- Born
- Died
- Birth nameHarris Glen Milstead
- Nickname
- Divvie
- Height6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
- Originally born Harris Glen Milstead just after the end of WWII, Baltimore's most outrageous resident eventually became the international icon of bad taste cinema, as the always shocking and highly entertaining transvestite performer, Divine.
Milstead met maverick film director & good friend, John Waters, at high school in Baltimore, and the two combined to star in and direct several ultra low budget, taboo breaking cult films of the early 1970s. Their first efforts included Roman Candles (1967), Eat Your Makeup (1968) and Mondo Trasho (1969)....however, their most infamous work together was the amazing Pink Flamingos (1972), in which Divine starred as "Babs Johnson", the "filthiest person alive" living in a pink trailer with her egg-eating grandmother, chicken-loving son and voyeuristic daughter.
Divine also starred as career criminal Dawn Davenport in Female Trouble (1974), as bored housewife Francine Fishpaw in Polyester (1981), as outlaw gal Rosie Velez in Lust in the Dust (1984) and in Waters' loving (but still slightly bizarre) salute to teen dance TV shows as Ricki Lake's mother in the superb Hairspray (1988).
Milstead's health deteriorated due to to his obese frame, and he passed away in his sleep from a combination of heart attack and apnea in 1988.- IMDb Mini Biography By: firehouse44@hotmail.com
- ParentsHarris Bernard MilsteadFrances Milstead (Vukovich)
- When first creating his alter ego, Divine told make-up artist friend Van Smith that he wanted a look that was a cross between Jayne Mansfield and Clarabell the Clown from The Howdy Doody Show (1947).
- Plays both a woman and a man (as the racist head of the station that airs the Corny Collins show) in his last film Hairspray (1988).
- In Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989), the character of "Ursula" (voiced by Pat Carroll) was based on her.
- As a result of his having played Edna Turnblad in Hairspray (1988), the stage musical also traditionally casts a man in the role.
- Was contracted to play a recurring role as the Uncle in Married... with Children (1987), but died the day before the shooting of the episode (#2.22, "All in the Family"). James 'Gypsy' Haake was cast as 'Uncle Otto' in Divine's place, and the episode was dedicated to Divine's memory.
- "All my life I wanted to look like Elizabeth Taylor. Now Elizabeth Taylor looks like me".
- "He's one of my finest leading ladies" - Tab Hunter [who co-starred with Divine in Polyester (1981)].
- People who used to make fun are now fans. I had the last laugh.
- Of course the last thing my parents wanted was a son who wears a cocktail dress that glitters, but they've come around to it.
- My favorite part of dressing in drag is getting out of it. Drag is my work clothes. I only put it on when someone pays me to.
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