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
to promote both his music and his film appearances throughout the 1980s, Divine became a well-known celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
, and Divine-themed merchandise was produced, including greeting cards and The Simple Divine Cut-Out Doll Book. Because of this, several famous artists, including David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
and Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, both of whom were known for their works which dealt with popular culture, painted portraits of him.
Death
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where he also stayed three weeks prior to attend the L.A. premier of the movie. He was scheduled to film a guest appearance as Uncle Otto on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
's television series Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
in the second season wrap-up episode. After spending all day at the studios in rehearsals, as shooting was to begin the following day, Divine returned to his hotel where he dined with friends at the hotel restaurant before returning to his room. He died that evening in his sleep of an enlarged heart
Cardiomegaly
Cardiomegaly is a medical condition wherein the heart is enlarged. It is generally categorized in the following manner:* Cardiomegaly due to dilation* Cardiomegaly due to ventricular hypertrophy** Left ventricular hypertrophy...
at age 42.
Drag persona and performance
After developing a name for himself as a female impersonator known for "trashy" behavior in his early John Waters' films, Divine decided to capitalize on this image by appearing at his musical performances in his drag persona. In this role, he would be described as displaying "Trash. Filth. Obscenity. In bucket-loads." Divine himself would describe his stage performances as "just good, dirty fun, and if you find it offensive, honey, don't join in." As a part of his performance, he would constantly swear at the audience, often using his signature line of "fuck you very much", and at times would get audience members to come onstage, where he would fondle their buttocks, groins and breasts.He became increasingly known for outlandish stunts onstage, each time trying to outdo what he had done before. At one performance, held in the Hippodrome
Hippodrome, London
The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survivors...
in London, that coincided with American Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
, Divine rose up from the floor on a hydraulic lift, draped in the American flag, and declared that "I'm here representing Freedom, Liberty, Family Values and the fucking American Way of Life." When he performed at London Gay Pride parade
Pride London
Pride London is the name of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender registered charity which arranges LGBT events in London, most notably the annual gay pride parade which is held in June/July. The most recent Pride London was on 2 July 2011. The 2010 event was attended by 1 million people,...
, he sang on the roof of a hired pleasure boat that floated down the Thames past Jubilee Gardens
Jubilee Gardens
Jubilee Gardens is a public park on the South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth. Created in 1977 to mark the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the site was formerly used for the Dome of Discovery and the adjacent Skylon Tower during the Festival of Britain in 1951...
, whilst at a performance he gave at the Hippodrome in the last year of his life, he appeared onstage riding an infant elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
, known as Bully the Elephant, who had been hired for the occasion. Nonetheless, Divine was not overly happy being known primarily for his drag act, and would tell an interviewer that "my favorite part of drag is getting out of it. Drag is my work clothes. I only put it on when someone pays me to", a view that he also echoed to his friends.
Divine and his stage act proved particularly popular amongst gay audiences, and he appeared at some of the world's biggest gay clubs, such as Heaven
Heaven (nightclub)
Heaven is a Superclub in London, England which appeals predominantly to the gay market. It is located underneath Charing Cross railway station in Central London, just off Trafalgar Square.-Early history:...
in London. According to Divine's manager, Bernard Jay, this was "not because Divine happened to be a gay person himself… but because it was the gay community that openly and proudly identified with the determination of the female character Divine".
Personal life
Despite some claims made to the contrary, Divine always considered himself to be male, and was not transgenderTransgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
or transsexual. During his entire childhood and adolescence, he was called "Glenn" by his friends and family. During his adult career, he used the term "Divine" as his personal name, telling one interviewer that both "Divine" and "Glenn Milstead" were "both just names. Glenn is the name I was brought up with, Divine is the name I've been using for the past 23 years. I guess it's always Glenn and it's always Divine. Do you mean the character Divine or the person Divine? You see, it gets very complicated. There's the Divine you're talking to now and there's the character Divine, which is just something I do to make a living. She doesn't really exist at all." At one point he had the name "Divine" officially recognized, as it appeared on his passport, and in keeping with his personal use of the name, his close friends nicknamed him "Divy".
Divine was homosexual, and during the 1980s had an extended relationship with a married man named Lee, who accompanied him almost everywhere that he went. They later separated, and Divine would go on to have a brief affair with the gay porn star Leo Ford, something that was widely written and gossiped about in the gay press. Divine would also regularly engage in sexual activities with young men that he would meet whilst performing, sometimes becoming infatuated with them: in one case, he met a young man in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
whom he slept with and subsequently wanted to bring back to the United States, something that his manager prevented him from doing. Divine initially avoided informing the media about his sexuality, even when questioned by interviewers, and would sometimes hint that he was bisexual
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
, but in the latter part of the 1980s decided to change this attitude, and began being open about his homosexuality. Nonetheless, he avoided getting into discussions regarding gay rights, partially at the advice of his manager, realising that it would have had a negative effect on his career.
Divine's mother, Frances Milstead, remarked that whilst Divine "was blessed with many talents and abilities, he could be very moody and demanding." She went on to note that whilst he was "incredibly kind and generous", he always wanted to get things done the way that he wanted, and would "tune you out if you displeased him."
Despite his stature as a trend-setter in gay culture, Divine was also a big fan of what he called "macho action films". He told Terry Gross
Terry Gross
Terry Gross is the host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, an interview format radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed throughout the United States by National Public Radio....
in an interview conducted shortly before his death that he was a fan of Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
films, and that his favorite actor was Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...
.
Divine had suffered from problems with obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
ever since he was a child, for the reason that he "liked to eat... and eat... and eat... and drink gallons of Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
", with his hunger being increased by his smoking marijuana daily. In the last few years of his life, when Divine began to realize that his career in disco was coming to an end, and he was having difficulty finding acting jobs, he began to feel suicidal
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
and threatened to kill himself on a number of occasions. Meanwhile, Dutch friends of Divine gave him two bulldog
Bulldog
Bulldog is the name for a breed of dog commonly referred to as the English Bulldog. Other Bulldog breeds include the American Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge and the French Bulldog. The Bulldog is a muscular heavy dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose...
s in the early 1980s, which he doted on, and named Beatrix and Klaus after the Queen Beatrix
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University...
and her husband Prince Claus of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. On numerous occasions he would have his photograph taken with them, and sometimes use these images for record covers and posters.
Legacy and influence
Two books have been published about Divine since his death. The first, which was entitled Not Simply Divine!, was written by his manager and friend Bernard Jay, and published in 1992 by Virgin Books. The second, My Son Divine (2001), was written by his mother, Frances Milstead, and dealt with her sometimes fractious relationship with her son. His mother's continued relationship with the gay community was later documented in a film Frances: A Mother Divine directed by Tim Dunn and Michael O'Quinn which was released in 2010.Another book entitled Postcards From Divine was released from the Divine estate on November 5, 2011. It is a collection of more than 50 postcards Divine sent to his parents while traveling the world as a pop star between 1977 and 1987. The ibook version of the book includes a narration by a vocal impersonator which John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
called "Spooky" and "channeling". It also includes quotes and stories from his friends and colleagues including John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
, Mink Stole
Mink Stole
Nancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
, Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
, Channing Wilroy, Susan Lowe, Jean Hill
Jean Hill
Norma Jean Lollis Hill was a witness to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. She was known as the "Lady in Red" because of the long red rain coat she wore that day, as seen in the Zapruder Film...
, Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
, Lainie Kazan
Lainie Kazan
Lainie Kazan is an American actress and singer.-Personal life:Kazan was born Lanie Levine in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of a Russian Ashkenazi Jewish father who worked as a bookie and a Turkish Sephardic Jewish mother, Carole, whom Kazan has described as "neurotic, fragile and...
, Alan J. Wendl, Ruth Brown, Deborah Harry, Jerry Stiller
Jerry Stiller
Gerald Isaac "Jerry" Stiller is an American comedian and actor.He spent many years in the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife Anne Meara...
, Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
and more.http://www.facebook.com/PostcardsFromDivine
Divine was the inspiration for the design of Ursula the Sea-Witch, the villain in the Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
1989 animated film The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid (1989 film)
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was originally released to theaters on November 14, 1989 and is the twenty-eighth film in...
.
Meanwhile, Divine has left an influence on a number of musicians as well. Antony Hegarty
Antony Hegarty
Antony Hegarty is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons.-Early life:...
of the band Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons is a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.-Career:British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released...
wrote a song about Divine which was included in the group's self-titled debut album
Antony and the Johnsons (album)
Antony and the Johnsons is the debut album by Antony and the Johnsons, released in 1998.-Releases:Originally, the album was released in 1998 on David Tibet's label Durtro...
, released in 1998. The song, titled "Divine", was an ode to the actor, who was one of Antony's life-long heroes. His admiration is expressed in the lines: "He was my self-determined guru" and "I turn to think of you/Who walked the way with so much pain/Who holds the mirror up to fools". Another such example of Divine's influence on musicians appeared in 2008, when Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
singer Róisín Murphy
Róisín Murphy
Róisín Marie Murphy is an Irish singer-songwriter and record producer, known for her electronic style.Murphy first came to note as part of the electronic music duo Moloko. Her partner in the band was then-boyfriend Mark Brydon. After the two ended their romantic relationship, Murphy released her...
paid homage to Divine in her music video for her song "Movie Star
Movie Star (song)
"Movie Star" is a song by Irish recording artist Róisín Murphy from her second solo studio album, Overpowered. Written by Murphy, Paul "Seiji" Dolby and Mike Patto, and produced by Parrot & Dean, the song was released digitally in the United States as the album's fourth and final...
" by reenacting the attack by Lobstora from his 1970 film Multiple Maniacs
Multiple Maniacs
Multiple Maniacs is a 1970 comedy film by American cult filmmaker John Waters; his second feature film. The film features several actors who were part of the Dreamland acting troupe for Waters' films, including Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, and Cookie...
and by the appearance of Divine lookalikes.
Due to Divine's portrayal of Edna Turnblad in the original comedy-film version of Hairspray, later musical adaptations of Hairspray have commonly placed male actors in the role of Edna, including Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
and others in the 2002 Broadway musical
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
and John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
in the 2007 musical film
Hairspray (2007 film)
Hairspray is a 2007 musical film produced by Kolaja Productions and distributed by New Line Cinema. It was released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John...
.
I Am Divine, a feature documentary on the life of Divine, is currently in production. It is produced and directed by Jeffrey Schwarz
Jeffrey Schwarz
Jeffrey Schwarz is President & CEO of Automat Pictures, a Los Angeles based entertainment company specializing in the production of studio EPKs , Blu-ray and DVD content, original television programming, and feature films....
of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
based production company Automat Pictures
Automat Pictures
Automat Pictures is a multi-award winning entertainment production company based in Los Angeles, which specializes in EPK, Blu-ray and DVD Added Value, as well original television programming, web content and independent feature film production....
.
A 12 foot tall statue in the likeness of Divine by Andrew Logan
Andrew Logan
Andrew Logan is an English sculptor, performance artist, jewellery-maker, portraitist and painter.He was born at Witney, Oxfordshire, in England. He was educated as an architect at the Oxford School of Architecture, graduating in 1970...
can be seen on permanent display at The American Visionary Art Museum
American Visionary Art Museum
The American Visionary Art Museum is an art museum located in the Federal Hill neighborhood at 800 Key Highway in Baltimore, Maryland and that specializes in the preservation and display of visionary art...
in Divine's home town of Baltimore, Maryland.http://www.avam.org/
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1966 | Roman Candles | The Smoking Nun | |
| 1968 | Eat Your Makeup Eat Your Makeup Eat Your Makeup is a short film by filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, and Maelcum Soul.It was John Waters' first film production made in 16mm film.It has never been released on video... |
Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle... |
|
| 1969 | The Diane Linkletter Story The Diane Linkletter Story The Diane Linkletter Story is a 16mm short film by Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce and David Lochary.... |
Diane Linkletter Diane Linkletter Diane Linkletter was the daughter and youngest child of popular American media personality Art Linkletter, and his wife Lois Foerster... |
|
| Mondo Trasho Mondo Trasho Mondo Trasho is a 1969 16mm mondo black comedy film by Baltimore, Maryland filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary and Mink Stole. It contains very little dialogue, the story being told mostly through musical cues.-Plot:... |
Divine | ||
| 1970 | Multiple Maniacs Multiple Maniacs Multiple Maniacs is a 1970 comedy film by American cult filmmaker John Waters; his second feature film. The film features several actors who were part of the Dreamland acting troupe for Waters' films, including Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, and Cookie... |
Lady Divine | |
| 1972 | Pink Flamingos Pink Flamingos Pink Flamingos is a 1972 transgressive black comedy film written, produced, composed, shot, edited, and directed by John Waters. When the film was initially released, it caused a huge degree of controversy and thus became one of the most notorious cult films ever made. It made an underground star... |
Divine / Babs Johnson | |
| 1974 | Female Trouble Female Trouble Female Trouble is a 1974 dark comedy film co-composed, filmed, co-edited, written, produced, and directed by John Waters starring Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Michael Potter, Cookie Mueller, and Susan Walsh.... |
Dawn Davenport / Earl Peterson | |
| 1981 | Polyester Polyester (film) Polyester is a 1981 comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, and Mink Stole... |
Francine Fishpaw | |
| 1985 | Lust in the Dust Lust in the Dust Lust in the Dust is a 1985 Western comedy film starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Cesar Romero, and Lainie Kazan, and directed by Paul Bartel. It takes its title from a longstanding nickname given to the 1946 Western Duel in the Sun... |
Rosie Velez | Nominated - Razzie Award for Worst Actor |
| Trouble in Mind Trouble in Mind (film) Trouble in Mind is a 1985 neo-noir film which follows an ex-cop just released from jail after serving time for a murder sentence as he returns to the mean streets of the fictional "Rain City".... |
Hilly Blue | ||
| Divine Waters Divine Waters Divine Waters is a 1985 documentary film starring Divine and John Waters as themselves, along with Waters' father John Waters Sr. and sister Trish Waters.-Plot:... |
Himself | Documentary | |
| 1988 | Hairspray | Edna Turnblad / Arvin Hodgepile | Nominated - Independent Spirit Award Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit... for Best Supporting Male |
| 1989 | Out of the Dark Out of the Dark (1989 film) Out of the Dark is an erotic comedy horror film released in 1989 starring Karen Witter. The film is notable for being Divine's last movie.-Plot:... |
Det. Langella | |
| 1998 | Divine Trash Divine Trash Divine Trash is a 1998 documentary film directed by Steve Yeager about the life and work of John Waters.-Cast:*Steve Yeager*John Waters*Robert Shaye*Mink Stole*Divine *David Lochary *Edith Massey... |
Himself | Archive footage used for documentary |
| 2000 | In Bad Taste In Bad Taste In Bad Taste is the second documentary film from Steve Yeager, who had first made Divine Trash in 1998. The documentary follows the cinematic ideas of American filmmaker John Waters, and includes interviews with Waters and his ensemble cast, known as the Dreamlanders.-Cast:*Steve Yeager*John... |
||
| 2002 | The Cockettes The Cockettes (film) The Cockettes is a 2002 American documentary film. It was directed by Bill Weber and David Weissman, and produced by Weissman. Its subject is the 1960s-70s San Francisco performance group The Cockettes. The film debuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury... |
||
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1987 | Tales from the Darkside Tales from the Darkside Tales from the Darkside is an anthology horror TV series produced by George A. Romero; it originally aired from 1983 to 1988. Similar to Amazing Stories, The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, The Outer Limits, and Tales From The Crypt, each episode was an individual short story that ended with a plot... |
Chia Fung | 1 episode |
Discography
In the 1980s, Divine released several dance musicDance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
records which were club music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
hits in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Divine's records comprised synth
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
-heavy Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
music, most of it composed, created, performed, and produced by Bobby Orlando
Bobby Orlando
Robert Philip Orlando , also known as Bobby Orlando, is an American record producer, dance music artist, musician and songwriter.- Early life :...
. In the United States, Divine's highest-charting songs were "Native Love", peaking at #21 on the Club Play Singles chart, and "Shoot Your Shot", which reached #39 among Club Play Singles. Divine's early UK releases on the Design Communications label included "Love Reaction" (which "borrowed" elements of New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
's big hit "Blue Monday
Blue Monday (New Order song)
"Blue Monday" is a single released in 1983 by British band New Order, and later remixed in 1988 and 1995. The song has been widely remixed and covered since its original release, and became a popular anthem in the dance club scene.-Background:...
"), "Shake It Up", and "Shoot Your Shot". The Stock, Aitken & Waterman-produced song "You Think You're A Man" was Divine's most successful UK hit, reaching #16; the song was also a Top 10 hit in Australia, reaching #8 (thanks in part to a popular promotional tour in that country which included an appearance on the popular Australian music show Countdown.) Among the material Divine released on the Proto label in the United Kingdom was "I'm So Beautiful" (the follow-up single to "You Think You're A Man"), "Walk Like A Man" and "Twistin' the Night Away
Twistin' the Night Away
"Twistin' the Night Away" is a song written and recorded by Sam Cooke. It was released as a single in 1962 and became very popular, charting in the top ten of both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard's R&B chart ,...
". These Proto label tracks saw their initial CD release on the "Maid In England" album and compilation of tracks from his Proto catalogue, entitled The Essential Divine, is currently available on iTunes.
Albums
- 1982: My First AlbumMy First Album (Divine album)My First Album is the debut album by American drag queen and actor Divine. It was released in 1982.-Track listing:#"Shoot Your Shot" 6:24#"Jungle Jezebel" 4:42#"Native Love" 3:56#"Kick Your Butt" 5:22#"Alphabet Rap" 6:32...
- (1982) - 1982: Jungle Jezebel - (1982)
- 1984: The Story So FarThe Story So Far (Divine album)Divine's third album, The Story So Far became his most successful LP on both sides of the Atlantic. With songwriting and music production by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman known as Stock Aitken Waterman and Bobby Orlando, the album became especially sought-after by avid...
- (1984) - 1988: Maid in EnglandMaid in EnglandMaid in England is the fourth and final studio album by the American Drag Queen Divine. It features 12 songs by Divine.-Track listing:#"Divine's Theme"#"You Think You're a Man"#"Give It Up"#"I'm So Beautiful"#"Show Me Around"#"Walk Like a Man"...
- (1988)
CD reissues
- The Story So Far - (1988, Receiver Records, KNOB 3)
- The Best Of & The Rest Of - (1989, Action Replay Records, CDAR 1007)
- Maid In England - (1990, ZYX Records, CD 9066)
- The Best Of Divine: Native Love - (1991, "O" Records, HTCD 16-2)
- The 12" Collection - (1993, Unidisc Music Inc., SPLK-7098)
- Jungle Jezebel - (1994, "O" Records, HTCD 6609)
- The Cream Of Divine - (1994, Pickwick Group Ltd., PWKS 4228) UK compilation featuring the Proto label 12" versions.
- Born To Be Cheap - (1994, Anagram Records, CDMGRAM 84) - Live album.
- Shoot Your Shot - (1995, Mastertone Multimedia Ltd., AB 3013)
- The Remixes - (1996, Avex UK, AVEXCD 29) - new remixes by Jon of the Pleased Wimmin, Mark Moore, Hybrid, Checkpoint Charlie, Hyper Go Go, & Aquarius.
- The Originals - (1996, Avex UK, AVEXCD 30)
- The Best Of Divine - (1997, Delta Music, 21 024)
- Greatest Hits - (2005, Unidisc Music Inc., SPLK-8004)
- The Greatest Hits - (2005, Forever Gold, FG351) - Dutch compilation featuring some rare mixes.
- Greatest Hits: The Originals and the Remixes - (2009, Dance Street Records, DST 77226-2) - US 2CD reissue of the 1996 Avex UK CDs.
- Essential Divine - (2011, Right Trackt Records)
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
DEU Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
AUT |
NED |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
SWI |
U.S. Dance |
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| 1981 | "Born To Be Cheap” | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| 1982 | "Native Love (Step By Step) Native Love (Step By Step) "Native Love " is the first single from Divine's album The Story So Far.-Chart performance:"Native Love " became Divine's first single to chart on the Dutch Singles Chart. It debuted at #37 before climbing to and peaking at #28 in its second week... ” |
— | — | — | — | 28 | — | — | 21 | The Story So Far |
| 1983 | "Shoot Your Shot Shoot Your Shot "Shoot Your Shot" is a single by Divine released in 1983 from his album The Story So Far.-Chart performance:"Shoot Your Shot" became Divine's second single to chart on the Dutch Singles Chart after "Native Love ". It debuted at #32 and eventually peaked at #7.The song spent a total of 11 weeks on... " |
— | 15 | — | 9 | 7 | — | 8 | 39 | |
| "Love Reaction Love Reaction "Love Reaction" is the third single from the album The Story So Far by Divine. "Love Reaction" was recorded twice upon the suggestion of Divine's Dutch record company, the second version modeled after New Order's successful "Blue Monday" single... " |
65 | 55 | — | — | 25 | — | — | — | ||
| "Shake It Up Shake It Up (Divine song) "Shake It Up" is the fourth single from the album The Story So Far by Divine.-Chart performance:"Shake It Up" became Divine's fourth and last single to chart on the Dutch Singles Chart. It debuted at #30 before climbing to and peaking at #13 in its third week... " |
82 | 26 | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | ||
| 1984 | "You Think You're A Man You Think You're a Man "You Think You're a Man" is the fifth single from the album The Story So Far by Divine. It was also covered by The Vaselines in 1987 and appeared on the EP Son of a Gun.-Chart performance:... " |
16 | 32 | 8 | — | — | 27 | 9 | — | |
| "I'm So Beautiful I'm So Beautiful Divine released "I'm So Beautiful" in 1984 as the sixth single from his album The Story So Far.-Chart performance:"I'm So Beautiful" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #58 before climbing to and peaking at #52 in its second week... " |
52 | 38 | — | — | — | 48 | — | — | ||
| "T Shirts and Tight Blue Jeans" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Maid in England | |
| 1985 | "Walk Like A Man" | 23 | 52 | — | — | — | — | 28 | — | |
| "Twistin' the Night Away Twistin' the Night Away "Twistin' the Night Away" is a song written and recorded by Sam Cooke. It was released as a single in 1962 and became very popular, charting in the top ten of both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard's R&B chart ,... " |
47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Hard Magic Hard Magic "Hard Magic" is a single from the album Maid in England by Divine.-Chart performance:"Hard Magic" was Divine's last single to chart on the UK Singles Chart... " |
87 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987 | "Little Baby" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Hey You!" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||