John Waters
Directing
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.
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
Gays Against Guns
Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh
Stage Manager
TURA!
Self
Velvet Vision: The Story of James Bidgood and the Making of Pink Narcissus
Self
It's Dorothy!
Self
A Summer with Joe, Liz and Richard
Self
As Time Goes By
Doc of Chucky
Self
Scala!!!
Self
Lynch/Oz
Host (Chapter 3: 'Kindred') (voice)
Little Richard: I Am Everything
Self
Don't Fall in Love with Yourself
Self (Archival)
Fragments of Paradise
Self
Living with Chucky
Self
The Book of Harth
Self
Tell Me Iggy
Self
Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida
Self [archival]
The Velvet Underground
Self
The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo
Himself
Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
Host
Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi
Host
Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness
Host
Joel Calls Indie Film Type Dudes
30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
Self
At the Video Store
Self
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
Self
Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’
Self
Mugworth
Sir Butler
Female Trouble: On-Set Footage
Crime and Beauty: Making ‘Female Trouble’
The Fancy Gentleman
Wadworth Thorndyke the Third
Sickies Making Films
Self
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
Self
Mansfield 66/67
Self
Wall Writers
Narrator (voice)
In Conversation With Director John Waters, Actress Kathleen Turner and Actress Mink Stole
Self
Whatever Happened to Gelitin
Self
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
First Class Passenger
Sympathy for the Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment
Self
The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin
Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story
Self
Tab Hunter Confidential
Self
Suburban Gothic
Cornelius
The Last Impresario
Self
I Am Divine
Self
Jingle Bell Rocks!
Self
Paul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open
Self
The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies
Self
Frankenstein: A Modern Myth
Self - Director
Excision
William
Mansome
Self
The Advocate for Fagdom
Self
Blank City
Self
Mangus!
Jesus Christ
These Amazing Shadows
Self
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
Self
Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore
Beautiful Darling
Self
The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3D! On Ice!
Self
It Came from Kuchar
Self
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
Self
The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels
Narrator
Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press
Self
Starz Inside: In the Gutter
Self
New Line Cinema: The First Generation and the Next Generation
Self
Coven of the Heathenites
Self
365 Day Project
Self
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
Self
The Junior Defenders
Narrator
Jessica the Hippo
Narrator (Voice)
Hairspray
Flasher
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
Self
Each Time I Kill
Movie Watcher
Here’s Looking at You, Boy
Self
This Filthy World
Self
Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid'
Self
Jackass Number Two
Self
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players: Off & On Broadway
Self
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
Self
Mommie Dearest: Joan Lives On
(buz'be bur'kle) n. A Study in Style
Self
Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades
Busby Berkeley's Kaleidoscopic Eyes
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Self
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
Self - Narrator (voice)
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
Self
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Self - Director of 'A Dirty Shame'
That Man: Peter Berlin
Self
I, of the Cyclops
Meet The Kuchar Brothers
It Came from... Baltimore!!
Self
All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame'
Self
Inside Deep Throat
Self
Seed of Chucky
Pete Peters
Thinking XXX
Self
Closer Than That: A Documentary on Low
Himself
Abby Singer
John Waters (uncredited)
A History of Sex
Self
Sylvester: Mighty Real
Self
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat
The Reverend
The Cockettes
Self
Memories of Oz
Self
Welcome to Hollywood
John Waters
Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story
Self
Cecil B. Demented
Reporter
Divine Trash
Self
Sweet and Lowdown
Mr. Haynes
In Bad Taste
Self
Yesterday's Tomorrows
Self
Forever Hollywood
Self
Pecker
Pervert on Phone (voice) (uncredited)
Anarchy TV
Anthem
Self
Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow!
God Save the Queens
Serial Mom
Ted Bundy (voice) (uncredited)
The Big Wet
Narrator
Growing Up with John Waters
Self
Gastronomic Getaway
Homer and Eddie
Robber #1
Hairspray
Dr. Fredrickson
Way USA!
Something Wild
Used Car Guy
The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
Divine Waters
Self
Nuart Theatre no smoking PSA
Edith's Shopping Bag
Self
Love Letter to Edie
Self
Pink Flamingos
Mr. J (voice) (uncredited)
Mondo Trasho
Reporter (voice) (uncredited)