Author, Hairspray

Legendary film director and screenwriter John Waters, known for transgressive 1970s cult films such as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Desperate Living—Waters’s self-described “Trash Trilogy”—found box-office success with Hairspray (1988) and Cry-Baby (1990). Born in Baltimore in 1946, Waters performed subversive puppet shows as a child before making his first short film, Hag in a Black Leather Jacket, in 1964. His first full-length film was 1969’s Mondo Trasho, which was followed by a string of feature films starring local cast members from Baltimore, including his childhood friend Glenn Milstead, who became known as Divine. His 1981 film Polyester, co-starring former film heartthrob Tab Hunter, signaled a move toward the mainstream that was followed by six more films and the musical version of Hairspray (2002), which became a Tony Award–winning Broadway hit. Waters is also a visual artist/photographer, with work appearing at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the New Museum in New York. Still a resident of Baltimore, he has set all of his films in his hometown.