Harris Glen Milstead, a Baltimore native, was born shortly after World War II, and would later become the iconic and outrageous figure, Divine, renowned for his contributions to bad taste cinema. Milstead initially met his close friend and maverick film director, John Waters, in high school, and the duo collaborated on several ultra-low-budget, taboo-breaking cult films during the early 1970s.
Their early works included Roman Candles (1967),Eat Your Makeup (1968),and Mondo Trasho (1969),but it was their most infamous joint project, Pink Flamingos (1972),that catapulted Divine to fame. In this groundbreaking film, Divine portrayed "Babs Johnson," the "filthiest person alive," living in a pink trailer with her eccentric family members, including an egg-eating grandmother, a chicken-loving son, and a voyeuristic daughter.
Divine continued to star in Waters' films, including Female Trouble (1974),where he played career criminal Dawn Davenport, Polyester (1981),as bored housewife Francine Fishpaw, Lust in the Dust (1984),as outlaw gal Rosie Velez, and Hairspray (1988),a loving tribute to teen dance TV shows, where he played Ricki Lake's mother.
Tragically, Milstead's health declined due to his obesity, and he passed away in his sleep in 1988, succumbing to a combination of heart attack and apnea. Despite his untimely passing, Divine's legacy as a bold and daring performer continues to inspire and entertain audiences to this day.
