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Divine

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


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Born:
Oct 19, 1945 In Towson, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States
Movie/TV Credits:
18
First Appeared:
In the movie Mondo Trasho 1969-03-14
Latest Project:
Movie Howard 2018-04-22
Known For
Filmography
Movie Howard Dawn Davenport / Earl Peterson (archive footage) 2018-04-22
Movie Tab Hunter Confidential Self (archive footage) 2015-03-15
Movie I Am Divine Self (archive footage) 2013-03-09
Movie The British Guide to Showing Off Self (archive footage) 2011-11-11
Movie Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy Self (archive footage) 2010-05-04
Movie Uncle Bob Self 2010-06-26
Movie Divine Trash Self 2000-03-31
Movie In Bad Taste Self (archive footage) 1999-09-03
Movie Hairspray Edna Turnblad / Arvin Hodgepile 1988-02-26
Movie Out of the Dark Det. Langella 1988-06-02
Movie Trouble in Mind Hilly Blue 1985-12-11
Movie Lust in the Dust Rosie Velez 1985-03-01
Movie Polyester Francine Fishpaw 1981-05-29
Movie Tally Brown, New York 1979-05-04
Movie Underground and Emigrants Self 1976-10-25
Movie Female Trouble Dawn Davenport / Earl Peterson 1974-10-04
Movie Pink Flamingos Divine / Babs Johnson 1972-03-17
Movie Mondo Trasho Divine / Greaser in Alley 1969-03-14
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