I love watching those performances where you do see some subtlety. He was a skilled actor and a skilled comedian. The love scene in Polyester with Tab Hunter - it’s, like, real. Now that you’ve seen like all the footage out there, do you have a favorite moment or performance?ĭivine jumping on the trampoline in Female Trouble. They’re kind of a holy grail to even the most hardcore fan. John Waters doesn’t really let those movies out. Another thing that was a revelation were early John Waters movies like Eat Your Makeup where Divine played Jackie Kennedy. He did drag in some of those home movies. It’s really touching - Divine overweight, awkward. Where did all of this come from?ĭivine’s mom provided us with the home movies of Divine as a kid that no one’s ever seen. There’s so much great footage in this movie: home movies, disco performances, old interviews, shots from the set of Pink Flamingoes. Even though Divine wasn’t really a political person, drag was a radical political statement. Drag used to be underground and they would literally throw you in jail for wearing women’s clothing. What was like for a drag star during his career? There was no trace of Glenn when that wig and his heels went on.ĭivine’s performances feel relevant now, but still edgy and out there compared to many mainstream depictions of drag. When he put his heels on, his whole body had to change. One of his friends said - it was the heels. He would throw these big lavish parities and he would just sit and observe everything that was going on. People have told me they got a real sense of peace emanating from him when he was in his male persona. What was he like when he wasn’t in costume? This was somebody who was an outsider - who was different, who was bullied, and who really triumphed in the end.ĭivine, in movies and performances, is loud and crude and angry. I thought making a movie about Divine would enshrine him. What are the chances of a gay, fat kid from Baltimore becoming Elizabeth Taylor? He kind of lived his dream. Divine was reading movie magazine and in love with Elizabeth Taylor. Back when he met Divine, John Waters was hating high school, trying to find the beatnik scene, and reading William Burroughs. That’s what drew me to the story it has to be seen to be believed. People would say to each other, “Oh, you have to see this movie where the drag queen eats dog shit.” It was like a right of passage. There isn’t an underground anymore, but back then you had to find out about Divine through the grapevine. In his heyday, he was a midnight movie star. I have loved these movies for years, but I had no idea Divine was such a big star during his life. We talked with director and producer Jeffrey Schwartz about Divine, John Waters, and how drag queens become movie stars. I Am Divine has its New York City premier tonight at Cinema Village. Before his unexpected death from heart failure that same year, the “drag queen who ate dog shit” had become a household name. Live at CBGBs, onstage with the San Francisco performance troupe the Cockettes, and in other John Waters movies, Divine was all id with five-inch eyebrows and matted platinum wigs.īut in 1988, after a tender performance in the movie Hairspray, Divine captured the attention of mainstream America (Larry King, even!). With a voice both growling and shrill, the nasty and hilarious drag persona of a gentle, 300-pound man named Glenn Milstead was equal parts evil clown and femme fatale. Here’s the typical path from underground hero to mainstream celebrity: Gain cult following of people who are edgier and wilder than most (see: gay crowds, college kids, artists) sweat in small theaters and films for years get the attention of a powerful tastemaker take the edge way off your persona and appear publicly as a watered down version of your earlier self, bringing slight thrills without actually pushing any boundaries.Īnd while you could say this is what happened to 1970s and ’80s drag star Divine - who went from eating dog poo in the John Waters film Pink Flamingoes to playing a Baltimore housewife who’s only compulsion is ironing - the real story, told in the new documentary I Am Divine, is anything but typical.
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