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. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Waters, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Mommie Dearest: Joan Lives On
Seed of Chucky
(Pete Peters)
Something Wild
(Used Car Guy)
The Velvet Underground
(Self)
Thinking XXX
(Self)
Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida
(Self [archival])
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
(Self - Narrator (voice))
Sweet and Lowdown
(Mr. Haynes)
Weiner
(Self (archive footage))
The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels
(Narrator)
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat
(The Reverend)
Little Richard: I Am Everything
(Self)
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
(Himself)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
(Self (Archive Footage))
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
(Self - Director of 'A Dirty Shame')
Jingle Bell Rocks!
(Self)
It Came from Kuchar
(Self)
Homer and Eddie
(Robber #1)
This Filthy World
(Self)
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
(Self)
Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story
(Self)
Pink Flamingos
(Mr. J (voice) (uncredited))
The Book of Harth
(Self)
Divine Trash
(Self)
Mangus!
Excision
(William)
My Life with the Waters
(Self)
Obscene
(Self)
Yesterday's Tomorrows
(Self)
Mansome
(Self)
The Advocate for Fagdom
(Self)
Love Letter to Edie
(Self)
Paul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open
(Self)
In Bad Taste
(Self)
Lynch/Oz
(Host (Chapter 3: 'Kindred') (voice))
A History of Sex
(Self)
That Man: Peter Berlin
(Self)
I Am Divine
(Self)
Uncle Bob
(Self (archiveFootage))
Tell Me Iggy
(Self)
Here’s Looking at You, Boy
(Self)
Beautiful Darling
(Self)
God Save the Queens
No Smoking in This Theater
(Self)
Living with Chucky
(Self)
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players: Off & On Broadway
(Self)
Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
(Self)
Suburban Gothic
(Cornelius)
Mary Woronov: Cult Queen
The Brandon Novak Story
(Self)
These Amazing Shadows
(Self)
Fragments of Paradise
(Self)
The Junior Defenders
(Narrator)
Scala!!!
(Self)
The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies
(Self)
At the Video Store
(Self)
All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame'
(Self)
The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin
New Line Cinema: The First Generation and the Next Generation
(Self)
Sylvester: Mighty Real
(Self)
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
(Self)
Tab Hunter Confidential
(Self)
L’estate di Joe, Liz e Richard
Each Time I Kill
(Movie Watcher)
Wall Writers
(Narrator (voice))
365 Day Project
Blank City
(Self)
Hairspray
(Flasher)
Busby Berkeley's Kaleidoscopic Eyes
Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades
(buz'be bur'kle) n. A Study in Style
(Self)
TURA!
(Self (archive footage))
Mansfield 66/67
(Self)
Jackass Number Two
(Self)
Whatever Happened to Gelitin
(Self)
Welcome to Hollywood
(John Waters)
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
(Self)
Edith's Shopping Bag
(Self)
Abby Singer
(John Waters (uncredited))
Way USA!
Growing Up with John Waters
(Self)
Meet The Kuchar Brothers
Gastronomic Getaway
I, of the Cyclops
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
(First Class Passenger)
Memories of Oz
(Self)
Sickies Making Films
(Self)
Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story
(Self)
Inside Deep Throat
(Self)
It Came from... Baltimore!!
(Self)
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
(Self)
Forever Hollywood
(Self)
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
(Self)
The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
Mugworth
(Sir Butler)
Starz Inside: In the Gutter
(Self)
Coven of the Heathenites
(Self)
There's a Hippo in my House
(Narrator (Voice))
Serial Mom
(Ted Bundy (voice) (uncredited))
In Conversation With Director John Waters, Actress Kathleen Turner and Actress Mink Stole
(Self)
Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow!
The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo
(Himself)
The Cockettes
(Self)
Sympathy For The Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment
(Self)
Anthem
(Self)
Pecker
(Pervert on Phone (voice) (uncredited))
Cecil B. Demented
(Reporter)
Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness
(Host)
Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi
(Host)
Frankenstein: A Modern Myth
(Self - Director)
Hairspray
(Dr. Fredrickson)
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
(Self)
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
(Self)
Mondo Trasho
(Reporter (voice) (uncredited))
Divine Waters
(Self)
Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
(Host)
Joel Calls Indie Film Type Dudes
Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’
(Self)
Crime and Beauty: Making ‘Female Trouble’
30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
(Self)
Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid'
(Self)
Anarchy TV
Don't Fall in Love with Yourself
(Self (Archival))
Doc of Chucky
(Self)
Closer Than That: A Documentary on Low
(Himself)
As Time Goes By
The Simpsons
(John (voice))
21 Jump Street
(Mr. Bean)
The Daily Show
(Self)
E! True Hollywood Story
Frasier
(Roger (voice))
Finding Your Roots
(Self)
Homicide: Life on the Street
(R. Vincent Smith)
The Henry Rollins Show
'Til Death Do Us Part
Pride
(Self)
So Graham Norton
(Self - Guest)
I Love the '70s: Volume 2
(Self)
Explained
(Narrator (voice))
The Andy Warhol Diaries
(Self)
Offspring
HitRECord on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt
(Self)
Tony Awards
(Self - Presenter)
RuPaul Drives...
(Self - Guest)
The Graham Norton Show
(Self)
Late Night with Seth Meyers
(Self)
Fish Hooks
(The Yeti Lobster (voice))
Fish Hooks
(Ezekiel Freshwater / Hair Man (voice))
Indie Sex
(Self)
Search Party
(Sheffield)
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
(Self - Guest)
The Blacklist
(John Waters)
The New Yorker Presents
(Self)
Charles Band’s Full Moon Freakshow
FEUD
(William Castle)
Clarence
(Captain Tom (voice))
My Name Is Earl
(Walter Hamerick)
Saturday Night Live
(Self - Cameo (uncredited))
Saturday Night Live
(Self)
Real Time with Bill Maher
(Self)
RuPaul's Drag Race
(Self - Guest Judge)
RuPaul's Drag Race
(Self - Special Guest)
Chucky
(Wendell Wilkins)
The Incredibly Strange Film Show
(Self)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
(Pornmonger Man)
Liverspots and Astronots
(O-Dor)
HBO First Look
Family Album
(Vincent)
Pink Flamingos
(Editor)
Pink Flamingos
(Director)
Pink Flamingos
(Producer)
Pink Flamingos
(Director of Photography)
Hairspray
(Director)
Hairspray
(Screenplay)
The Diane Linkletter Story
(Producer)
The Diane Linkletter Story
(Writer)
The Diane Linkletter Story
(Editor)
The Diane Linkletter Story
(Director)
The Diane Linkletter Story
(Director of Photography)
Serial Mom
(Director)
Pecker
(Director)
Pecker
(Screenplay)
Cry-Baby
(Director)
A Dirty Shame
(Director)
Cecil B. Demented
(Screenplay)
Cecil B. Demented
(Director)
Polyester
(Director)
Desperate Living
(Director)
Female Trouble
(Director)
Polyester
(Screenplay)
Female Trouble
(Screenplay)
Hairspray Live!
(Associate Producer)
Hairspray
(Original Film Writer)
This Filthy World
(Screenplay)
Roman Candles
(Director)
Roman Candles
(Writer)
Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’
(Thanks)
Dorothy, the Kansas City Pot Head
(Writer)
Dorothy, the Kansas City Pot Head
(Director)
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
(Director)
Eat Your Makeup
(Director)
Liarmouth
(Novel)
Liarmouth
(Writer)
Liarmouth
(Director)
Pink Flamingos
(Writer)
An American Crime
(Thanks)
Kiddie Flamingos
(Writer)
Kiddie Flamingos
(Director)
Serial Mom
(Writer)
A Dirty Shame
(Writer)
Desperate Living
(Writer)
Desperate Living
(Additional Photography)
Mondo Trasho
(Original Music Composer)
Multiple Maniacs
(Original Music Composer)
Marisa y Gomoso
(Thanks)
Polyester
(Producer)
Putty Hill
(Thanks)
Female Trouble
(Editor)
Female Trouble
(Director of Photography)
Female Trouble
(Producer)
Desperate Living
(Producer)
30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
(Director)
Hairspray
(Co-Producer)
Multiple Maniacs
(Writer)
Multiple Maniacs
(Director)
Multiple Maniacs
(Producer)
Multiple Maniacs
(Editor)
Multiple Maniacs
(Director of Photography)
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
(Director of Photography)
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
(Producer)
Roman Candles
(Editor)
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
(Writer)
Roman Candles
(Director of Photography)
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
(Editor)
Roman Candles
(Producer)
Eat Your Makeup
(Writer)
Mondo Trasho
(Writer)
Eat Your Makeup
(Producer)
Eat Your Makeup
(Director of Photography)
Mondo Trasho
(Director)
Mondo Trasho
(Producer)
Mondo Trasho
(Editor)
Eat Your Makeup
(Editor)
Mondo Trasho
(Director of Photography)
Cry-Baby
(Writer)
Poison
(Thanks)