Various books and documentary films devoted to his life have also been produced, including Divine Trash (1998) and I Am Divine (2013). He achieved international chart success with hits like " You Think You're a Man", " I'm So Beautiful", and " Walk Like a Man", all performed in drag.ĭescribed by People magazine as the "Drag Queen of the Century", Divine has remained a cult figure, particularly within the LGBT community, and has provided the inspiration for fictional characters, artworks, and songs. In 1981, Divine embarked on a career in the disco industry by producing a number of Hi-NRG tracks, most of which were written by Bobby Orlando. Independent of Waters, he also appeared in several other films, such as Lust in the Dust (1985) and Trouble in Mind (1985), seeking to diversify his repertoire by playing male roles. Continuing his cinematic work, he starred in two more of Waters' films, Polyester (1981) and Hairspray (1988), the latter of which represented his breakthrough into mainstream cinema and for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. He followed this with a performance in Tom Eyen's play Women Behind Bars and its sequel, The Neon Woman. Divine (19 October 1945 7 March 1988), né Harris Glenn Milstead, was an American actor, singer and drag queen. She gained most popularity from her appearances in the movies Pink Flamingoes and Hairspray, both by John Waters. In 1988, she was dubbed The drag queen of the century by People magazine. midnight movie circuit, became a cult classic, and established Milstead's fame in the American counterculture.Īfter starring as the lead role in Waters' next film, Female Trouble (1974), Divine moved on to theater, appearing in several avant-garde performances alongside San Francisco drag collective, The Cockettes. Divine, born Harris Glenn Milstead in 1945 in suburban Baltimore, was an icon of the drag scene. Milstead next starred in Waters' Pink Flamingos (1972), which was a hit on the U.S. Again in drag, he took a lead role in both of Waters' early full-length movies, Mondo Trasho (1969) and Multiple Maniacs (1970), the latter of which attracted press attention for the group. This is a list of drag queens, sometimes known as female impersonators, drag performers, or drag artists. By the mid-1960s he had embraced the city's countercultural scene and befriended Waters, who gave him the name "Divine" and the tagline of "the most beautiful woman in the world, almost." Along with his friend David Lochary, Milstead joined Waters' acting troupe, the Dreamlanders, and adopted female roles for their experimental short films Roman Candles (1966), Eat Your Makeup (1968), and The Diane Linkletter Story (1969). Born in Baltimore, Maryland to a conservative middle-class family, Milstead developed an early interest in drag while working as a women's hairdresser. Four decades before RuPaul’s Drag Race, drag was the opposite of hip, Waters says.
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