Growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s, John Waters was not like other children; he was obsessed by violence and gore, both real and on the screen. With his weird counter-culture friends as his cast, he began making silent 8mm and 16mm films in the mid-'60s; he screened these in rented Baltimore church halls to underground audiences drawn by word of mouth and street leafleting campaigns. As his filmmaking grew more polished and his subject matter more shocking, his audiences grew bigger, and his write-ups in the Baltimore papers more outraged. By the early 1970s he was making features, which he managed to get shown in midnight screenings in art cinemas by sheer perseverance. Success came when Pink Flamingos (1972) - a deliberate exercise in ultra-bad taste - took off in 1973, helped no doubt by lead actor Divine's infamous dog-crap eating scene. Waters continued to make low-budget shocking movies with his Dreamland repertory company until Hollywood crossover success came with Hairspray (1988), and although his movies nowadays might now appear cleaned up and professional, they retain Waters' playfulness, and reflect his lifelong obsessions.
Movie | TURA! | Self (archive footage) | 2025 |
Movie | Scala!!! | Self | 2024-01-05 |
Movie | The Rooster | Norris | 2024-02-22 |
Series | The Andy Warhol Diaries | Self | 2022-03-09 |
Movie | Bad Romance | Muscular Man | 2022-11-30 |
Movie | Living with Chucky | Self | 2022-08-13 |
Movie | Overall Planning | Christopher | 2021-03-19 |
Series | Pride | Self | 2021-05-14 |
Movie | Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears | Professor Linnaeus | 2020-02-27 |
Movie | Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi | Host | 2020-05-19 |
Movie | Joel Calls Indie Film Type Dudes | 2020-03-23 | |
Movie | Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness | Host | 2020-04-21 |
Movie | Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’ | Self | 2019-09-17 |
Movie | Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn | Self | 2019-09-29 |
Movie | At the Video Store | Self | 2019-10-11 |
Movie | Mansfield 66/67 | Self | 2017-01-29 |
Movie | Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution | Himself | 2017-06-12 |
Movie | 2:22 | Bill | 2017-06-29 |
Movie | Three Summers | Eamon | 2017-11-02 |
Movie | Whatever Happened to Gelitin | Himself | 2016-03-10 |
Movie | Weiner | Self (archive footage) | 2016-05-20 |
Movie | Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story | Self | 2015-05-30 |
Movie | Tab Hunter Confidential | Self | 2015-03-15 |
Movie | The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin | 2015-09-08 | |
Movie | Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip | First Class Passenger | 2015-12-17 |
Movie | Sympathy For The Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment | Self | 2015-10-30 |
Movie | Suburban Gothic | Cornelius | 2014-07-19 |
Movie | I Am Divine | Himself | 2013-03-09 |
Movie | Return to Nim's Island | Booker | 2013-03-15 |
Movie | Paul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open | Self | 2013-04-04 |
Movie | The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies | Self | 2013-03-27 |
Movie | Jingle Bell Rocks! | Himself | 2013-12-06 |
Movie | Mansome | Self | 2012-05-18 |
Movie | Excision | William | 2012-09-12 |
Movie | Charles Manson, The Church of Satan, The Universal Order & The Process Church of Final Judgment | 2012-06-06 | |
Movie | The Mystery of a Hansom Cab | Mark Frettlby | 2012-10-28 |
Movie | These Amazing Shadows | Self | 2011-01-22 |
Movie | Mangus! | 2011-04-01 | |
Movie | The Advocate for Fagdom | Himself | 2011-11-04 |
Movie | Kapyong | Narrator | 2011-04-28 |
Movie | Blank City | Self | 2011-04-06 |
Movie | Beautiful Darling | Self | 2010-04-02 |
Movie | Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore | 2010-06-01 | |
Movie | Centre Place | Jack Houghton | 2010-07-27 |
Movie | William S. Burroughs: A Man Within | Self | 2010-11-05 |
Movie | Uncle Bob | Self (archiveFootage) | 2010-06-26 |
Movie | For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism | Self | 2009-03-01 |
Movie | It Came from Kuchar | Self | 2009-09-22 |
Movie | Coven of the Heathenites | Himself | 2008-01-01 |
Movie | New Line Cinema: The First Generation and the Next Generation | Self | 2008-03-05 |
Movie | Not Quite Hollywood | Self | 2008-08-28 |
Movie | Starz Inside: In the Gutter | Self | 2008-07-29 |
Movie | The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels | Narrator | 2008-10-31 |
Movie | Obscene | Self | 2008-09-26 |
Series | 'Til Death Do Us Part | 2007-03-19 | |
Movie | Here’s Looking at You, Boy | Self | 2007-02-16 |
Movie | Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis | Himself | 2007-04-11 |
Movie | Each Time I Kill | Movie Watcher | 2007-03-30 |
Movie | Jackass 2.5 | Himself | 2007-12-18 |
Movie | Hairspray | Flasher | 2007-07-19 |
Movie | Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story | Self | 2007-11-08 |
Movie | The Junior Defenders | Narrator | 2007-10-23 |
Movie | Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema | Self | 2006-02-12 |
Movie | Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades | 2006-03-21 | |
Movie | Meet The Kuchar Brothers | 2006-01-01 | |
Movie | This Film Is Not Yet Rated | Self - Director of 'A Dirty Shame' | 2006-01-26 |
Movie | Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea | Self - Narrator (voice) | 2006-02-24 |
Movie | The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players: Off & On Broadway | Himself | 2006-08-01 |
Movie | Busby Berkeley's Kaleidoscopic Eyes | 2006-03-21 | |
Movie | Jackass Number Two | Self | 2006-09-22 |
Series | I Love the '70s: Volume 2 | Self | 2006-07-10 |
Movie | Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream | Himself | 2006-06-20 |
Movie | (buz'be bur'kle) n. A Study in Style | Himself | 2006-03-21 |
Movie | Inside Deep Throat | Self | 2005-02-11 |
Movie | Chucky's Family Vacation | Pete Peters (Archive Footage) | 2005-06-07 |
Movie | Stealth | Black Ops Doctor | 2005-07-27 |
Movie | It Came from... Baltimore!! | Self | 2005-07-12 |
Movie | All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame' | Himself | 2005-06-14 |
Series | Fireflies | Perry Luscombe | 2004-02-01 |
Movie | Thinking XXX | Self | 2004-10-27 |
Movie | Seed of Chucky | Pete Peters | 2004-11-12 |
Movie | A History of Sex | Himself | 2003-01-14 |
Movie | Totally Gay! | Self | 2003-08-29 |
Movie | Abby Singer | John Waters (uncredited) | 2003-10-28 |
Movie | Evil Never Dies | Professor Arkin | 2003-06-01 |
Movie | Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat | The Reverend | 2002-03-31 |
Movie | The Cockettes | Self | 2002-01-16 |
Movie | Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story | 2000-09-08 | |
Movie | Cecil B. Demented | Reporter | 2000-05-17 |
Movie | Chameleon II: Death Match | Henry Kubica | 1999-01-01 |
Movie | Forever Hollywood | Self | 1999-01-01 |
Movie | The Sugar Factory | Sam Lejeune | 1999-03-04 |
Movie | Sweet and Lowdown | Mr. Haynes | 1999-12-03 |
Movie | In Bad Taste | Self | 1999-09-03 |
Movie | Divine Trash | Himself | 1998-01-18 |
Movie | Anarchy TV | 1998-01-31 | |
Movie | Pecker | Pervert on Phone (voice) (uncredited) | 1998-09-25 |
Movie | Welcome to Hollywood | John Waters | 1998-10-01 |
Movie | The Real Macaw | Dr. Lance Hagen | 1998-09-24 |
Movie | Anthem | Self | 1997-07-25 |
Movie | Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow! | 1996-08-13 | |
Movie | God Save the Queens | 1995-06-23 | |
Movie | Ebbtide | Michael Suresch | 1994-01-01 |
Movie | Singapore Sling | John Stamford | 1994-03-09 |
Movie | Serial Mom | Ted Bundy (voice) (uncredited) | 1994-04-13 |
Movie | Growing Up with John Waters | Himself | 1993-01-01 |
Movie | Jesus Christ Superstar | Pontius Pilate | 1992-06-06 |
Movie | Which Way Home | Steve Hannah | 1991-01-28 |
Movie | Heaven Tonight | Johnny Dysart | 1990-11-12 |
Series | All The Rivers Run II | Brenton Edwards | 1990-03-18 |
Movie | Homer and Eddie | Robber #1 | 1989-08-17 |
Movie | Hairspray | Dr. Fredrickson | 1988-02-26 |
Movie | Boulevard of Broken Dreams | Tom Garfield | 1988-10-13 |
Movie | Captain Johnno | Frank | 1988-04-17 |
Movie | Grievous Bodily Harm | Morris Martin | 1988-10-26 |
Movie | Passion Flower | Leslie Gaitland | 1987-03-04 |
Movie | Going Sane | Martin Brown | 1987-07-30 |
Movie | Bushfire Moon | Patrick O'Day | 1987-12-10 |
Movie | Something Wild | Used Car Guy | 1986-11-07 |
Movie | The Ballad of Sexual Dependency | 1985-01-01 | |
Movie | The Perfectionist | Stuart Gunn | 1985-12-01 |
Movie | Divine Waters | Self | 1985-01-01 |
Series | All the Rivers Run | Brenton Edwards | 1983-10-04 |
Movie | Attack Force Z | Ted King | 1982-06-01 |
Movie | Breaker Morant | Cpt. Alfred Taylor | 1980-06-11 |
Movie | Demolition | 1979-06-21 | |
Movie | Cass | Mike | 1978-10-30 |
Movie | The Scalp Merchant | 1978-01-01 | |
Movie | Weekend of Shadows | Rabbit | 1978-06-28 |
Movie | Summerfield | David Abbott | 1977-09-30 |
Movie | The Getting of Wisdom | Rev. Shepherd | 1977-08-25 |
Movie | The Adventures of Eliza Fraser | David Bracefell | 1976-12-16 |
Movie | End Play | Mark Gifford | 1976-01-01 |
Movie | Edith's Shopping Bag | Himself | 1976-01-01 |
Movie | Love Letter to Edie | Himself | 1975-01-01 |
Series | Rush | 1974-08-20 | |
Movie | Pink Flamingos | Mr. J (voice) (uncredited) | 1972-03-17 |
Movie | Mondo Trasho | Reporter (voice) (uncredited) | 1969-03-14 |