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.
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.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0000691
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q314926
Facebook: No data
Instagram: No data
X: No data
Filmography (Movies)
Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh
Character:Stage Manager
Release Date:12/12/2025
Velvet Vision: The Story of James Bidgood and the Making of Pink Narcissus
Character:Self
Release Date:06/07/2025
It's Dorothy!
Character:Self
Release Date:07/06/2025
A Summer with Joe, Liz and Richard
Character:Self
Release Date:04/06/2025
As Time Goes By
Character:
Release Date:19/11/2024
TURA!
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:09/11/2024
Doc of Chucky
Character:Self
Release Date:01/11/2024
Scala!!!
Character:Self
Release Date:05/01/2024
Lynch/Oz
Character:Host (Chapter 3: 'Kindred') (voice)
Release Date:15/05/2023
Little Richard: I Am Everything
Character:Self
Release Date:11/04/2023
Don't Fall in Love with Yourself
Character:Self (Archival)
Release Date:13/11/2022
Fragments of Paradise
Character:Self
Release Date:31/08/2022
Living with Chucky
Character:Self
Release Date:13/08/2022
The Book of Harth
Character:Self
Release Date:10/08/2022
Tell Me Iggy
Character:Self
Release Date:23/05/2022
Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida
Character:Self [archival]
Release Date:08/11/2021
The Velvet Underground
Character:Self
Release Date:15/10/2021
The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo
Character:Himself
Release Date:20/11/2020
Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
Character:Host
Release Date:23/06/2020
Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi
Character:Host
Release Date:19/05/2020
Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness
Character:Host
Release Date:21/04/2020
Joel Calls Indie Film Type Dudes
Character:
Release Date:23/03/2020
30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
Character:Self
Release Date:14/12/2019
At the Video Store
Character:Self
Release Date:11/10/2019
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
Character:Self
Release Date:29/09/2019
Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’
Character:Self
Release Date:17/09/2019
Mugworth
Character:Sir Butler
Release Date:02/11/2018
Crime and Beauty: Making ‘Female Trouble’
Character:
Release Date:26/06/2018
The Fancy Gentleman
Character:Wadworth Thorndyke the Third
Release Date:10/03/2018
Sickies Making Films
Character:Self
Release Date:22/02/2018
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
Character:Self
Release Date:12/06/2017
Mansfield 66/67
Character:Self
Release Date:29/01/2017
Wall Writers
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:24/06/2016
In Conversation With Director John Waters, Actress Kathleen Turner and Actress Mink Stole
Character:Self
Release Date:09/05/2016
Whatever Happened to Gelitin
Character:Self
Release Date:10/03/2016
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
Character:First Class Passenger
Release Date:17/12/2015
Sympathy for the Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment
Character:Self
Release Date:30/10/2015
The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin
Character:
Release Date:08/09/2015
Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story
Character:Self
Release Date:30/05/2015
Tab Hunter Confidential
Character:Self
Release Date:15/03/2015
Suburban Gothic
Character:Cornelius
Release Date:19/07/2014
I Am Divine
Character:Self
Release Date:26/03/2014
Jingle Bell Rocks!
Character:Self
Release Date:06/12/2013
Paul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open
Character:Self
Release Date:04/04/2013
The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies
Character:Self
Release Date:27/03/2013
Frankenstein: A Modern Myth
Character:Self - Director
Release Date:31/10/2012
Excision
Character:William
Release Date:12/09/2012
Mansome
Character:Self
Release Date:18/05/2012
The Advocate for Fagdom
Character:Self
Release Date:04/11/2011
Blank City
Character:Self
Release Date:06/04/2011
Mangus!
Character:Jesus Christ
Release Date:01/04/2011
These Amazing Shadows
Character:Self
Release Date:22/01/2011
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
Character:Self
Release Date:05/11/2010
Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore
Character:
Release Date:01/06/2010
Beautiful Darling
Character:Self
Release Date:02/04/2010
It Came from Kuchar
Character:Self
Release Date:22/09/2009
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
Character:Self
Release Date:01/03/2009
The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels
Character:Narrator
Release Date:31/10/2008
Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press
Character:Self
Release Date:26/09/2008
Starz Inside: In the Gutter
Character:Self
Release Date:29/07/2008
New Line Cinema: The First Generation and the Next Generation
Character:Self
Release Date:05/03/2008
Coven of the Heathenites
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/2008
365 Day Project
Character:
Release Date:31/12/2007
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
Character:Self
Release Date:08/11/2007
The Junior Defenders
Character:Narrator
Release Date:23/10/2007
Jessica the Hippo
Character:Narrator (Voice)
Release Date:21/10/2007
Hairspray
Character:Flasher
Release Date:19/07/2007
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
Character:Self
Release Date:11/04/2007
Each Time I Kill
Character:Movie Watcher
Release Date:30/03/2007
Here’s Looking at You, Boy
Character:Self
Release Date:16/02/2007
This Filthy World
Character:Self
Release Date:24/11/2006
Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid'
Character:Self
Release Date:03/10/2006
Jackass Number Two
Character:Self
Release Date:22/09/2006
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players: Off & On Broadway
Character:Self
Release Date:01/08/2006
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
Character:Self
Release Date:20/06/2006
Mommie Dearest: Joan Lives On
Character:
Release Date:06/06/2006
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Character:Self
Release Date:21/03/2006
Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades
Character:
Release Date:21/03/2006
(buz'be bur'kle) n. A Study in Style
Character:Self
Release Date:21/03/2006
Busby Berkeley's Kaleidoscopic Eyes
Character:
Release Date:21/03/2006
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
Character:Self - Narrator (voice)
Release Date:24/02/2006
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
Character:Self
Release Date:12/02/2006
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Character:Self - Director of 'A Dirty Shame'
Release Date:26/01/2006
That Man: Peter Berlin
Character:Self
Release Date:13/01/2006
Meet The Kuchar Brothers
Character:
Release Date:01/01/2006
I, of the Cyclops
Character:
Release Date:01/01/2006
It Came from... Baltimore!!
Character:Self
Release Date:12/07/2005
All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame'
Character:Self
Release Date:14/06/2005
Inside Deep Throat
Character:Self
Release Date:11/02/2005
Seed of Chucky
Character:Pete Peters
Release Date:12/11/2004
Thinking XXX
Character:Self
Release Date:27/10/2004
Closer Than That: A Documentary on Low
Character:Himself
Release Date:20/07/2004
Abby Singer
Character:John Waters (uncredited)
Release Date:28/10/2003
A History of Sex
Character:Self
Release Date:14/01/2003
Sylvester: Mighty Real
Character:Self
Release Date:27/08/2002
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat
Character:The Reverend
Release Date:31/03/2002
The Cockettes
Character:Self
Release Date:16/01/2002
Memories of Oz
Character:Self
Release Date:24/06/2001
Welcome to Hollywood
Character:John Waters
Release Date:27/10/2000
Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story
Character:Self
Release Date:08/09/2000
Cecil B. Demented
Character:Reporter
Release Date:02/08/2000
Divine Trash
Character:Self
Release Date:31/03/2000
Sweet and Lowdown
Character:Mr. Haynes
Release Date:03/12/1999
In Bad Taste
Character:Self
Release Date:03/09/1999
Yesterday's Tomorrows
Character:Self
Release Date:09/08/1999
Forever Hollywood
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/1999
Pecker
Character:Pervert on Phone (voice) (uncredited)
Release Date:25/09/1998
Anarchy TV
Character:
Release Date:31/01/1998
Anthem
Character:Self
Release Date:25/07/1997
Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow!
Character:
Release Date:13/08/1996
God Save the Queens
Character:
Release Date:23/06/1995
Serial Mom
Character:Ted Bundy (voice) (uncredited)
Release Date:13/04/1994
Growing Up with John Waters
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/1993
Gastronomic Getaway
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1991
Homer and Eddie
Character:Robber #1
Release Date:17/08/1989
Hairspray
Character:Dr. Fredrickson
Release Date:26/02/1988
Way USA!
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1988
Something Wild
Character:Used Car Guy
Release Date:07/11/1986
The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
Character:
Release Date:13/03/1985
Divine Waters
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/1985
Edith's Shopping Bag
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/1976
Love Letter to Edie
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/1975
Pink Flamingos
Character:Mr. J (voice) (uncredited)
Release Date:17/03/1972
Mondo Trasho
Character:Reporter (voice) (uncredited)
Release Date:14/03/1969
Television Appearances
Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
Character:Self - Writer and Film Director
Digman!
Character:Magnus (voice)
Charles Band’s Full Moon Freakshow
Character:
The Andy Warhol Diaries
Character:Self
Chucky
Character:Wendell Wilkins
Pride
Character:Self
Helluva Boss
Character:Rolando (voice)
Liverspots and Astronots
Character:O-Dor
Explained
Character:Narrator (voice)
FEUD
Character:William Castle
Search Party
Character:Sheffield
The New Yorker Presents
Character:Self
Clarence
Character:Captain Tom (voice)
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Character:Self
HitRECord on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Character:Self
The Blacklist
Character:John Waters
RuPaul Drives...
Character:Self - Guest
Finding Your Roots
Character:Self
Fish Hooks
Character:The Yeti Lobster (voice)
Fish Hooks
Character:Ezekiel Freshwater / Hair Man (voice)
Offspring
Character:
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Character:Self - Guest
RuPaul's Drag Race
Character:Self - Guest Judge
RuPaul's Drag Race
Character:Self - Special Guest
Indie Sex
Character:Self
'Til Death Do Us Part
Character:
The Graham Norton Show
Character:Self
I Love the '70s: Volume 2
Character:Self
The Henry Rollins Show
Character:
My Name Is Earl
Character:Walter Hamerick
Real Time with Bill Maher
Character:Self
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Character:Pornmonger Man
So Graham Norton
Character:Self - Guest
E! True Hollywood Story
Character:
The Daily Show
Character:Self
Family Album
Character:Vincent
Frasier
Character:Roger (voice)
Homicide: Life on the Street
Character:R. Vincent Smith
HBO First Look
Character:
The Simpsons
Character:John (voice)
The Incredibly Strange Film Show
Character:Self
21 Jump Street
Character:Mr. Bean
Saturday Night Live
Character:Self - Cameo (uncredited)
Tony Awards
Character:Self - Presenter
Images
