Born Harris Glenn Milstead, the much loved, oversized female impersonator Divine grew up down the street from high school pal John Waters and became a cult figure as Waters' longtime leading performer. It was Waters, along with make-up artist Van Smith, who transformed the flamboyant and brilliantly talented actor into the horror show Divine, forever associated with vile, repulsive acts and attitude to match. Divine developed his persona in such early Waters efforts as "Eat Your Makeup" (1968), as a Jackie Kennedy-obsessed fashion groupie, "The Diane Linkletter Story" (1969), as the suicidal
First gained relatively widespread attention in Waters' "Pink Flamingos"; film became a classic of studied bad taste
1975
Briefly appeared as a male character in John Waters' "Female Trouble"
1981
Starred opposite Tab Hunter in Waters' "Polyester"; original run included Odorama cards distributed to audiences in order to scratch and sniff odors depicted on screen
