LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Past Out: Who Was Divine? |
by Wik Wikholm |
Few are shocked today when female impersonator RuPaul hosts a talk show or a TV special, or even when basketball player Dennis Rodman poses in a bridal gown. But in the late 1960s, when John Waters featured overweight drag queen Divine in his experimental 8-millimeter films, the reaction was very different. The Divine character was so outrageous that she created a sensation among underground film aficionadosand launched the career of one of the most outrageous celebrities of the 1970s and '80s. Nothing in Divine's childhood hinted at his future as the Queen of Bad Taste. Born Harris Glenn Milstead on Oct. 19, 1945, in Baltimore, Md., the only son of affluent parents, he remembered that his parents coddled him at home, and described himself as a "spoilt brat." But life at school was hard. He was an effeminate, obese boy who suffered taunts and occasional beatings that made him feel like a social outcast. At 15, Milstead found the sense of belonging he was missing. He met John Waters, another teenager about his age, and fell in with a group of friends who called themselves the Dreamlanders. The Dreamlanders performed in short films Waters shot with a home-movie camera that celebrated the group's outsider status. Waters was fascinated with the bizarre, and in the mid-'60s he collaborated with Milstead to create the most outrageous character so far. Wearing a tight dress, a wig, and thick makeup, Milstead played Divine for the first time in Roman Candles in 1966. Milstead enjoyed the role, and he loved being an actor. During his early collaborations with Waters, Milstead supported himself as a hairdresser, but at 23 he left Baltimore for Provincetown, Mass. There, he opened "Divine Trash," a "nostalgia" store. From then on, Milstead called himself Divine ("Divi" to close friends) and remained Glenn only to his parents. Though Divine was the name of a female character, the actor identified as a gay man and preferred to be addressed as "he" when he was not in costume. Collaborations with Waters continued, and 1969 brought Mondo Trasho, the first Waters movie picked up by New Line Cinema. Multiple Maniacs, in which Divine was raped by a giant lobster, followed the next year, but real notoriety came with the 1972 release of Pink Flamingos. Divine starred as Babs Johnson, the "filthiest person alive," and proved it when she ate real poodle feces on camera. The $12,000 movie had no promotional budget, so even though it embarrassed him, Divine agreed to the stunt to garner free publicity for the film. The scene succeeded in attracting moviegoers, but the press largely ignored the film. In the aftermath of Pink Flamingos, Divine won several stage roles in San Francisco, New York, and London, and in 1974 he starred in Waters' Female Trouble. The film was rated X, but it scored several reviews in mainstream newspapers. Though the reviews were mixed, the attention convinced Divine that without a doubt, he was a film star. Film star or not, movie roles did not come easily, and Divine struggled to earn a living in the 70s and 80s. His business manager knew his client preferred acting but encouraged Divine to develop a nightclub act to pay the bills. The resulting show had Divine hurling insults to an audience of adoring fans. At his manager's suggestion, Divine added disco songs to his act and recorded "Born to Be Cheap" in 1979. The song ratcheted up United States and European charts and led to tours in England, Australia, and Europe. Divine's show still featured its trademark insults, but the addition of a musical performance made it more popular than ever. Touring was interrupted in 1981 when John Waters asked Divine to play the lead in Polyester. The film was toned down enough to earn an R rating, but it was still calculated to shock. Divine played the wife of a philandering smut kingpin, a woman so unhappy that even her dog committed suicide. Waters and Divine followed in 1988 with Hairspray, Waters' first PG movie. In the film, Edna Turnblad (Divine) supported her daughter Tracy's efforts to racially integrate The Cornie Collins Show, a television dance show, and an amusement park. The film ended happily with Tracy's success. With its PG rating and cheerful plot, Hairspray became the biggest hit of Waters' career to date, and the most lucrative work Divine was ever offered. But Divine did not live to enjoy the audience enthusiasm. Doctors had warned for years that his weight would kill him and on the night of March 6, 1988, it did. An autopsy showed that the star died of a heart attack, the result of heart damage caused by chronic obesity. Wik Wikholm produces gayhistory.com, an introduction to modern gay history. He can be reached at wik@gayhistory.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 14, Oct. 20, 2000. |