Divine

Harris Glenn Milstead was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1945. As Divine, he developed a performance persona whose extravagant appearance and confrontational humour became closely associated with filmmaker John Waters.

Their low-budget films turned deliberate bad taste into a recognisable artistic language. “Pink Flamingos” (1972), “Female Trouble” (1974) and “Polyester” (1981) gave Divine leading roles far removed from conventional ideas of feminine beauty or respectable behaviour. The performances depended on comic timing and commitment as much as on shock.

During the 1980s Divine also recorded dance music, including “You Think You’re a Man”. Away from the female stage persona, Milstead identified as a gay man and wanted opportunities to act in male roles too. Treating Divine simply as a costume misses the range of that professional ambition.

In Waters’ “Hairspray” (1988), he played Edna Turnblad, bringing the persona into a film with a much broader audience. He died in Los Angeles soon after its release, aged 42. Later revivals of the films and interest from museums helped establish work once dismissed as trash within the history of queer performance and cinema.