John Waters
Born: 1946-04-22 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Known For: Directing
Biography
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. Other films he has written and directed include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism. As an actor, Waters has appeared in Sweet and Lowdown (1999), 'Til Death Do Us Part (2007), Mangus! (2011), Excision (2012), Suburban Gothic (2014), and has appeared in the Child's Play franchise with Seed of Chucky (2004) and third season of the television series Chucky (2024). He hosted and produced the television series John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You (2006). Throughout his career, Waters has often collaborated with actor and drag queen Divine and his regular cast of the Dreamlanders. More recently, he performs in his touring one-man show This Filthy World. Waters also works as a visual artist and across different media, such as installations, photography, and sculpture. The audiobooks he narrated for his books Carsick and Mr. Know-It-All were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015 and 2020, respectively. In 2018, Waters was named an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.
Filmography
2026
- Kevin as Armando (voice)
- Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World as Self
- Return to Mortville as Self
- Gays Against Guns
2025
- Everybody's Live with John Mulaney as Self - Writer and Film Director
- Room Temperature ... (Thanks)
- Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh as Stage Manager
- A Summer with Joe, Liz and Richard as Self
- TURA! as Self
- It's Dorothy! as Self
- Velvet Vision: The Story of James Bidgood and the Making of Pink Narcissus as Self
- Marisa y Gomoso ... (Thanks)
2024
- Doc of Chucky as Self
- Scala!!! as Self
- As Time Goes By
2023
- Digman! as Magnus (voice)
- Little Richard: I Am Everything as Self
- Lynch/Oz as Host (Chapter 3: 'Kindred') (voice)
2022
- The Andy Warhol Diaries as Self
- Charles Band’s Full Moon Freakshow
- Living with Chucky as Self
- Tell Me Iggy as Self
- Fragments of Paradise as Self
- Don't Fall in Love with Yourself as Self (Archival)
- The Book of Harth as Self
2021
- Chucky as Wendell Wilkins
- Pride as Self
- The Velvet Underground as Self
- Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida as Self [archival]
- My Life with the Waters as Self
2020
- Helluva Boss as Rolando (voice)
- Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Time as Self - Host
- Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness as Host
- Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi as Host
- Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp as Host
- Joel Calls Indie Film Type Dudes
- The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo as Himself
2019
- Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn as Self
- 30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing as Self
- At the Video Store as Self
- Permanent Green Light ... (Thanks)
- Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’ as Self
2018
- Explained as Narrator (voice)
- Liverspots and Astronots as O-Dor
- Mugworth as Sir Butler
- Crime and Beauty: Making ‘Female Trouble’
- Sickies Making Films as Self
- Female Trouble: On-Set Footage
2017
- FEUD as William Castle
- Mansfield 66/67 as Self
- Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution as Self
2016
- Search Party as Sheffield
- The New Yorker Presents as Self
- Wall Writers as Narrator (voice)
- Hairspray Live! ... (Associate Producer)
- In Conversation With Director John Waters, Actress Kathleen Turner and Actress Mink Stole as Self
- Whatever Happened to Gelitin as Self
2015
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self - Guest
- Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip as First Class Passenger
- Tab Hunter Confidential as Self
- Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story as Self
- Kiddie Flamingos ... (Writer)
- The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin
- Sympathy for the Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment as Self
2014
- Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self - Guest
- Clarence as Captain Tom (voice)
- HitRECord on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Self
- I Am Divine as Self
- Suburban Gothic as Cornelius
- The Last Impresario as Self
2013
- The Blacklist as John Waters
- RuPaul Drives... as Self - Guest
- Paul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open as Self
- The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies as Self
- Jingle Bell Rocks! as Self
2012
- Finding Your Roots as Self
- Excision as William
- Mansome as Self
- Frankenstein: A Modern Myth as Self - Director
2011
- These Amazing Shadows as Self
- Blank City as Self
- The Advocate for Fagdom as Self
- Mangus! as Jesus Christ
2010
- Fish Hooks as The Yeti Lobster (voice)
- Beautiful Darling as Self
- The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3D! On Ice! as Self
- William S. Burroughs: A Man Within as Self
- Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore
- Putty Hill ... (Thanks)
2009
- Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as Self - Guest
- RuPaul's Drag Race as Self - Guest Judge
- It Came from Kuchar as Self
- For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism as Self
2008
2007
- The Graham Norton Show as Self - Guest
- Hairspray as Flasher
- Indie Sex as Self
- An American Crime ... (Thanks)
- 'Til Death Do Us Part
- Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story as Self
- You Can’t Stop the Beat: The Long Journey of "Hairspray" as Self
- 365 Day Project as Self
- The Roots of 'Hairspray' as Self
- Here’s Looking at You, Boy as Self
- Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis as Self
- The Junior Defenders as Narrator
- Each Time I Kill as Movie Watcher
- Jessica the Hippo as Narrator (Voice)
2006
- Jackass Number Two as Self
- The Henry Rollins Show
- I Love the '70s: Volume 2 as Self
- This Film Is Not Yet Rated as Self - Director of 'A Dirty Shame'
- Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema as Self
- Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage as Self
- This Filthy World as Self
- Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' as Self
- Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream as Self
- That Man: Peter Berlin as Self
- Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades
- Mommie Dearest: Joan Lives On
- Busby Berkeley's Kaleidoscopic Eyes
- The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players: Off & On Broadway as Self
- (buz'be bur'kle) n. A Study in Style as Self
- Meet The Kuchar Brothers
- I, of the Cyclops
2005
- The Colbert Report as Self - Guest
- My Name Is Earl as Walter Hamerick
- Inside Deep Throat as Self
- It Came from... Baltimore!! as Self
- All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame' as Self
2004
- Seed of Chucky as Pete Peters
- A Dirty Shame ... (Director)
- Thinking XXX as Self
- Closer Than That: A Documentary on Low as Himself
2003
- Real Time with Bill Maher as Self - Guest
- Abby Singer as John Waters (uncredited)
- A History of Sex as Self
2002
- The Cockettes as Self
- Sylvester: Mighty Real as Self
- Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat as The Reverend
2001
- Memories of Oz as Self
2000
- Cecil B. Demented as Reporter
- Welcome to Hollywood as John Waters
- Divine Trash as Self
- Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story as Self
1999
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Pornmonger Man
- Sweet and Lowdown as Mr. Haynes
- Forever Hollywood as Self
- In Bad Taste as Self
- Yesterday's Tomorrows as Self
1998
- So Graham Norton as Self - Guest
- Pecker as Pervert on Phone (voice) (uncredited)
- The Roseanne Show as Self - Guest
- Anarchy TV
- Whipped ... (Thanks)
1996
- The Daily Show as Self - Guest
- E! True Hollywood Story
- Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow!
1995
1994
- Serial Mom as Ted Bundy (voice) (uncredited)
- Family Album as Vincent
1993
- Late Show with David Letterman as Self - Guest
- Frasier as Roger (voice)
- Homicide: Life on the Street as R. Vincent Smith
- Eurotrash
- The Big Wet as Narrator
- Growing Up with John Waters as Self
1992
1991
- Poison ... (Thanks)
- Gastronomic Getaway
1989
- The Simpsons as John (voice)
- Homer and Eddie as Robber #1
1988
- Hairspray as Dr. Fredrickson
- The Incredibly Strange Film Show as Self
- Way USA!
1987
- 21 Jump Street as Mr. Bean
1986
- Something Wild as Used Car Guy
1985
1982
- Late Night with David Letterman as Self - Guest
- Nuart Theatre No Smoking PSA as Self
1981
- Polyester ... (Director)
1977
- Desperate Living ... (Director)
1976
- Female Trouble ... (Director)
- Edith's Shopping Bag as Self
1975
- Saturday Night Live as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
- Love Letter to Edie as Self
1972
- Pink Flamingos as Mr. J (narration) (uncredited)
1970
- Multiple Maniacs ... (Original Music Composer)
- The Diane Linkletter Story ... (Producer)
1969
- Mondo Trasho as Reporter (voice) (uncredited)
1968
- Dorothy, the Kansas City Pot Head ... (Writer)
- Eat Your Makeup ... (Director)
1967
- Roman Candles ... (Director)
1964
- Hag in a Black Leather Jacket ... (Director)
1956
- Tony Awards as Self - Presenter