Various books and documentary films devoted to his life have also been produced, including Divine Trash (1998) and I Am Divine (2013). Having struggled with obesity throughout his life, he died from cardiomegaly in March 1988 at age 42.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. He achieved international chart success with hits like "You Think You're a Man", "I'm So Beautiful", and "Walk Like a Man", all of which were performed in drag. 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 a number of 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. Divine cultivated an outrageous drag queen image, with gaudy makeup. He followed this with a performance in Tom Eyen's play Women Behind Bars and its sequel, The Neon Woman. Divine (1945-1988)The obese transvestite character-actor Divine personified. Divine next starred in Waters' Pink Flamingos (1972), which proved a hit on the U.S. midnight moviecircuit, became a cult classic, and established Divine's fame within 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. 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 began to attract press attention for the group. Ma(aged 42) Los Angeles, California, U.S. By the mid-1960s he had embraced the city's countercultural sceneand 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, Divine 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). Closely associated with the independent filmmaker John Waters, Divine was a character actor, usually performing female roles in cinematic and theatrical appearances, and adopted a female drag persona for his music career.īorn in Baltimore, Maryland to a conservative middle-class family, Milstead developed an early interest in drag while working as a women's hairdresser. In their last conversations, Waters said, ″he was just so happy.Harris Glenn Milstead, better known by his stage name Divine (Octo– March 7, 1988), was an American actor, singer, and drag queen. Waters said that the last time he had spoken to Divine was two days ago, and he had last seen him at the premiere of ″Hairspray″ in New York City. Milstead played one full non-transvestite role in his career, that of a Sydney Greenstreet-type character in the 1985 film ″Trouble In Mind.″īesides film roles, Milstead also used the Divine persona in a nightclub act. ″He’d call me in the middle of the night to read me some newspaper interview and say, ″Isn’t it wonderful 3/8 They called me Divine, the 300-pound actor, not Divine, the 300-pound transvestite,″ Jay said.Ī native of Lutherville, Md., Milstead’s came to fame as the bizarre star of ″Pink Flamingos,″ ″Lust in the Dust,″ ″Polyester″ and ″Female Trouble.″ He had been pleased over critical praise for his role in ″Hairspray″ as Edna Turnblad, the fat mother of a fat teen-age girl. With Children,″ a Fox Television Network series. Milstead was in town to appear in an episode of ″Married. He was constantly trying to diet, but as soon as he’d take the pounds off, they’d come right back on again.″ ″I suppose it all comes down to his weight. ″He was not on drugs at all, and he never drank alcohol,″ Jay said. Manager Bernard Jay said Milstead had a long-term weight problem, but except for that was found to be in excellent health during a medical checkup last Friday. Divine is as irreplaceable to me as a member of my own family. ″A huge portion of the success of my film is owed him. ″Not only did I respect him as the best actor I’ve ever worked with, I knew him personally as a kind and gentle man,″ Waters said, his voice catching. John Waters, director of ″Hairspray″ and ″Pink Flamingos″ who grew up with Milstead in Baltimore, read a tribute to his friend Tuesday afternoon at a downtown Baltimore hotel. Publicist John West of PMK said the actor apparently died of asphyxiation. Drugs and alcohol are unlikely to have caused the death of Milstead, his manager said.
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