Rob Frydlewicz: Paying Tribute to John Waters' Drag Diva Divine, 1945–1988

History Through My Pink-Colored Glasses

Rob's blog #1 for OutHistory.org

Just one week after I saw Divine in John Waters’ movie Hairspray (believe it or not, the first John Waters/Divine movie I'd seen), she died from heart failure. The actor who portrayed her, Harris Glenn Milstead, was just 42. Her birth and death dates were October 19, 1945–March 7, 1988.

Besides movies, Divine also did some live theater (Women Behind Bars), had a stage act and put a number of songs on the dance charts (e.g. So You Think You're a Man). At the time of his death Milstead was in LA where he’d just been cast (as a man) in the new Fox TV network's sitcom Married with Children.

And although I didn't see any of Divine's earlier movies I felt like I had because my friend Tom was so good at describing classic scenes from 1973s Pink Flamingos, 1974's Female Trouble and 1985's Lust in the Dust (e.g., shoplifting meat under her dress, a Christmas meltdown after not getting cha-cha heels, seducing her son).

By contrast, compared to these outrageous earlier films (that brought her a cult-like following in gay circles), Hairspray was like Ozzie & Harriet (1981s Polyester was Waters' first attempt at broadening her, and his, appeal). As Edna Turnblad, a depressed & overweight Baltimore hausfrau, some of Divine's best lines included:

"Could you turn that racket down - I'm trying to iron!"

"Tracy, I've told you about that hair - all ratted up like a teenage Jezebel."

"Our little Tracy's too busy ratting her hair & doing the 'Ubangi Stomp'".

And believe it or not, Divine had a mother. Her name was Frances and after his death she penned a loving tribute to him titled My Son Divine. Frances outlived her son by 21 years, dying at the age of 89.

For a list of Rob's blogs for OutHistory.org see:

Rob Frydlewicz: History Through My Pink-Colored Glasses: Main Page

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