Remembering legendary drag queen, Divine
Even in death, Divine — the larger-than-life drag queen made famous in John Waters’ films — lives on.
His Towson grave site, on a tree-shaded knoll overlooking a suburban grocery store and a mega-mall, carries on the flamboyant memory of the drag queen, born Harris Glenn Milstead. Monday, October 19, 2015 would have been his 70th birthday.
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- February 16, 1988 – Baltimore director John Waters and drag queen Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead, share a light moment outside the Senator Theatre at the world premiere of “Hairspray.” (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)
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- The Tumbled family. (Wilbur (Jerry Stiller), Tracy (Ricki Lake) and Edna (Divine) in “Hairspray.” (Handout photo)
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- February 16, 1988–World premiere of John Waters’ new movie, “Hairspray,” at the Senator Theatre. (LtoR) John Waters, Pat Moran, and Divine, in front of poster for movie. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)
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- Divine in “Hairspray.” (Henry Garfunkel/Fox Broadcasting Company)
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- “Hairhopper Balle,” to commemorate the world premiere of John Waters’ movie, “Hairspray,” and to raise money for AIDS Action Baltimore. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)
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- Divine with Grace Moran and Pat Moran. (Baltimore Sun archives)
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- Divine at the premiere of “Polyester.” (Baltimore Sun archives, 1981)
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- Divine as Babs Johnson in “Pink Flamingos,” a film by John Waters. A Fine Line Features release. (Lawrence Irvine/Fine Line Features)
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- Crackers (Danny Mills) and Divine/Babs Johnson (Divine) in “Pink Flamingos, a film by John Waters. A Fine Line Features release. (Lawrence Irvine/Fine Line Features)
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- Divine and Tab Hunter in John Waters’ “Polyester” (New Line Cinema Productions)
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- Tab Hunter and Divine in John Waters film, “Polyester.” (Handout photo)
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- Divine without makeup in 1981. (Baltimore Sun archives)
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- Divine is led to spiritual enlightenment by a holy child in John Waters’ “Multiple Maniacs.” (Handout photo)
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- Divine and John Waters, 1980. (Baltimore Sun archives)
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- The cast of “Pink Flamingos.” Front row, left to right: Divine/Babs Johnson (Divine), Connie Marble (Mink Stole), and Mama Edie (Edith Massey). Back row, left to Tight: Cotton (Mary Vivian Pearce), Crackers (Danny Mills), writer/director John Waters, and Raymond Marble (David Lochary). (Lawrence Irvine/Fine Line Features)
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- “Waitin’ on Nazzi”: John Waters, Divine, Danny Mills, Mary Vivian Pearce (LtoR) wait for Nazzi the dog to take the most famous crap in cinematic history. Jan., 1972. From the documentary film “Divine Trash.” (Steve Yeager/Handout)
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- Balloons adorn the headstone of Harris Glenn Milstead, better known as “Divine”, on what would be his fifty-fifth birthday. The Lutherville-born actor is buried in Towson’s Prospect Hill Cemetery. (Sam Friedman/Baltimore Sun, 2000)
Divine was a mainstay in Waters’ early films, starring in “Multiple Maniacs,” “Pink Flamingos” (where he cemented his place in cinematic immortality by devouring a palmful of dog excrement) and “Female Trouble,” as well as “Hairspray” (where he created the role of Edna Turnblad, later filled on Broadway by Harvey Fierstein and in the movie musical by John Travolta) and “Polyester.”
Divine also succeeded in establishing himself outside the Waters oeuvre — recording several disco songs (“You Think You’re a Man,” “Native Love”), being featured in such non-Waters films as “Lust in the Dust” and Alan Rudolph’s “Trouble In Mind,” and landing a guest spot on TV’s “Married … With Children.”
“He was a good actor who started his career as a homicidal maniac and ended it playing a loving mother,” Waters once said of his longtime friend’s roles, “which is a pretty good stretch, especially when you are a 300-pound man.”
Divine died in his sleep in March 1988, just a few weeks after the release of “Hairspray,” while in Los Angeles rehearsing for “Married … With Children.” He was 42.
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Lisa Simeone
Oct 16, 2015 @ 13:39:54
Divine lived in my house, years before I moved to Baltimore. And since the original claw-foot tub is still here, he bathed in that tub. Apparently there was a 6-person commune of people living here in the ’70s, and Divine was a member. I’m told he used to go outside to get the mail wrapped only in a sheet. I’m also told he was the nicest person of the bunch. My husband and I keep saying we’re going to get a plaque for the front of the house — “Divine Slept Here” — but we keep forgetting.