John Waters
Birthday:
22 April 1946, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Birth Name:
John Samuel Waters Jr.
Height:
188 cm
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 wor...
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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. Show less «
"My hobby is extreme Catholic behavior -- BEFORE the Reformation." (2000)
"My hobby is extreme Catholic behavior -- BEFORE the Reformation." (2000)
"If you can make someone laugh who's dead set against you, that's the first step to winning them over to your side." (2000)
"If you can make someone laugh who's dead set against you, that's the first step to winning them over to your side." (2000)
Some call me director, producer, filmmaker. I prefer to call myself pube-king.
Some call me director, producer, filmmaker. I prefer to call myself pube-king.
Strive for art in reverse.
Strive for art in reverse.
To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation. But o...Show more »
To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation. But one must remember that there is such a thing as good bad taste and bad bad taste. Show less «
I pride myself on the fact that my work has no socially redeeming value.
I pride myself on the fact that my work has no socially redeeming value.
I would love to make a movie for very neurotic children. But then perhaps, I've already done that. I've shown my films at children's birthda...Show more »
I would love to make a movie for very neurotic children. But then perhaps, I've already done that. I've shown my films at children's birthday parties. They just love them, like Punch and Judy shows. Show less «
Oh, Squeaky Fromme, where were you when we needed you? [1977: when asked about Anita Bryant]
Oh, Squeaky Fromme, where were you when we needed you? [1977: when asked about Anita Bryant]
As far as socially redeeming value, I hope I don't have any. [1983]
As far as socially redeeming value, I hope I don't have any. [1983]
I love Judy Garland, but if a reporter were coming to my home, I wouldn't have her music playing. A gay man loving Judy would be like a blac...Show more »
I love Judy Garland, but if a reporter were coming to my home, I wouldn't have her music playing. A gay man loving Judy would be like a black person watching a minstrel show. Show less «
Who on earth would want to assassinate Danny Thomas? It wouldn't even make the front page!
Who on earth would want to assassinate Danny Thomas? It wouldn't even make the front page!
I'll never be able to do a sequel to Pink Flamingos (1972) because it would have to end with Divine taking a shit and the dog eating it.
I'll never be able to do a sequel to Pink Flamingos (1972) because it would have to end with Divine taking a shit and the dog eating it.
If someone threw up at one of my screenings, it would be like a standing ovation.
If someone threw up at one of my screenings, it would be like a standing ovation.
My favorite movie idea is to do a movie where everything's fake -- the trees, the grass, even the sun.
My favorite movie idea is to do a movie where everything's fake -- the trees, the grass, even the sun.
I would never do hard-core pornography, because it looks too much like open-heart surgery.
I would never do hard-core pornography, because it looks too much like open-heart surgery.
As a child, I always wanted to sit in William Castle's lap, not Santa's!
As a child, I always wanted to sit in William Castle's lap, not Santa's!
I'm 100% gay and about 20% in gay society. Sometimes I'm more comfortable in punk rock clubs than gay clubs. There are just as many rules I ...Show more »
I'm 100% gay and about 20% in gay society. Sometimes I'm more comfortable in punk rock clubs than gay clubs. There are just as many rules I rebel from in the gay world as the straight one. I'm gaily incorrect, but I do vote gay. Show less «
Sometimes I wish I was a woman, just so that I could get an abortion.
Sometimes I wish I was a woman, just so that I could get an abortion.
A movie star is someone you want to either get drunk with or have sex with.
A movie star is someone you want to either get drunk with or have sex with.
No matter what your sexual preference or gender, no one likes a man who is fussy about his looks. You can spend as much time as you want loo...Show more »
No matter what your sexual preference or gender, no one likes a man who is fussy about his looks. You can spend as much time as you want looking good. But don't do it in public. Show less «
Pink Flamingos - I don't think it's my best movie, but God knows the day I die it will be in the first paragraph of my obituary. It helped m...Show more »
Pink Flamingos - I don't think it's my best movie, but God knows the day I die it will be in the first paragraph of my obituary. It helped make trash more respectable. It lasted longer than I ever would have imagined. I still meet young kids who have just seen it and they react with the same disbelief that people did the first time. I'm proud of it. It was made to make fun of censorship laws at the time. All that has kind of faded. If I hadn't done the scene where Divine ate dog shit, Johnny Knoxville would have done it in Jackass. The Jackass movies are the closest in spirit to Pink Flamingos than anything else. Show less «
Irony ruined everything. I wish my movies could have played at drive-ins, but they never did, because of irony. Even the best exploitation m...Show more »
Irony ruined everything. I wish my movies could have played at drive-ins, but they never did, because of irony. Even the best exploitation movies were never meant to be 'so bad they were good'. They were not made for the intelligentsia. They were made to be violent for real, or to be sexy for real. But now everybody has irony. Even horror films now are ironic. Everybody's in on the joke now. Everybody's hip. Nobody takes anything at face value anymore. Show less «
(On The Wizard of Oz (1939)) When they throw the water on the witch, she says, "Who would have thought a good little girl like you could des...Show more »
(On The Wizard of Oz (1939)) When they throw the water on the witch, she says, "Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness". That line inspired my life. I sometimes say it to myself before I go to sleep, like a prayer. Show less «
No film can come near The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)'s snuff-like power to horrify. Just saying that great title out loud should give e...Show more »
No film can come near The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)'s snuff-like power to horrify. Just saying that great title out loud should give even real serial killers the creeps. Show less «
[on Camille Claudel 1915 (2013)]: Not since Freaks (1932) has there been such a harrowing pairing of a star (the sensational Juliette Binoch...Show more »
[on Camille Claudel 1915 (2013)]: Not since Freaks (1932) has there been such a harrowing pairing of a star (the sensational Juliette Binoche) with a cast of genuinely handicapped actors. Once again, the great Bruno Dumont proves he is the ultimate master of cinematic misery.[2013] Show less «
[when asked by a reporter why crossdresser Divine ate a piece of dog dirt in his film Pink Flamingos] It was just a little piece of dogshit,...Show more »
[when asked by a reporter why crossdresser Divine ate a piece of dog dirt in his film Pink Flamingos] It was just a little piece of dogshit, and it made her a star. Show less «
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