Divine - E True Hollywood Story documentary - video Dailymotion

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Transcript

00:00:00The actor known simply as Divine was the diva of shock cinema, a performer responsible for some of the most outrageous boundary-busting scenes in the history of motion pictures.

00:00:12He was this slum goddess, this Jane Mansfield meets Claribel the Clown.

00:00:17But behind the mascara was a quiet, sensitive man. His name was Glenn Milstead.

00:00:23The outrageousness came at the time that it was supposed to be there, but away from that point of view, Divine was far from being outrageous.

00:00:30In the next two hours, we will retrace the life and death of Divine.

00:00:34From tortured teen to rebellious hairdresser to America's most outrageous drag queen.

00:00:55We will go back to Baltimore, where Glenn Milstead grew up.

00:00:59As his mother would leave, he would go right in his mother's room and grab her wig.

00:01:03He would stare in the mirror for hours. He told me years ago when we were kids that he was more beautiful than Elizabeth Taylor.

00:01:10With exclusive interviews from colleagues, friends, and lovers, we will examine Divine's antics in underground cinema and on the disco circuit.

00:01:19The more abusive, the more vicious, the more sexual, they absolutely ate it. Ate it up.

00:01:25The character he created made his dreams come true, but after nearly 20 years in drag, Divine was desperate to escape the role he invented and show the world he could act.

00:01:36As his career progressed, he did start viewing the uniform as prison garb. He was sort of the prisoner of the sequin tube dress.

00:01:47He wanted to be someone that clearly had a place in this business based on the skills of his craft.

00:01:54Divine almost made it, but on the eve of his debut in a male role on a hit TV sitcom, the 42-year-old actor was dead.

00:02:04I know he was real excited about doing the TV series, and that was a shame, you know? That would have been a big mainstream leap for him, too.

00:02:12It was like the timing was really screwed.

00:02:16This is the bittersweet story of a man who shattered society's rules and became a scream legend.

00:02:22This is the story of Glenn Milstead, a story which is nothing short of divine.

00:02:28The E! True Hollywood Story.

00:02:31Her life's ambition was to be a star.

00:02:53Throughout the world, throngs of people hailed the end of the war in Europe.

00:02:57Now the war against Germany is won.

00:03:021945. World War II was over. Families were reunited, and optimism was back in style.

00:03:11That year on October 19th, Harris Glenn Milstead was born.

00:03:16He was the only child of Harris Milstead, a prominent businessman, and his wife Frances, a homemaker.

00:03:22Young Glenn was his parents' pride and joy.

00:03:25You know, I lost two of them before I had him, and we were both happy. It was like a God's gift to us, really.

00:03:33As the 1950s rolled in, the Milsteads joined the great American migration to a land of promise and prosperity known as suburbia.

00:03:44The young family made their home in Lutherville, Maryland, an upscale neighborhood outside of Baltimore.

00:03:52The Milsteads' pastor, Leland Higginbotham.

00:03:55It was your typical suburb of that era.

00:03:58People who were going up the ladder in society, they were conformists, they were conservative, they were concerned about success.

00:04:07The Milsteads were pillars of the community.

00:04:10Owners of the town's most prestigious nursery school, and active members of the local Baptist church.

00:04:16They saw to it that Glenn's upbringing was traditional.

00:04:20The young boy played with friends, went to birthday parties, and sang in the church choir.

00:04:26I saw him mainly in church activities and in his family circle. Certainly in his family circle, he was well accepted, he belonged.

00:04:33But by the early 1950s, Frances Milstead suspected her son was different.

00:04:39The only toys we bought him was for little boys.

00:04:42He liked baby dolls.

00:04:44And I'd say, Glenn, why don't you stop playing with baby dolls?

00:04:51He's all, Mom, I think they're pretty, I like to get them, I like to dress them up.

00:04:55As Glenn got older, his parents encouraged him to put down the dolls and pick up a football.

00:05:01We used to take him to football games, and that was a waste of money because all he wanted to do was eat hot dogs and drink Coke.

00:05:08He could care less about the game.

00:05:13It's the biggest night of the year in Hollywood.

00:05:17Glenn was more interested in the silver screen.

00:05:20He idolized the movie queens of the 1950s, Jane Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, and his favorite, Elizabeth Taylor.

00:05:28In the privacy of his bedroom, the shy boy dreamed of stardom and acted out his fantasies.

00:05:34Friend Mary Vivian Pierce.

00:05:36When he was a little kid, he'd dress up and have imaginary friends.

00:05:41I think his grandmother caught him in a slip and chased him across the lawn.

00:05:45But as a young schoolboy, Glenn faced bigger problems than his grandmother's anger.

00:05:49He was overweight and, as I said, effeminate.

00:05:53That's about the best word you can say.

00:05:56And that meant trouble with his peers and with society in general, and his parents didn't understand it.

00:06:03Indeed, in 1955, Glenn's parents were not prepared for their family doctor's diagnosis.

00:06:10When Glenn was 10 years old, when he was sick, when I took him to the doctor for a physical, the doctor told me that he was gay.

00:06:19When I came out, I guess I had tears in my eyes.

00:06:23And Glenn, he said, Mommy, what's the matter?

00:06:28I just couldn't tell him, and I just cried all the way home.

00:06:32And I said, Glenn, the doctor just told me something that was very upsetting, but I said, but I'll get over it.

00:06:40I said, you're my baby, and I love you.

00:06:42Those were the days before there was any coming out business and homosexuality was under lid.

00:06:49You know, nobody talked about it.

00:06:52We avoided it and so forth.

00:06:55Just the suggestion of such a thing would frighten any parent at that time.

00:06:59And as he got into adolescence, that continued.

00:07:03As a teenager, Glenn's life became a living hell.

00:07:07When he got in junior high, that's when he started having kids beat him up and calling him names.

00:07:14Of course, he gained weight, and they'd call him fatty and queer.

00:07:19The fights occurred so often that around 1957, Glenn's father had to visit the school along with a police officer.

00:07:27They expelled the fellas for three months.

00:07:29He didn't have any problems after that.

00:07:36By 1960, JFK was in the Oval Office, and America was on the brink of a new frontier.

00:07:43That year, 14-year-old Glenn Milstead entered Towson High School.

00:07:48The young student tried hard to blend in with his classmates.

00:07:51His parents were pleased when Glenn lost weight and started dating Diana Evans, a friend who worked at the Milstead's nursery school.

00:07:59He was not too sure about girls. I was not too sure about boys.

00:08:03So we met, became soulmates.

00:08:06We could talk about a lot of things, except for his being beat up.

00:08:09And we had a lot of special experiences together, and he took care of me. He watched out for me.

00:08:16The two went everywhere together, including the school prom.

00:08:20Glenn fixed her hair. He styled her hair. I loaned her my minstrel to wear her gown.

00:08:26And she looked beautiful.

00:08:28But Glenn wasn't long for prom dances.

00:08:31Around 1963, the teenager met a neighborhood rebel who would turn his life upside down.

00:08:38Future director John Waters.

00:08:41The then-Catholic schoolboy had a fascination with movies, freak shows, and violence.

00:08:48Waters was also fascinated with Glenn Milstead.

00:08:52He was anything but flamboyant.

00:08:54He tried to be normal and fit in, but he got beat up every day.

00:09:00They hassled him. He would just wait for the bus, and I could see my father shudder.

00:09:03For no reason, I thought, how great. This could make my father angry, just waiting for the bus.

00:09:07Because he held his books the wrong way, you know?

00:09:10Waters was the leader of a group of different kids.

00:09:13I hung around with one pack of people that was all kind of very mixed, like, but insane suburban kids, basically,

00:09:20who were rebelling against everything.

00:09:22Member of the neighborhood pack, Pat Moran.

00:09:25You know, at that time, you're young and dumb, and everything, you want to go out every night,

00:09:30and you want to do this and that, and we did all that.

00:09:32Have parties and go to places that certainly were taboo for us as kids from the county.

00:09:40Glenn was instantly intrigued.

00:09:43He didn't know how to rebel yet, because he tried to fit in, but he was angry because he was hassled so much.

00:09:50I mean, he got beat up in school every day.

00:09:52He used to joke he had a police escort before any of us, because the police took him home.

00:09:56But Glenn soon learned the fine art of teenage rebellion.

00:10:01He started slow, wanting to attend church in a bright red jacket.

00:10:06His mother just said, absolutely not, this is not going to happen.

00:10:11She made him take it off and put on her jacket, which was fairly conservative, but fitting.

00:10:15He also kept his parents in the dark about his new friends.

00:10:19Divine still lived at home, but his parents had no idea that he led a double life, basically.

00:10:25He kept that completely from them.

00:10:27I used to always say, Glenn, are you ashamed of your parents, or you think we're going to be ashamed of your friends?

00:10:32And he would just laugh.

00:10:34At a Halloween ball in 1963, Glenn's two worlds finally collided, with Diana as his date.

00:10:41He went to the party dressed as Elizabeth Taylor.

00:10:44I was totally surprised when he came out as Elizabeth Taylor.

00:10:47I thought, well, yes, he'll wear a dress and he'll look like the other guys all dressed up with hairy legs and the whole thing.

00:10:53And he was very nervous about it.

00:10:55He did have a photographer show up at the party and take pictures of groups.

00:10:59I think he was trying it to see where it would go.

00:11:03That Halloween night, 18-year-old Glenn Milstead found the key to his future.

00:11:09It may have been he needed to get away from the identity as Glenn, because that's where the pain was.

00:11:16And he needed to get outside into another identity, another role.

00:11:22Coming up next, Glenn cuts hair by day and by night, fights for the title of Miss Baltimore.

00:11:35Wigs came off, dresses came up, knives came out of underwear, and it was unbelievable.

00:11:41And later, rare behind-the-scenes footage of the movie queen preparing for his most notorious role.

00:11:48You know, you can't find anything in my size like this on the rack.

00:11:53Women my size just don't wear these sort of things.

00:12:02As a boy growing up in Baltimore, Maryland in the 1950s, Glenn Milstead stood out.

00:12:08The shy kid was overweight and effeminate.

00:12:10His classmates ridiculed him.

00:12:12But Glenn found a way to escape the pain and create a new identity for himself.

00:12:17Divine never wanted to be a beatnik or a hippie. Divine wanted to be Elizabeth Taylor.

00:12:32After graduating from Towson High School in 1963, 18-year-old Glenn Milstead needed a job.

00:12:39With his mother's help, the teen found his calling.

00:12:42I used to go to James' beauty shop, and he used to come there and pick me up sometimes.

00:12:47And while he was waiting for me, he would fool around with the wigs.

00:12:50And when James saw him doing a beehive and doing curls, he said,

00:12:55Boy, Glenn, you're a better hairdresser than I am. You ought to take up hairdressing.

00:12:59And that's how he got started.

00:13:01Glenn went to work at Ruxton Towers Beauty Salon in Towson.

00:13:05Glenn's friend and customer, Marianne Mongeli, remembers how he quickly developed a reputation for his fantasy beehive hairdos.

00:13:12I was there every single week getting my hair done.

00:13:15And he would just, whatever he wanted to do, some big things.

00:13:18And he'd put in white sometimes and falls here and little curls here.

00:13:24And I'd walk out of there going, Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

00:13:29When he wasn't working, Glenn hung out in downtown Baltimore with his pal, John Waters.

00:13:34And the filmmakers' eclectic friends.

00:13:36It was a very mixed group of outcasts.

00:13:39We had insane drug addict jocks, drag queens, a lot of black people.

00:13:44Very, very mixed. And everybody hung out together.

00:13:47And I still like a crowd like that.

00:13:49Around 1964, the underground fun was in full swing.

00:13:54Actress Mink Stoll.

00:13:56We'd get together and we'd take our LSD and we'd have parties.

00:14:00And we just had a wonderful time together.

00:14:02According to friend Mel Scott, Glenn fit right in.

00:14:06He was always an up. He was just great to be around.

00:14:09I mean, having your own built-in comedian, his wit was just amazing.

00:14:15By the mid-1960s, Glenn was also exploring the downtown drag scene.

00:14:21The bars that we would meet in and go to, there were only about three at the time.

00:14:25And he was one of the many hairdressers.

00:14:28It was hairdressers, art students, artists.

00:14:30It was somewhere that you could go and then you wouldn't be harassed,

00:14:33compared with the other clubs.

00:14:35Inside the clubs, 19-year-old Glenn found the confidence he lacked

00:14:39and the attention he craved.

00:14:41He was leader of the pack with a comment.

00:14:43Shoes, where did she get those shoes?

00:14:46Look at that hair, she has to be from Highland Town.

00:14:48Always a wisecrack.

00:14:49I mean, it was almost like a critique.

00:14:51If you could walk that gauntlet coming into that bar through the whole crew

00:14:55and make it up to the bar to even order a drink

00:14:58without somebody saying something to you, you know, I mean, you had it made.

00:15:02The once shy schoolboy was becoming more comfortable with his offbeat lifestyle.

00:15:07So as we got older and he started going into drag more and more,

00:15:12it was just becoming part of his life.

00:15:15But Glenn still didn't share that part of his life with his parents.

00:15:19As soon as his mother would leave,

00:15:21he would go right in his mother's room and grab her wig and put on her wig

00:15:26and put on all of his makeup and his false eyelashes,

00:15:29and off he would go for the evening.

00:15:32And then he'd keep looking at his watch and make sure he'd run home

00:15:35before his parents got home to put the wig back.

00:15:38As Glenn's confidence grew, so did his passion for mischief.

00:15:42Divine had a grandeur that was partly delusional, but partly absolutely real.

00:15:49He would get in trouble at work, you know.

00:15:52Like, well, I mean, the famous story is he would, like, steal a woman's fur coat

00:15:55and then they'd say, well, where's the coat? What do you mean?

00:15:58What are you talking about? You didn't have a fur coat on.

00:16:00Back in those days he loved to throw parties.

00:16:02I mean, he would rent hotel rooms and throw enormous parties for 40 people

00:16:06that he couldn't pay for.

00:16:08We were just about ready to sit down for dinner

00:16:10and there were waiters and there was the bartender and it was great.

00:16:14And all of a sudden this maniacal man runs in the door screaming,

00:16:18where's Glenn? His check bounced.

00:16:21Glenn was famous for writing bad checks,

00:16:23but somehow he avoided serious trouble.

00:16:26He was manipulative, yes, and he was able to get away with it

00:16:31because he was such a nice person.

00:16:34Glenn may have been nice, but in December of 1964,

00:16:39the 19-year-old became a prime suspect in a murder of a girlfriend

00:16:43found strangled to death after one of Glenn's all-night parties.

00:16:47As one of the last people to see the victim alive,

00:16:51Glenn was immediately brought in for questioning by the police.

00:16:55He called up and he said, Mom, don't get upset.

00:16:59He said, but last night after we left Sally,

00:17:02they found somebody murdered her.

00:17:05And he was working at the beauty shop at this time.

00:17:08And so the police are coming to pick him up and take him in for questioning.

00:17:13And I said, well, Glenn, I don't know.

00:17:17I said, I know you didn't do it,

00:17:19but whatever the police ask you, please remember to tell the truth.

00:17:23The cops really hassled him and thought he did it

00:17:25and said things like, you look so pretty and stuff like that.

00:17:27And he thought, whoa, this cop ain't telling me I look pretty.

00:17:31And it really freaked him out, and his parents had to go get him.

00:17:33He was sort of arrested for questioning.

00:17:35I don't think he was ever charged with the murder.

00:17:37The ordeal greatly upset Glenn's parents,

00:17:40and they turned to the Reverend Leland Higginbotham.

00:17:42They came to me and they said, we don't understand this boy.

00:17:46We don't understand what is happening, what is going on.

00:17:48The cops took months to find the real killer,

00:17:51a man responsible for a string of murders.

00:17:54But Glenn no longer felt at home in suburbia,

00:17:57and putting on weight made his life difficult in the drag world.

00:18:01Those guys were so egotistical with their svelte bodies and everything,

00:18:05and here was this 300-pound drag queen.

00:18:07It was unheard of. How dare she even attempt it?

00:18:10Drag queens hated Devon in the beginning.

00:18:12We used to get beat up by drag queens

00:18:14because he would go with fake scars that Van would put on him,

00:18:18carrying a chainsaw, dressed like Jane Mansfield.

00:18:21He didn't want to be his mother, and drag queens did.

00:18:25But the brazen 19-year-old wasn't about to hang up his wig.

00:18:29Glenn developed his own style, which upset the older drag queens.

00:18:33I go to this drag show, and there are two Miss Baltimores,

00:18:36Glenn being the one, and this other guy that we didn't have any idea who he was.

00:18:41And I've never seen a fight like this in my life.

00:18:43It turned into a knockdown drag out.

00:18:45This other queen just came up and punched Glenn,

00:18:48and they started fighting, and wigs came off, dresses came off,

00:18:51knives came out of underwear, and it was unbelievable.

00:18:55Between fights and beauty pageants, Glenn enjoyed quieter moments.

00:18:59He insisted that he wanted to go to midnight mass with me in full drag.

00:19:05And I said, no, you really can't do that.

00:19:09And he said, no, I really wouldn't do it, I really wouldn't do it.

00:19:12I said, all right, there's one way we can do this.

00:19:16I'll go with you, you can go in full drag, but don't sing.

00:19:21Off we go to midnight mass.

00:19:23Everything was going fine, almost to the very end.

00:19:26And he started to sing.

00:19:29At the top of his lungs, starting to sing, Silent Night, I'll Never Forget It.

00:19:35And I was hitting him, and I'm punching him, and he's just bellowing.

00:19:39Everybody in church is just like, uh-oh.

00:19:43By 1965, Glenn's parents bought him his own hair salon.

00:19:47Meanwhile, his friend John Waters received his first camera.

00:19:51Waters wanted to make films.

00:19:53Desperate for recognition, Glenn volunteered as an actor.

00:19:57John Waters rechristened Harris Glenn Milstead

00:20:00with a screen name fit for a superstar, and called him Divine.

00:20:05He looked it up in the dictionary. It has a great definition.

00:20:07If you look up Divine in the dictionary, no matter what the dictionary is,

00:20:10it sounds great, the definition.

00:20:12So he liked it, and it also could disguise the fact

00:20:15when he was worried about getting what was also known as police blotters.

00:20:26Coming up next, Divine goes before the cameras and gives his all for fame.

00:20:32I play the part of a woman who has a cavalcade of perversions.

00:20:37And we travel all around terrifying people

00:20:40and making them sick with the acts and everything that we have.

00:20:43And later, Divine shocks moviegoers.

00:20:46The first time I ever saw it was, I admit, a stunning reaction

00:20:50that I'll never, ever forget.

00:20:52And Divine was proud. We looked at each other like, whoa.

00:20:55By 1965, 20-year-old Glenn Milstead was styling hair during the day

00:21:10and hanging out at drag clubs by night.

00:21:13But the part-time hairdresser hungered for fame

00:21:16and vowed to make it on the silver screen.

00:21:19All he needed was the right act, so Glenn became Divine.

00:21:23I always said my early films were vehicles for his extreme beauty

00:21:28and my mental illness.

00:21:36By 1966, Glenn Milstead was no longer a shy suburban kid.

00:21:42Now known as Divine, he happily joined director John Waters'

00:21:47band of friends-turned-actors named the Dreamlanders, actress Mink Stoll.

00:21:52We'd get together socially, and when John started making these movies,

00:21:58you know, he drew from the people that he knew socially,

00:22:01and we became...

00:22:05Well, we were all stars.

00:22:09We were delusions of grandeur personified.

00:22:13We all thought we were fabulous stars.

00:22:15The first movies didn't even star Divine.

00:22:18Divine had third, fourth billing.

00:22:21Clawed his way to the top.

00:22:23In 1966, John Waters put Divine in one of his first films, Roman Candles.

00:22:29John had just gotten his first camera then and came over

00:22:33and decided to try it out at the party,

00:22:36and he shot some footage and used that in one of his earlier movies,

00:22:39The Roman Candles.

00:22:41Although his role was small, Divine was hooked.

00:22:44But he would have to wait two years before his next part.

00:22:47Playing one of his idols in Waters' 1968 movie, Eat Your Makeup.

00:22:52I was playing the part of Jackie Kennedy.

00:22:55Well, it was a dream sequence where I come in to see a friend of mine,

00:22:59Malcolm, the star of the film,

00:23:01and I'm leaping through some movie magazines with Jackie on the cover,

00:23:05and then it goes into flashbacks and a dream sequence

00:23:08where I see myself as Jacqueline Kennedy.

00:23:11Director Steve Yeager.

00:23:13They were these little subversive films that John was making

00:23:16that they were part of.

00:23:18They were basically being shown in church basements and coffeehouses

00:23:21in the beginning.

00:23:23By the late 1960s, there were few parts for large men

00:23:26who specialized in female roles.

00:23:29But that didn't upset Divine.

00:23:31The actor was set on becoming a star,

00:23:33and he was ready to put Glenn and his hairspray in the closet.

00:23:37But Divine was not ready to share his secret life

00:23:41with his mother and father.

00:23:43Divine would never tell him anything

00:23:45because he was too nervous that they wouldn't get it.

00:23:47Now, in hindsight, I mean, I guess he should have told her.

00:23:51It probably would have made it a lot easier.

00:23:53But what mother is that liberal?

00:23:55Then or even now?

00:23:58Leading two lives was difficult for 23-year-old Divine.

00:24:02Around 1968, he finally closed his hair salon

00:24:06and moved out of his parents' home.

00:24:08We thought buying him the beauty shop would show him responsibility,

00:24:12but we never could figure out why he didn't.

00:24:16He said fixing hair got on his nerves.

00:24:19But when I thought about it later on in life,

00:24:22I realized he was making movies,

00:24:24and this beauty shop thing was just a sideline.

00:24:27Hoping to find work, Divine and the Dreamlanders

00:24:30left Baltimore in 1968 for Provincetown, Massachusetts,

00:24:35a small resort town on Cape Cod.

00:24:37Divine was up to his usual mischief that summer.

00:24:40As friend Vince Peranio remembers...

00:24:43I finally figured out how he, like, was living so well.

00:24:47He had a job at Provincetown working in this gourmet kitchen store

00:24:52and just robbed them blind.

00:24:56Divine's parents stepped in to help him once again.

00:24:59We thought we'd set him up in business in Provincetown in an antique store.

00:25:04My husband and I would go to the shops and buy him stuff,

00:25:07you know, stock his store up and off.

00:25:09His business was a failure,

00:25:11but Divine thought up creative ways to clear his debts.

00:25:14One of the most famous stories where he didn't have the rent,

00:25:17so the landlady was out of town,

00:25:19so he hired a professional auctioneer in a tuxedo,

00:25:22had a very fancy auction,

00:25:23and auctioned off all of her furniture and then paid the rent.

00:25:26What kind of thinking is that?

00:25:28See, that's what I'm saying.

00:25:29He tried, but you would think,

00:25:31well, what happens when she comes in the house

00:25:33and sees all of her antiques are gone?

00:25:35So he would do things like that

00:25:37and that was, I guess, part of the insane time period that we were living in.

00:25:42Out of work, Divine jumped at the chance

00:25:45to go before John Waters' camera once again.

00:25:48This time, the actor starred in Waters' 1969 film,

00:25:51Mondo Trasho,

00:25:53a bizarre tale in which Divine played a twisted blonde bombshell.

00:25:57In the very beginning, I didn't even quite get what it was about,

00:26:01that he was this slum goddess,

00:26:03that Jane Mansfield meets Clarabel the Clown, basically,

00:26:06which was the two big influences.

00:26:08According to actress Mary Vivian Pierce,

00:26:11Divine proved he was willing to do anything for stardom.

00:26:14In Mondo Trasho, he has to crawl through this pigsty.

00:26:19It was freezing that day, it was just sleeting.

00:26:22And he just gamely did it like the trooper he is.

00:26:26He got back into the car,

00:26:28and he was covered with the pig s***,

00:26:30and just stank and he was freezing and shaking.

00:26:33Divine never seemed to have a problem with anything

00:26:35that John wanted him to do in his films.

00:26:37He seemed to be happy in that role of Glenn Milstead movie actor.

00:26:44Anti-war demonstrators protest U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War

00:26:48in mass marches, rallies, and demonstrations.

00:26:51By 1970, the nation's madness had reached a feverish high.

00:26:56That year, Divine teamed up with John Waters

00:26:58to make his most outrageous film to date,

00:27:01Multiple Maniacs.

00:27:03The actor's courage and stomach for the grotesque were put to the test.

00:27:07I play the part of a woman who has the cavalcade of perversion.

00:27:12And we travel all around terrifying people

00:27:15and making them sick with the acts and everything that we have.

00:27:18Wow, are you from the cavalcade of perversion?

00:27:20I read about that in the morning paper.

00:27:23I run it, baby, it's my show.

00:27:26Oh, Jesus, you're my first celebrity I ever gave a rosary job to.

00:27:30He was very present, you know, totally committed in his scenes,

00:27:34as I thought I was.

00:27:36So it was, I thought we were well matched on screen.

00:27:41I mean, he was certainly bigger than I was.

00:27:44But there was a real dynamic between us that worked, I thought.

00:27:49Divine was serious about his acting,

00:27:51but it was his on-screen antics that audiences remembered.

00:27:55You know, he would have jumped off buildings if John had said to do so.

00:28:00You know, I mean, they were mutual vehicles.

00:28:04You know, Divine was John's star.

00:28:07I'm a maniac. I'm a maniac. I cannot be cured.

00:28:16Meanwhile, Divine's parents were having problems.

00:28:20His father was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy,

00:28:23and Glenn's irresponsible behavior became too much for them.

00:28:27He had burnt the transmission up in a new station wagon

00:28:30that my husband and I just bought him.

00:28:32Glenn charged his parents for his car repairs

00:28:35and never even bothered to call them.

00:28:37Here was my husband, disabled.

00:28:39Here was Glenn, just three blocks away from home.

00:28:43He couldn't even pick up the telephone or even call us to see how we were.

00:28:47This is what upset me, that he, you know,

00:28:51I thought he thought more of his friends

00:28:53than he did his own parents at that time.

00:28:55Frances Milstead wouldn't speak to her son for another eight years.

00:28:59Divine was without a steady job or family support.

00:29:03But his luck changed when he got a call

00:29:05to promote Multiple Maniacs at San Francisco's Palace Theater,

00:29:09famous for showing underground films.

00:29:11The midnight movie madness was at high, lunatic pitch.

00:29:16Never has midnight movies been more insane

00:29:18than they were in the Palace Theater.

00:29:20And a guy named Sebastian, who produced this whole thing,

00:29:23offered to fly Divine to San Francisco, where I lived at the time,

00:29:26because it was where I would go away from Baltimore,

00:29:28where I could show the movies and make the money

00:29:30to get it together to make the next one.

00:29:32In 1971, 26-year-old Divine flew to California.

00:29:36The plane ride was an ordeal,

00:29:38as Divine's makeup artist, Van Smith, recalls.

00:29:41And he almost died on the trip,

00:29:43because I had had breasts made for him,

00:29:46and they were sewn in, but they were made out of lentils,

00:29:49so they would move like a woman's, you know, breast does.

00:29:52And they worked very well, but they weighed 40 pounds.

00:29:55And I'm sitting next to him, and I can hear...

00:29:58I said, what's wrong with you?

00:30:00He said, I can't breathe.

00:30:02He said, I've got to take these dicks off, because I'm going to die.

00:30:05So we managed to get him off a little bit,

00:30:09but I thought we'd lost him at that point.

00:30:11Eagerly waiting at the airport gate were the Cockettes,

00:30:15bearded drag queens from the Palace Theater.

00:30:18Former Cockette, Crema Ritz.

00:30:20Divine got off with his little suitcase,

00:30:23and we were all there just screaming and yelling and hollering,

00:30:26and we loaded her onto her survey with a fringe on top,

00:30:29and off we went to the Lumo.

00:30:31At the Palace, Divine's stage performances

00:30:34lived up to his on-screen madness.

00:30:36As the Cockettes' former manager explains.

00:30:39He had a shopping cart, and he threw raw fish at the audience,

00:30:44sort of doing his Lady Divine from Multiple Maniacs.

00:30:49No one believed what they were seeing.

00:30:51It was like, what the heck is that?

00:30:54Divine attracted fans who were ready for a new kind of hero.

00:30:58Divine appealed to an audience worldwide

00:31:01that was not so much based on their sexuality,

00:31:03but was based on their anger and sense of humor.

00:31:06That's what his audience had in common.

00:31:08They didn't care if people were straight or gay.

00:31:10That wasn't the issue.

00:31:12The issue was, it was a new something

00:31:14that shocked them in a great way, that made them laugh.

00:31:17And that's what Divine liked doing.

00:31:19Making people laugh. He was a comedian.

00:31:21Divine was known for going to extraordinary lengths

00:31:24to please his fans.

00:31:26One time, he hosted a Win a Date with Divine contest

00:31:30at the famed Doggy Diner.

00:31:32He was willing to do whatever was necessary

00:31:34or whatever he thought might help promote him.

00:31:37So he had no...

00:31:39He didn't put on any kind of attitude.

00:31:43In 1971, the transformation was complete.

00:31:47On and off stage, the actor was Divine.

00:31:51He was not Glenn Millstone at all.

00:31:53That person was, except for his parents, long gone.

00:31:59Because that person wasn't so happy in public.

00:32:03That person got hassled. Divine didn't get hassled.

00:32:07Coming up next, Divine falls in love.

00:32:11It was a different person.

00:32:13It was a man.

00:32:15He was real. He was honest.

00:32:17He was who he really was.

00:32:19And later, Divine tackles the role of a lifetime.

00:32:23What is the title of this film, by the way?

00:32:25Do we know?

00:32:26Pink Flamingo.

00:32:28Pink Flamingo.

00:32:36By 1971, the 26-year-old Divine was a local celebrity

00:32:41within San Francisco's bohemian counterculture.

00:32:44His film Multiple Maniacs and wild stage appearances

00:32:48at the Palace Theatre turned him into an overnight sensation.

00:32:52But the actor's most daring act was yet to come.

00:32:56It was terrorism.

00:32:58It was defiance on his part.

00:33:00It was like, we'll see who's a real movie star.

00:33:16By the early 1970s, American soldiers were still in Vietnam.

00:33:21Richard Nixon was in the White House.

00:33:23And the nation's young people were in turmoil.

00:33:26Divine's brand of humor was ideal for the new decade.

00:33:30It was a very, very different time,

00:33:32with a very, very different spirit.

00:33:34And there was not only a cultural war going on,

00:33:37and we certainly were on one side of that war.

00:33:39In 1972, Divine returned to Baltimore

00:33:43and joined John Waters for the director's next film,

00:33:46Pink Flamingos.

00:33:48Okay, everybody quiet.

00:33:50Documentary filmmaker Steve Yeager was on hand

00:33:53to film this rare behind-the-scenes footage.

00:33:56Are you Divine?

00:33:57Yes, I am Divine.

00:33:59Everybody was into it.

00:34:01Everybody believed in John.

00:34:03We were out there in the cold, cold, you know, woods

00:34:06out in Phoenix, Maryland, shooting this thing.

00:34:08Nothing to eat.

00:34:09Divine played an outrageous character named Babs Johnson.

00:34:13In the film, he battled actress Mink Stoll

00:34:16for the title of The Filthiest Person Alive.

00:34:19It still surprises me.

00:34:20It doesn't surprise me.

00:34:21I mean, I look at the movie, and I cannot,

00:34:23I have no way of being objective about it.

00:34:26To me, I mean, it was me with my friends,

00:34:28you know, going out and playing let's make a movie.

00:34:31Light it, my darling.

00:34:32We are the filthiest people alive.

00:34:36Fire, fire, burn it down.

00:34:39Fire, fire, to the ground.

00:34:43Waters and his star were determined

00:34:45to push the limits of taste.

00:34:47That's what we worked together to promote this,

00:34:51what we hoped was a new kind of humor

00:34:54that could subvert people that had had

00:34:58the tyranny of good taste over our lives.

00:35:01But Pink Flamingos was no ordinary movie.

00:35:04Waters was absolutely determined to film a scene

00:35:07in which Divine would eat dog excrement,

00:35:10and the star, desperate for fame, agreed to do it.

00:35:14Oh, God, oh, no.

00:35:16Actress Mary Vivian Pierce.

00:35:18He was really frightened.

00:35:20It was a cold day,

00:35:21but he was sweating his forehead through his makeup,

00:35:24his pink beads of makeup rolling down his face.

00:35:28Very nervous.

00:35:29Director John Waters found a way

00:35:31to motivate his hesitant leading lady.

00:35:34John had it in the script and said,

00:35:35well, you know, now it's time.

00:35:39You want to be a star, I want to be a star.

00:35:41Let's do it.

00:35:42And then when it came,

00:35:43I was the last thing on the moon,

00:35:44we did it, and he did it.

00:35:45It was in the script.

00:35:46He was a pro, you know.

00:35:47He was a pro, that's all.

00:35:49He did it.

00:35:50He was a low-budget actor

00:35:52that gave his all to make movies.

00:35:55After Divine completed the scene,

00:35:57he was seized with fear.

00:35:59Later that night, he frantically called a hospital

00:36:02to find out if his health was in danger,

00:36:04although he would not admit

00:36:05that he was making the call about himself.

00:36:08Friend Mel Scott.

00:36:10He was calling all over the city

00:36:12in every emergency room in Baltimore,

00:36:14pretending to be a mother,

00:36:16and that her son, little Johnny,

00:36:18just ate doo-doo,

00:36:19and can he die from this,

00:36:20and can he be poisoned from this?

00:36:22Divine survived the health scare,

00:36:25but with this one act of cinematic terrorism,

00:36:28the actor sealed his fate.

00:36:30It was a first and a last,

00:36:32and no one will ever repeat it,

00:36:33and they even had to make laws against it

00:36:35because of it.

00:36:36But the shocking scene remained relatively unknown

00:36:39because no distribution company

00:36:41would go near Pink Flamingos.

00:36:43By 1973, the 28-year-old Divine

00:36:46headed back to San Francisco

00:36:48and the Palace Theater.

00:36:50Hello, my pet.

00:36:52This is your very own Divine,

00:36:54back in San Francisco to dazzle your eyes.

00:36:57I'll be appearing at the Palace Theater

00:36:59with my stimulating studs

00:37:01and a scintillating review,

00:37:03and on the screen will be

00:37:04my very favorite movie star,

00:37:06Lana Turner as Madam X,

00:37:10a woman who really knows how to suffer.

00:37:16But you won't suffer.

00:37:18You'll have fun.

00:37:19If you come to the Palace Theater at midnight,

00:37:22see me, Divine.

00:37:28The actor appeared in comedy skits

00:37:30with the drag group the Cockettes,

00:37:32but Divine wanted to act.

00:37:34He was delighted when he got the chance

00:37:36to appear with his friend Mink Stoll

00:37:39It was a time that Divine was actually acting,

00:37:42playing a character,

00:37:43not just being a flamboyant drag queen,

00:37:46not being a persona,

00:37:48but being an actual character,

00:37:50and he was very good.

00:37:51Divine was also experimenting offstage

00:37:54in his personal life.

00:37:55He began a romance with fellow actor David Baker.

00:37:59The two men lived together

00:38:00while in San Francisco.

00:38:02Out of makeup,

00:38:03the actor no longer played

00:38:05the outrageous Divine.

00:38:06When he was in his private life,

00:38:08and when we lived together,

00:38:10it was totally different.

00:38:11He was quiet and gentle,

00:38:14and it was like quiet time.

00:38:17It was a different person.

00:38:19It was a man.

00:38:21He was real.

00:38:22He was honest.

00:38:23He was who he really was.

00:38:24Divine liked being in drag,

00:38:26but also didn't live in drag.

00:38:29He wore large, loose clothing.

00:38:31He wasn't one who got up in the morning

00:38:33and didn't know who he was

00:38:34until he put his makeup on.

00:38:36That wasn't who he was at all.

00:38:38He was Divine,

00:38:41with or without makeup.

00:38:44Divine and David

00:38:45traveled to Los Angeles in 1973

00:38:48and stayed with actress

00:38:49Dolores DeLuce near Venice Beach.

00:38:52Divine had this persona

00:38:53where wherever he went,

00:38:55people loved him,

00:38:56and they loved to host Divine,

00:38:58and I noticed,

00:38:59not only was I one of Divine's many hosts,

00:39:03everywhere Divine went,

00:39:04he had a host.

00:39:05He could pretty much live

00:39:06in any city he wanted to.

00:39:08Divine made himself right at home

00:39:10in the hippie beach community.

00:39:12He got all the boys

00:39:13to take off their bathing suits

00:39:14on Venice Beach one summer,

00:39:16and we spent about a month.

00:39:18It was a nude beach, basically,

00:39:21and people were out there

00:39:22with their binoculars,

00:39:23and it was fun.

00:39:25We had a great time.

00:39:26We partied and smoked joints,

00:39:28and finally, I think,

00:39:29the police came and said,

00:39:31you know, put your suits on,

00:39:32and this is enough.

00:39:33While Divine was playing

00:39:34on the West Coast,

00:39:36John Waters was on his way

00:39:37to New York.

00:39:39He was trying to convince

00:39:40a fledgling film company

00:39:41named New Line Cinema

00:39:43and its young president,

00:39:44Bob Shea,

00:39:45to show Pink Flamingos.

00:39:47He told me that he had set up

00:39:49some midnight screenings

00:39:50at the Ellington Cinema

00:39:51and that we would be

00:39:53the beneficiary of this

00:39:54initial booking

00:39:56that he had gotten for us,

00:39:57which turned out to be fantastic

00:39:59and very exciting.

00:40:00Word spread,

00:40:01and the underground film

00:40:02became a hit

00:40:03on the midnight movie circuit.

00:40:05Divine's final scene

00:40:06of defiance in the film

00:40:08didn't concern Shea.

00:40:10It was a little bit gratuitous

00:40:11because it really didn't

00:40:12tie into the story,

00:40:13but on the other hand,

00:40:14it was a great scene

00:40:16to send people

00:40:17out of the theater with.

00:40:18It cannot be explained

00:40:20to another generation

00:40:21why we did that.

00:40:22It was maybe group madness

00:40:24in the best kind of way

00:40:26because we all look back on it

00:40:27with great fondness,

00:40:29but part of the hit

00:40:30and success of those movies

00:40:32were, imagine if my parents

00:40:34saw this.

00:40:35Now it's completely changed.

00:40:36People tell me all the time

00:40:37they see those,

00:40:38their parents showed them

00:40:39those movies.

00:40:40But Divine's parents

00:40:41never did see the film.

00:40:43By 1973,

00:40:44they had moved to Florida

00:40:46because doctors decided

00:40:47it would be better

00:40:48for Mr. Milstead's health.

00:40:50Still estranged from her son,

00:40:52Frances Milstead hoped

00:40:53for a reconciliation.

00:40:55We didn't see each other

00:40:56for eight years,

00:40:57but no matter where he was,

00:40:58he always sent us cards.

00:41:00Of course, he was always

00:41:01in my prayers, you know,

00:41:03and made me feel good

00:41:04when I did get cards from him

00:41:06knowing he was all right.

00:41:08Divine's parents knew little

00:41:10of their son's life.

00:41:11Reverend Leland Higginbotham.

00:41:13They were not in touch

00:41:14with that world.

00:41:15They didn't go to

00:41:16midnight movies

00:41:17and that sort of thing,

00:41:18and so they didn't know

00:41:19really what was going on.

00:41:21Pink Flamingo, you know,

00:41:22they wouldn't even touch it.

00:41:25Divine was eager

00:41:26to get to New York

00:41:27and experience firsthand

00:41:29the buzz surrounding

00:41:30his controversial performance.

00:41:33But the actor was committed

00:41:34to appear in San Francisco

00:41:36in a new stage comedy

00:41:37called The Heartbreak

00:41:38of Psoriasis.

00:41:40The play bombed

00:41:41and closed after

00:41:42only a few performances.

00:41:44The show's director,

00:41:45Sebastian,

00:41:46was convinced fans

00:41:47only wanted to see Divine

00:41:49do unspeakable acts.

00:41:51Pink Flamingos was just out

00:41:53and was getting

00:41:54all the notoriety it got,

00:41:56and I made a comment

00:41:57about that maybe audiences

00:42:00wanted to see Divine

00:42:01eat dog s***,

00:42:03and Divine was hurt by that.

00:42:07The die was cast.

00:42:09People were scared of him

00:42:10for the rest of his life

00:42:11that he did that,

00:42:12and I said in one of my books

00:42:14that I spent the rest

00:42:15of my life living up to it

00:42:16while he tried to live it down

00:42:18because I thought it up,

00:42:20but he did it.

00:42:21♪♪

00:42:28Coming up next,

00:42:29Divine goes to prison.

00:42:31No one will admit to evils.

00:42:33That's why I'm here.

00:42:34And later, Divine becomes

00:42:37a disco diva.

00:42:38I guess it's like seeing

00:42:39an animal hit

00:42:40on the side of the road.

00:42:41You know what it is,

00:42:42but you can't help but stare.

00:42:43He was just incredible,

00:42:45mesmerizing.

00:42:47♪♪

00:42:52As the film Pink Flamingos

00:42:54gained notoriety in 1973,

00:42:57so did its 28-year-old star.

00:43:00But Divine found that fans

00:43:02were more intrigued

00:43:03by his on-screen escapades

00:43:05than his acting abilities.

00:43:07The question was asked

00:43:08all the time

00:43:09about the dog s***

00:43:10and guitar talking about it.

00:43:12♪♪

00:43:18The film Pink Flamingos

00:43:19was a hard act to top,

00:43:21but in 1974,

00:43:23Divine got his chance

00:43:25with the role

00:43:26of Dawn Davenport

00:43:27in John Waters' saga

00:43:28about crime and beauty

00:43:30titled Female Trouble.

00:43:32Look rough!

00:43:34Look happy!

00:43:36I love those flashballs!

00:43:38Look horrified

00:43:40at what you've done

00:43:41to your daughter.

00:43:42Oh, look like you've

00:43:43just won a prize.

00:43:47Yeah.

00:43:48In that movie,

00:43:49this is about somebody

00:43:50that wants to be

00:43:51famous so badly

00:43:53that they murder

00:43:54to get the electric chair.

00:43:55So it's certainly

00:43:56an angry role

00:43:57based on beauty gone insane,

00:44:01which is what

00:44:02Dawn Davenport's problem was.

00:44:03She was corrupted

00:44:04by fascist beauticians

00:44:05in the movie.

00:44:06You can really see

00:44:07his talent in Female Trouble.

00:44:09He's on the screen

00:44:10the entire time.

00:44:11He goes from a teenager

00:44:12to a homicidal maniac.

00:44:15The film offered Divine

00:44:16a chance to perform

00:44:18without a wig.

00:44:19With a second role

00:44:20playing a drunken rapist

00:44:21named Earl,

00:44:22the actor proved

00:44:23he could handle any part,

00:44:25including male roles.

00:44:27You'll never get

00:44:28any money from me, Cal.

00:44:29Just cause you got

00:44:30them big udders

00:44:31don't mean you're

00:44:32something special.

00:44:33Get the hook!

00:44:34Glenn always thought of himself

00:44:35as a character actor,

00:44:36not as a drag queen

00:44:37or a transvestite

00:44:39or a shim, as he called it,

00:44:42but as an actor.

00:44:43The movie's success

00:44:44made Divine more determined

00:44:46than ever to become

00:44:47a mainstream star.

00:44:49Actress Dolores DeLuce.

00:44:51I almost saw the parallel

00:44:52between the character Divine

00:44:54played in the film

00:44:55and his own life,

00:44:56that here was like this,

00:44:59you know, John creating

00:45:00this monstrous character on stage

00:45:02who would do anything for fame,

00:45:04even kill for fame.

00:45:06And I guess,

00:45:08without ever really

00:45:09expressing it to Divine,

00:45:11I somehow sensed

00:45:12that that was like

00:45:13Divine's reality

00:45:14or that would become

00:45:15Divine's reality.

00:45:17After Female Trouble,

00:45:18Divine decided to

00:45:19set out on his own.

00:45:21He became very ambitious

00:45:22in the best sense of the word,

00:45:24is that he wanted

00:45:25to be a good actor

00:45:26and he wanted to,

00:45:27and I think he was frustrated

00:45:28by all the labels

00:45:29and the eating shit thing

00:45:30and all that, you know.

00:45:31That began searching

00:45:34to frustrate him.

00:45:36But he went out on his own,

00:45:37you know,

00:45:38which I encouraged him to do

00:45:39because I didn't want him

00:45:40to only be with me

00:45:41because they eventually

00:45:42resent that, you know,

00:45:43if you're only known

00:45:44for the work with me.

00:45:46Around 1974,

00:45:48Divine stepped out

00:45:49even further,

00:45:50ending his relationship

00:45:51with his boyfriend,

00:45:52actor David Baker.

00:45:54I got offered a job

00:45:55in a European production.

00:45:57We knew that

00:45:58when I left for Europe

00:45:59that our relationship

00:46:00was pretty much over,

00:46:03that we weren't going to be

00:46:04hanging out together

00:46:05again in the future.

00:46:08By 1976,

00:46:10the 31-year-old Divine

00:46:11was living in New York

00:46:13and joined forces

00:46:14with young stage director

00:46:16Ron Link.

00:46:17The whole idea

00:46:18of a legitimate stage,

00:46:20even though he was

00:46:21petrified at first,

00:46:23appealed to him.

00:46:24He hadn't done that ever,

00:46:26you know,

00:46:27except making personal appearances

00:46:28of course for movies,

00:46:30which is very different

00:46:31than eight performances

00:46:32a week.

00:46:33Under Ron Link's direction,

00:46:35Divine found the perfect

00:46:36showcase for his talents,

00:46:38an off-Broadway comedy

00:46:39called Women Behind Bars.

00:46:41Divine played a hard-edged

00:46:43prison matron.

00:46:44No one will admit to evil.

00:46:46That's why I'm here,

00:46:47to show those sick sons

00:46:49of a bitch and losers

00:46:50they're evil.

00:46:54For 22 years,

00:46:56must be my contribution

00:46:57to society.

00:46:59And I'll help you too,

00:47:00if you get confused.

00:47:02Initially,

00:47:03audiences didn't know

00:47:04what to expect

00:47:05from the star

00:47:06of Pink Flamingos.

00:47:07Theatergoers were wary

00:47:08about Divine's earlier

00:47:10outrageous pranks.

00:47:11People would call up

00:47:12the theater and say,

00:47:14well, what's he gonna do?

00:47:15I don't want to sit

00:47:16in the first six rows.

00:47:17Is he gonna throw fish at us

00:47:18or is he gonna,

00:47:19what's he gonna do to us?

00:47:20Women Behind Bars

00:47:22hit the road in 1976,

00:47:25delighting theatergoers

00:47:26from New York to London.

00:47:28He liked the form of a play,

00:47:30like your lens.

00:47:32It framed him

00:47:35and it gave him permission

00:47:36to be crazy

00:47:38in a shape and a form.

00:47:41Let me tell you something.

00:47:42They're pumping

00:47:43and pumping

00:47:44and pumping

00:47:45and pumping.

00:47:47After Women Behind Bars,

00:47:49Divine appeared

00:47:50in the stage comedy

00:47:51The Neon Woman.

00:47:52I own this club.

00:47:54I'm a legitimate

00:47:55businesswoman.

00:47:57And no two-bit

00:47:58wasp copper

00:47:59is gonna ruin my new act,

00:48:01the club Neon Woman.

00:48:03Can I touch you now,

00:48:04Miss Flash Hat?

00:48:05Can I touch you just once?

00:48:07Later, really.

00:48:08Did you fart?

00:48:11Divine played Flash Storm,

00:48:13the owner of a

00:48:14Baltimore strip joint.

00:48:16The actor became

00:48:17the toast of New York,

00:48:18friend Miss Bradley.

00:48:20It was electric

00:48:21because people really

00:48:22wanted to see Divine,

00:48:25you know.

00:48:26And regardless of what

00:48:28words were written

00:48:29or script,

00:48:30the way that they were

00:48:31delivered and the mannerisms

00:48:33absolutely sent it

00:48:34over the top.

00:48:35Me and my girls,

00:48:36we're gonna go on

00:48:37for ever!

00:48:39Come on, girls!

00:48:42Come on, girls!

00:48:50Divine became an instant hit

00:48:52with the A-list glitterati,

00:48:54including Jack Nicholson,

00:48:56Barry Manilow,

00:48:57and Grace Jones.

00:48:59Former personal assistant,

00:49:01Jay Bennett.

00:49:02People were so anxious

00:49:03to see this show

00:49:04that they were sitting,

00:49:05literally sitting on the floor

00:49:06and sitting on cushions.

00:49:08I mean, I remember,

00:49:09you know, Eartha came in later

00:49:10and she sat on a cushion

00:49:12to watch this show.

00:49:13You know, it was like,

00:49:14it was incredible.

00:49:15Elton John came

00:49:16and proceeded to woo Dibby

00:49:18to put him in

00:49:19one of his concerts

00:49:20at Madison Square Garden.

00:49:22He liked the glamorous

00:49:23part of it, you know.

00:49:24I mean, he loved being a star,

00:49:26so he got to have that also.

00:49:28You know, it was his dream

00:49:29since he was a little kid

00:49:30and he got to be

00:49:31a big Hollywood star.

00:49:33Divine even found himself

00:49:34in the same league

00:49:35with the hottest supermodels

00:49:37of the 1970s.

00:49:39Former personal assistant,

00:49:40Rob Sedusky.

00:49:41When hairdressers

00:49:42were really starting

00:49:43to make their mark,

00:49:44the hot place to go

00:49:45was Sinandre on 57th Street.

00:49:47And there was a thing,

00:49:49the Sinandre girls.

00:49:50And the Sinandre girls

00:49:51were Divine, Jerry Hall,

00:49:53Grace Jones,

00:49:54and Pat Cleveland.

00:49:55The star never missed a chance

00:49:57to be in the spotlight.

00:49:58Friend and former

00:49:59West Coast editor

00:50:00of Interview Magazine,

00:50:01Joan Quinn.

00:50:02If we went to a party

00:50:04and he felt comfortable

00:50:05with the people there,

00:50:06he wanted to be the center

00:50:08of that party.

00:50:09He was never obnoxious

00:50:11or loud or,

00:50:13at least with my friends.

00:50:15He was always very humble,

00:50:18but still he knew

00:50:20where he was going with them.

00:50:22This need for attention

00:50:23was the catalyst

00:50:24for some of Divine's

00:50:25wilder publicity stunts.

00:50:27Grace Jones will tell you

00:50:28about her birthday party

00:50:29when they had the big cake

00:50:30and Divine stepped

00:50:31into the cake accidentally

00:50:32and went up to his thigh

00:50:34in cake and then

00:50:35they had a big cake fight.

00:50:37The character would take over.

00:50:38Maybe if at a party

00:50:39or a disco or something

00:50:40or some incident

00:50:41would happen,

00:50:42that was literally

00:50:43the character taking over

00:50:45in the moment.

00:50:46Everybody was very wild

00:50:48in the late 70s or 80s.

00:50:50Everything was at

00:50:51full steam ahead.

00:50:52But the real party

00:50:53didn't start

00:50:54until the house lights

00:50:55went down.

00:50:56Divine was a very romantic

00:51:01and sexual person,

00:51:03I have to say.

00:51:04I remember being jealous of him

00:51:06because you guys had

00:51:07the great looking guys

00:51:08and I'm going,

00:51:09how the hell

00:51:10did this happen?

00:51:11The disco world

00:51:12and the gay culture,

00:51:13people idolized him.

00:51:15They just loved his image

00:51:17and everything about him.

00:51:18So people literally

00:51:19threw themselves at him

00:51:20as an offering.

00:51:22And it was really

00:51:23a great, great thing.

00:51:24You have to say,

00:51:25he did a lot better

00:51:26than I did ever.

00:51:27It was really great.

00:51:29But the era of indulgence

00:51:30was soon coming to an end.

00:51:32In 1979,

00:51:33the Neon Woman closed.

00:51:35The 34-year-old Divine

00:51:36could survive

00:51:37without the income,

00:51:38but he was addicted

00:51:39to the fame.

00:51:40I think he was very much aware

00:51:42of how people reacted to him,

00:51:44both positively

00:51:45and negatively.

00:51:46In other words,

00:51:47it's like,

00:51:48here you create this person,

00:51:49right?

00:51:50This creature, Divine.

00:51:51He helped create that.

00:51:53But in one sense,

00:51:54he also resented it.

00:51:56I think he came to resent

00:51:58the freak element of it.

00:52:00But that's just unnatural.

00:52:02I mean, you can't,

00:52:03I used to say to him,

00:52:04in terms of funny,

00:52:06if you don't want

00:52:07any attention,

00:52:08take the f***ing dress

00:52:09off and the wig,

00:52:10you won't get any attention.

00:52:11You'll just be another fat man.

00:52:13You know?

00:52:14So, which he loved.

00:52:16This was the contradiction

00:52:18that so embittered Divine.

00:52:20He began to resent

00:52:21the freak element

00:52:22that made him famous.

00:52:24Even so,

00:52:25Divine never lost sight

00:52:26of his goal.

00:52:27I wanted to be the biggest,

00:52:28most famous Hollywood star

00:52:30on the face of the earth.

00:52:32That's what drove him.

00:52:33That is literally

00:52:34what drove him.

00:52:36And he had and wanted

00:52:37all the trappings

00:52:38that went along with that

00:52:39because he did start

00:52:40to get used to those things.

00:52:42And, you know,

00:52:43he managed to create

00:52:44that stuff for himself.

00:52:45The actor was desperate

00:52:46to become a mainstream star.

00:52:48But that would mean

00:52:49killing off Divine

00:52:50and becoming Glenn Milstead again.

00:52:53That, in his mind,

00:52:54was unthinkable.

00:52:56So Divine straightened his wig

00:52:57and hit the club circuit,

00:52:59making personal appearances.

00:53:01Oh.

00:53:02Oh.

00:53:03Oh.

00:53:04Gee.

00:53:05Must be somebody

00:53:06that ate on the way here.

00:53:08She could just devastate people

00:53:10merely by looking at them.

00:53:12By looking at them

00:53:13and being able to read,

00:53:14being able to size them up

00:53:16and completely devastate them

00:53:17and on to the next.

00:53:18And people loved it.

00:53:20They loved it.

00:53:21The more abusive,

00:53:22the more vicious,

00:53:23the more sexual,

00:53:24they absolutely ate it.

00:53:26Ate it up.

00:53:27Loved it.

00:53:29Show us your willy!

00:53:31Show us your willy?

00:53:34Show me your willy.

00:53:37Come on up here.

00:53:38Who doesn't see his willy?

00:53:43Despite Divine's popularity,

00:53:45audiences began to demand

00:53:46more of their star.

00:53:48He needed a gimmick,

00:53:49and he found one

00:53:50with his new manager,

00:53:51Berner Jay.

00:53:52No, no cameras.

00:53:53In the fall of 1979,

00:53:55Divine went into

00:53:56the recording studio

00:53:57and cut his first single,

00:53:58Born to Be Cheap.

00:54:00It was rock and roll.

00:54:02It was Bowie-ish.

00:54:03It was, you know,

00:54:05it was razzle-dazzle-em,

00:54:08you know, and gruff.

00:54:10Because when you listen

00:54:11to some of those records,

00:54:12they're just rough.

00:54:14You know, it's like

00:54:15some old fisherwoman

00:54:18moaning and groaning

00:54:19to some song.

00:54:21Divine was on his way

00:54:22to a singing career,

00:54:24but he was slipping

00:54:25further away from his goal,

00:54:27to be a well-respected

00:54:28character actor.

00:54:30I suppose it's like

00:54:31any kind of stardom,

00:54:32which people don't really

00:54:33want to talk about,

00:54:34is you've created

00:54:35your own monster.

00:54:43Coming up next,

00:54:44Divine tops the charts,

00:54:45tops the scale,

00:54:46and finds romance

00:54:47on the silver screen.

00:54:49How many men in the

00:54:50motion picture business

00:54:51are offered a 320-pound

00:54:52leading lady

00:54:53that's not a lady?

00:54:54And later, a son

00:54:56confronts his past.

00:54:57He said, Mom, he said,

00:54:59can I come back home

00:55:00and be family again?

00:55:18By 1979, the 34-year-old Divine

00:55:21was a glamorous oddity.

00:55:23He was, in essence,

00:55:24a career celebrity,

00:55:25paid to appear at clubs

00:55:27and be his outrageous self.

00:55:29Life was one big party.

00:55:31Unfortunately,

00:55:32every party has to end.

00:55:34If you wanted that stardom,

00:55:35then there's going to have

00:55:36to be a price to pay.

00:55:41By 1980, Divine's acting

00:55:43career was stalled.

00:55:45The drag queen's celebrity

00:55:46status was confined

00:55:47to the disco world.

00:55:49L.A. club owner Scott Forbes

00:55:51recalls Divine was willing

00:55:52to do anything

00:55:54to entertain his fans.

00:55:55He says, well, I want you

00:55:56to drive me through the disco

00:55:58onto stage on the back

00:55:59of your motorcycle.

00:56:01And I says, you're kidding me.

00:56:02I said, we're going to have

00:56:031,200 people in that room

00:56:04and you want me to drive

00:56:05through that room

00:56:06with you side settled

00:56:07on the back of my bike?

00:56:09He says, that's the way

00:56:10I go on, otherwise

00:56:11I'm not going on.

00:56:13And the crowd

00:56:14just went crazy.

00:56:16Despite Divine's popularity,

00:56:18he was having money problems.

00:56:19He had no steady income

00:56:21to keep him afloat.

00:56:22Even with the financial

00:56:23strain, the star refused

00:56:25to scale back his lifestyle.

00:56:27Former personal assistant

00:56:28Jay Bennett.

00:56:30Well, we always, no matter

00:56:31what income we had,

00:56:33we always lived very well.

00:56:34So if it was about me

00:56:36cashing my unemployment

00:56:37check to pay for a dinner

00:56:38party, we would do that.

00:56:41So we always managed

00:56:42somehow we got money.

00:56:44Director John Waters.

00:56:46He lived grandly

00:56:48in his mind.

00:56:51Always.

00:56:52And he did it well,

00:56:54but he might have sometimes

00:56:56been one step ahead of,

00:56:59yeah, the pocketbook.

00:57:01Even when times were tough,

00:57:03Divine's home was his castle.

00:57:05Friend and designer,

00:57:07Zandra Rhodes.

00:57:08He had incredible taste.

00:57:11He lived in New York

00:57:13in the tiniest,

00:57:14tiniest penthouse.

00:57:16I used to call it a pent hut.

00:57:18It was so chic that at night

00:57:21you couldn't read a book

00:57:23because there'd be a blue

00:57:25pin line spot just on

00:57:27a vase of flowers.

00:57:29Any money Divine made

00:57:30came from making personal

00:57:32appearances at the discos.

00:57:34It was great because it gave

00:57:35him something to do while

00:57:36he waited for the stuff

00:57:37to roll in.

00:57:38But the stuff,

00:57:39legitimate acting jobs,

00:57:40never rolled in.

00:57:42By 1981, Divine had not

00:57:44appeared in a feature film

00:57:46in seven years.

00:57:48Then, longtime friend

00:57:49John Waters cast Divine

00:57:51as a victimized housewife

00:57:53in his film about

00:57:54suburban madness,

00:57:55titled Polyester.

00:57:57Tab Hunter was Divine's co-star.

00:57:59It was an opportunity to do

00:58:00something totally different.

00:58:03I mean, how many men

00:58:05in the motion picture business

00:58:06are offered a 320-pound

00:58:08leading lady that's not a lady?

00:58:10Whew!

00:58:11I got a date with an angel.

00:58:15He was very honest

00:58:16as a performer

00:58:18and had a great humor,

00:58:20the great underlying humor,

00:58:21which is wonderful.

00:58:23And I think the key to any

00:58:25person that really

00:58:28draws you to them

00:58:29is their vulnerability.

00:58:31And Divine, I found,

00:58:32was very vulnerable.

00:58:34Why don't you show me

00:58:35your bedroom, honey?

00:58:36Mother, may I?

00:58:37Yes, you may.

00:58:39Divine was the nervous one

00:58:41because all his life

00:58:42he had loved Tab Hunter

00:58:43and when Tab Hunter

00:58:44was coming to Baltimore,

00:58:45he had to do a love scene.

00:58:47So Tab was brave

00:58:50to do that movie

00:58:51and very funny

00:58:52and really, really helped

00:58:53Divine's career

00:58:54and my career

00:58:55by doing that movie,

00:58:56but especially Divine.

00:58:57It gave a great

00:58:58legitimacy to Divine.

00:58:59Divine received good reviews

00:59:01for Polyester,

00:59:02but Hollywood wasn't brimming

00:59:04with roles for a 320-pound

00:59:06drag queen.

00:59:07Frustrated, Divine went back

00:59:09to work on the disco circuit,

00:59:11friend Mel Scott.

00:59:12I thought he could sing.

00:59:14What can I say?

00:59:16If you think you can,

00:59:17you know, you can.

00:59:19And he had the balls

00:59:21to get up there and do it.

00:59:22He was no different

00:59:24than some of these groups today.

00:59:26In 1982, Divine's record career

00:59:29got a big boost

00:59:30when his single

00:59:31Born to be Cheap

00:59:32was finally released.

00:59:34The dance tune

00:59:35turned the 37-year-old

00:59:37drag queen

00:59:38into a true disco diva.

00:59:40He knew how to handle

00:59:41the crowd incredibly.

00:59:42He knew what they wanted,

00:59:43he knew how to present it,

00:59:44and he was totally successful

00:59:46in everything he did.

00:59:47Divine drew huge crowds

00:59:49from New York to Los Angeles.

00:59:51He even attracted attention

00:59:52in smaller towns.

00:59:54Kentucky club owner

00:59:55Miss Bradley.

00:59:56People were bribing me

00:59:58with $100 bills

00:59:59to get to meet him.

01:00:01Jocks, big college jocks

01:00:03from the University of Kentucky

01:00:04begging me to get

01:00:06into his dressing room.

01:00:07Anything they could do

01:00:09to get to him.

01:00:10It was unbelievable.

01:00:12Beyond.

01:00:13Divine could even charm

01:00:15the most unlikely fans.

01:00:17We took him out

01:00:18to this truck stop

01:00:19late at night,

01:00:20snuck out,

01:00:21and before he left

01:00:23this truck stop,

01:00:24and I mean with

01:00:25some good old boys

01:00:26and some big haired,

01:00:28teased up country waitresses,

01:00:30he had every single person

01:00:32in this truck stop

01:00:33absolutely in love with him.

01:00:35Had them rolling in the aisles

01:00:37and didn't have a dress on

01:00:38or a stitch of makeup.

01:00:39You know, he was a phenomenal,

01:00:44he had the ability

01:00:46to size situations up

01:00:47and make it work.

01:00:49And work it.

01:00:50You know, in any time,

01:00:52I mean, you know,

01:00:53that's the hills of Kentucky.

01:00:54I mean, you know,

01:00:55that's deliverance country.

01:00:56You know, hello.

01:00:58In his private life,

01:00:59Divine was nothing like

01:01:01the flamboyant character

01:01:02he portrayed,

01:01:03which surprised

01:01:04friend Joan Quinn.

01:01:06You couldn't believe

01:01:07it was the same person

01:01:08that you had just seen

01:01:0920 minutes before.

01:01:10You wondered where he came up

01:01:12with such raunchy, illicit,

01:01:17terrible sex acts.

01:01:18How he came up

01:01:19with all those things.

01:01:20But there were two Divines.

01:01:22We all have our other sides

01:01:24that we don't show

01:01:25to other people,

01:01:26or sometimes don't even know

01:01:27that we have.

01:01:28So I think that maybe

01:01:29playing the character of Divine

01:01:30as opposed to the person Divine

01:01:32is maybe a great release

01:01:33for me actually.

01:01:35Or I'd be in the hospital

01:01:37somewhere.

01:01:39Even though Divine

01:01:40could separate the man

01:01:41from the character,

01:01:42some others couldn't.

01:01:44People and the public

01:01:45will try to pigeonhole you

01:01:46into one thing.

01:01:48And there is part

01:01:50of the American populace

01:01:51that would love nothing better

01:01:52than to see the b****** evil

01:01:54Divine in a dress

01:01:56spouting vulgarities, you know.

01:01:58But he was so much more

01:01:59than that,

01:02:00and he really wanted to show

01:02:03that he was so much more

01:02:04than that.

01:02:05During the 1980s,

01:02:06Divine made his home

01:02:07in Key West, Florida.

01:02:09Friend Sharon Plaitez

01:02:10remembers he led

01:02:11a rather sedate life.

01:02:13At home he was,

01:02:14you know, he walked around

01:02:15in his caftan

01:02:16in his little slippers.

01:02:17He kind of sashayed

01:02:18from room to room.

01:02:19He planned his dinners

01:02:20and his shopping sprees,

01:02:22and he got to know everybody.

01:02:24And everybody, you know,

01:02:25if Divine would walk

01:02:26in their store,

01:02:27they felt like they'd died

01:02:29and gone to heaven, you know.

01:02:30Oh my God, it's Divine.

01:02:31While in Key West,

01:02:33Divine met a local bartender

01:02:35named Lee.

01:02:36The two men hit it off.

01:02:37You know, they were

01:02:38off and on, you know,

01:02:39for many, many years,

01:02:40and they really took care

01:02:41of each other a lot.

01:02:42And, you know,

01:02:43they would go through periods

01:02:44where they weren't together,

01:02:45and they actually,

01:02:46they traveled actually.

01:02:47They did, Lee would do

01:02:48his makeup sometimes.

01:02:49But the relationship

01:02:50had limits.

01:02:51Lee was a married man

01:02:53and had no intention

01:02:54of leaving his wife, Mandy.

01:02:56I think maybe there were times

01:02:58that Divine felt sad

01:03:00about Lee,

01:03:01but I think he accepted

01:03:02the fact that Lee

01:03:04and Mandy were together

01:03:06and that whatever

01:03:08he got from Lee

01:03:09was going to be

01:03:10whatever he got from Lee,

01:03:11and that was enough for him.

01:03:13By 1982, the 37-year-old

01:03:16was ready to rekindle

01:03:17his relationship

01:03:18with his parents.

01:03:19It had been 8 years

01:03:20since Divine last saw

01:03:22his mother and father.

01:03:23The Milsteads

01:03:24lived in Florida,

01:03:25and Divine's father

01:03:26was confined to a wheelchair

01:03:28due to muscular dystrophy.

01:03:30It was Divine's mother

01:03:31who made the first move.

01:03:33Frances Milstead

01:03:34still knew her son as Glenn.

01:03:36Glenn was singing at the COPA,

01:03:38and this fella asked me

01:03:40if I'd go with him

01:03:41to see the show.

01:03:43And I said, oh no,

01:03:44I can't do that.

01:03:45I said, but I'll give you a note

01:03:47you give to him.

01:03:49And he says,

01:03:51what's it pertain to?

01:03:53I said, just tell him

01:03:54to call his mother up.

01:03:55He said, do you know his mother?

01:03:56I said, yeah, I think I do.

01:03:58Frances Milstead

01:03:59was delighted

01:04:00to hear her son's voice.

01:04:02He said, Mom,

01:04:03can I come back home

01:04:04and be family again?

01:04:06And I said, Glenn,

01:04:07that's the nicest words

01:04:08you could say to me.

01:04:09I said, we'd love to have you

01:04:10come back home.

01:04:12Divine also made amends

01:04:13with his father.

01:04:14He said, you know, Daddy,

01:04:16we missed a lot,

01:04:17good times together.

01:04:18He said, I'm going

01:04:19to make it up to you.

01:04:21And I said,

01:04:22you don't have to do that.

01:04:23Just come home

01:04:24every time you get a chance.

01:04:26It'll make us feel good.

01:04:28And this is what he did.

01:04:30Divine reconciled

01:04:31with his parents.

01:04:32But the actor was still shy

01:04:34about discussing his career

01:04:35with them.

01:04:36I've never seen Glenn

01:04:37dressed up in drag,

01:04:39only in the movies.

01:04:41I've never seen

01:04:42any of his stage shows.

01:04:44And I used to say to Glenn,

01:04:46when you going to take me

01:04:47to one of the stage shows?

01:04:48He said, oh, Mom,

01:04:49he said, I tell those dirty jokes

01:04:51and they go over your head.

01:04:52You don't want to hear them.

01:04:55In 1984,

01:04:57the 39-year-old Divine

01:04:59went back to his singing career

01:05:01with new energy.

01:05:03He released his next single,

01:05:05I'm So Beautiful,

01:05:07a hit record that climbed

01:05:08the charts in Europe.

01:05:16London, Paris, Amsterdam,

01:05:19New York,

01:05:20wherever the diva toured,

01:05:22his shows sold out.

01:05:23Former personal assistant,

01:05:25Rob Sadusky.

01:05:26They all knew every word

01:05:27to every song.

01:05:29You know, I mean,

01:05:30they really responded

01:05:31to the songs.

01:05:32They loved the songs.

01:05:33They loved him.

01:05:34I mean, he would just,

01:05:35you know, flip his hand

01:05:36and they would go crazy.

01:05:38Godson and filmmaker,

01:05:39Brooke Yeaton.

01:05:40I met a guy in,

01:05:42a skinhead in England

01:05:44who took off his shirt

01:05:45and had Divine,

01:05:46the whole back,

01:05:47tattooed with Divine

01:05:48and the two bulldogs,

01:05:49which was amazing.

01:05:50I thought it was great.

01:05:51Here's my godfather

01:05:52being tattooed

01:05:53on some guy's back.

01:05:54Divine worked hard

01:05:55to make the most

01:05:56of his success.

01:05:57Out of the 365 days,

01:05:59she did something unbelievable

01:06:01like 240 touring days,

01:06:04you know,

01:06:05that I know of,

01:06:06and that is astounding

01:06:08for a man that size

01:06:10to have that kind of energy

01:06:12and to be able

01:06:13to pull that off.

01:06:14And drag is very difficult,

01:06:16you know,

01:06:17and you're on a plane,

01:06:18you're on a bus,

01:06:19you're in a car,

01:06:20and then you perform

01:06:21all night,

01:06:22and the next thing,

01:06:23and then get into a wig,

01:06:24get into a dress,

01:06:25and then to go on stage

01:06:26and be on,

01:06:27you know,

01:06:28and work it,

01:06:29and then have the next thing,

01:06:30the next day,

01:06:31the same thing happen

01:06:32over and over

01:06:33and over again.

01:06:34It's very,

01:06:35it takes a big toll.

01:06:36By 1984,

01:06:38the nightly shows

01:06:39began to take their toll

01:06:41on the overweight

01:06:4239-year-old star.

01:06:44The tour definitely

01:06:45started to grind.

01:06:46His lifestyle

01:06:47started to grind.

01:06:48Sometimes Divine would be

01:06:49in two countries a day

01:06:50with two different outfits on.

01:06:52He was dancing every night,

01:06:53sweating under hot lights,

01:06:55not getting proper sleep,

01:06:56not getting proper food,

01:06:58and it's hard.

01:06:59It's hard on someone

01:07:00who's physically fit,

01:07:01and it's, I think,

01:07:02doubly hard

01:07:03on someone who isn't,

01:07:05and clearly he wasn't.

01:07:07With his frantic lifestyle,

01:07:09the disco diva

01:07:10rarely found time

01:07:11to unwind.

01:07:12He would wake up,

01:07:13smoke a joint,

01:07:14fall asleep with it,

01:07:16and then light it again

01:07:17after he woke up

01:07:18and do it again.

01:07:19That was his relaxation.

01:07:21That was his relaxation.

01:07:23When I was at

01:07:24the Belvedere Hotel,

01:07:25all it was was room service

01:07:26and pot.

01:07:27That's it.

01:07:28And one time,

01:07:29I walked into

01:07:30the Belvedere Hotel,

01:07:31and the maid and him

01:07:32were in bed together

01:07:33smoking a joint.

01:07:35Divine created a character

01:07:36that made him a star,

01:07:38but his brilliant creation

01:07:39turned into a trap.

01:07:41Actress Mink stole.

01:07:43As his career progressed,

01:07:46he did start viewing

01:07:48the uniform

01:07:49as prison garb,

01:07:51and he was sort of

01:07:53the prisoner

01:07:54of the sequin tube dress,

01:07:56and he was very interested

01:07:58in playing male roles.

01:08:05Coming up next,

01:08:06the star reveals

01:08:07his maternal instincts.

01:08:09He would want me

01:08:10to eat with him all the time.

01:08:11That was because

01:08:12we were both overweight.

01:08:13He would say,

01:08:14Come on, Ricky,

01:08:15let's eat a pie.

01:08:16Let's share a roast.

01:08:19And later,

01:08:20Divine's final day.

01:08:22The last visual

01:08:23that I have of Divine

01:08:24was he came out

01:08:25on the veranda

01:08:26of his apartment

01:08:27where he was staying

01:08:28in West Hollywood

01:08:29and started singing

01:08:30all dressed in,

01:08:31you know,

01:08:32like a black cap there,

01:08:33Arrivederci Roma.

01:08:42He was a brilliant show.

01:08:44By 1984,

01:08:45Divine was climbing

01:08:46the record charts

01:08:47and touring relentlessly.

01:08:48Mentally and physically,

01:08:50he began to buckle.

01:08:51At 39, Divine was ready

01:08:53to make a drastic

01:08:54career change.

01:08:55He was looking to do

01:08:56anything he could

01:08:57to put the gown

01:08:58in the closet

01:08:59and throw away the key.

01:09:10In 1984,

01:09:11movie producer

01:09:12Alan Glasser

01:09:13made Divine

01:09:14an offer he couldn't refuse.

01:09:16A starring role

01:09:17with his old friend

01:09:18Tab Hunter

01:09:19in a western spoof

01:09:20called Lust in the Dust.

01:09:22He liked the fact

01:09:23that Lust

01:09:24was a little more

01:09:25mainstream than

01:09:26the other things

01:09:27he had done

01:09:28and was going to

01:09:29broaden his appeal

01:09:30maybe just

01:09:31that much more

01:09:32to mid-America

01:09:34because of being

01:09:35surrounded by

01:09:36Lainey Kazan

01:09:37and Cesar Romero

01:09:38and Tab Hunter

01:09:39and all of these stars.

01:09:41Working with big stars,

01:09:43Divine believed

01:09:44he would finally

01:09:45make his mark

01:09:46in Hollywood.

01:09:47Former personal assistant

01:09:48Rob Sadusky.

01:09:49It was sort of

01:09:50more into that world,

01:09:51a step closer

01:09:52into that world

01:09:53and Cesar Romero

01:09:54was in Lust in the Dust

01:09:55and he loved that

01:09:56because he felt

01:09:57like his mother

01:09:58would really, you know,

01:09:59admire that he was

01:10:00working with Cesar

01:10:01and really respect that.

01:10:02Divine's fellow actors

01:10:03also respected him.

01:10:05I think Divine

01:10:06was just a natural actor.

01:10:07I mean, he was

01:10:08just wonderful.

01:10:09Everything he did

01:10:10was right on the money.

01:10:11I mean, you could

01:10:12plant a seed of what

01:10:13you wanted in a scene

01:10:15and he would say,

01:10:16you know,

01:10:17and just let him

01:10:18take it from there.

01:10:19Although Divine

01:10:20wanted to get away

01:10:21from female roles,

01:10:22he was grateful

01:10:23to be back on a movie set.

01:10:25He was getting up

01:10:26at 3.30 every morning

01:10:27to shave,

01:10:28then to go into

01:10:29makeup for an hour

01:10:30and then hair

01:10:31for another two hours.

01:10:32Then it took us

01:10:33like an hour and a half

01:10:34to dress him

01:10:35because it was

01:10:36all period clothes

01:10:37and he never complained

01:10:38once.

01:10:39And we shot this whole movie

01:10:40in the early summer

01:10:41in the desert

01:10:42and he didn't complain.

01:10:43Divine handled the heat

01:10:45and the hardships

01:10:46despite a serious

01:10:47health problem.

01:10:48The 300-pound actor

01:10:50developed a rare

01:10:51breathing disorder,

01:10:52sleep apnea,

01:10:53suffocation brought on

01:10:55by obesity.

01:10:56The results were

01:10:57life-threatening.

01:10:58He could sit down

01:10:59and fall right to sleep.

01:11:01I mean,

01:11:02he wouldn't fall asleep

01:11:03in the middle of a scene

01:11:04but if the scene was over

01:11:05and somebody was about

01:11:06to do his makeup

01:11:07before he did another take,

01:11:08he was out like a light.

01:11:09Divine's ballooning

01:11:10weight was becoming dangerous

01:11:12according to photographer

01:11:13and friend,

01:11:14Greg Gorman.

01:11:15He knew that he needed

01:11:16to take some of the weight off

01:11:17because he knew

01:11:18his physical load

01:11:19of working and especially

01:11:20doing his stage acts

01:11:21and all,

01:11:22it was not good

01:11:23for his health.

01:11:24Upon the release

01:11:25of Lust in the Dust,

01:11:26Divine went on

01:11:27a promotional tour.

01:11:28When we wanted him

01:11:29to do publicity

01:11:30for Lust in the Dust

01:11:31and go on a tour,

01:11:32he would be glad to

01:11:33but he would only go

01:11:34on these shows

01:11:35in a man's suit.

01:11:36He would not dress

01:11:37in any kind of

01:11:38women's clothing

01:11:39and I know that

01:11:40some of these people

01:11:41expected Divine

01:11:42to come out

01:11:43in these outrageous get-ups

01:11:44and he would not do it.

01:11:46In 1985,

01:11:47Divine finally got his chance

01:11:49to kick off his heels

01:11:50and put on a suit

01:11:51in front of a film camera.

01:11:53When Divine was cast

01:11:54to do the movie

01:11:55Trouble in Mind

01:11:56with Alan Rudolph,

01:11:57I think he was quite elated

01:11:58to be playing a character

01:11:59other than John Waters Divine

01:12:01and it gave him

01:12:02an opportunity

01:12:03to play a male role.

01:12:04I feel that a lot

01:12:05of the general public

01:12:06that maybe were not

01:12:07as familiar with Divine

01:12:09and not his big cult following

01:12:11probably weren't even aware

01:12:12that this was Divine

01:12:13playing this male role

01:12:14in the movie.

01:12:15Playing the gangster

01:12:16Hilly Blue,

01:12:17Divine hoped the role

01:12:18would put him

01:12:19in the mainstream.

01:12:20Godson, Brooke Yeaton.

01:12:22He called the house

01:12:23when he got that job.

01:12:24He was very proud of it

01:12:25because he didn't have

01:12:26to be in Dragon,

01:12:27he was going to play a thug

01:12:28and he was an actor.

01:12:31Co-star, Keith Carradine.

01:12:33He was gleeful, you know,

01:12:35being able to take bullet hits,

01:12:36you know,

01:12:37put all these squibs on him,

01:12:38do this sort of guy stuff.

01:12:40I mean, it was,

01:12:41he had such a good time.

01:12:43The impression I got

01:12:44was that he was just,

01:12:46he was really grateful

01:12:47for the chance

01:12:48to show another side

01:12:49of himself, you know,

01:12:51and to stretch himself

01:12:52as a performer

01:12:54and maybe open up

01:12:55the possibility

01:12:56of doing more varied roles,

01:12:59you know, as a screen actor.

01:13:01The casting agent saw it,

01:13:02the studio saw it,

01:13:03the lead man saw it,

01:13:05and that really made him

01:13:06feel great.

01:13:07I think that's where

01:13:08he started to realize

01:13:09that he wanted to start

01:13:10peeling off the drag

01:13:12because it felt so good.

01:13:14While Trouble in Mind

01:13:15wasn't a box office success,

01:13:17Devine was sure

01:13:18he would get work as a man.

01:13:20Friend, Joan Quinn.

01:13:21He did say that he wanted

01:13:22to be a great actor

01:13:24and he thought that the idea

01:13:25of now having these male roles

01:13:28was going to open his career

01:13:30where he would be

01:13:31in Hollywood forever.

01:13:33Devine persuaded Hollywood agent

01:13:34Bell Zwerdling

01:13:35to represent him.

01:13:36At this point of his career,

01:13:38he was looking to become

01:13:39a character actor.

01:13:40He was looking for the industry

01:13:41to accept him

01:13:42as a character actor.

01:13:43He was looking to do

01:13:44anything he could

01:13:45to put the gown in the closet

01:13:48and throw away the key.

01:13:49But selling Devine

01:13:50was a hard task.

01:13:52This town is very linear at best,

01:13:55so if I'm going to be concerned

01:13:57with what the town thinks,

01:13:59I'm dead because I already

01:14:00have the biggest challenge

01:14:01of the century.

01:14:03We just go step by step

01:14:05and we started

01:14:07breaking down some steps.

01:14:09The actor made

01:14:10a few television appearances,

01:14:12but by 1986,

01:14:14Devine was back

01:14:15on the disco circuit.

01:14:16The character, Devine,

01:14:17brought in a lot of money,

01:14:19but it was hard on him

01:14:21because in these big discos

01:14:24at the time where 20 million

01:14:27people come in and dance,

01:14:29there would be a red velvet

01:14:31roped-off area

01:14:32in their set, Devine,

01:14:33and it was like

01:14:34kind of being in a zoo.

01:14:36In 1988,

01:14:38the actor's longtime friend,

01:14:40director John Waters,

01:14:41cast Devine in a film

01:14:43that reunited the actor

01:14:44with his Baltimore buddies.

01:14:46The movie was Hairspray.

01:14:49Could you turn

01:14:50that racket down?

01:14:52I'm trying to iron in here.

01:14:55He walked on the set

01:14:56the first day

01:14:57dressed as Edmund Turnblad,

01:14:58and I didn't recognize him.

01:14:59I thought that he was

01:15:00just one of the neighbors

01:15:01standing there watching,

01:15:02and I looked at him

01:15:03for a long time,

01:15:04and then I realized,

01:15:05and it just broke me up.

01:15:06I mean, it was so hilarious.

01:15:07And he said to me,

01:15:08what drag queen would ever

01:15:10allow themselves

01:15:11to look like this?

01:15:12How can anyone say

01:15:13I'm a drag queen again?

01:15:14Because this proved

01:15:15this was a character actor.

01:15:17This no drag queen would look

01:15:20like how he looked like

01:15:21in this movie.

01:15:23And it was hard

01:15:24because of course

01:15:25he wanted Ricky Legg's role.

01:15:26There was a sort of

01:15:28edge of aloofness towards me

01:15:31in the beginning,

01:15:32and John remembers

01:15:33that it was because

01:15:34he wanted my part.

01:15:36He apparently wanted

01:15:37to play both roles

01:15:39like he did

01:15:40in Female Trouble.

01:15:41And so, you know,

01:15:42he resented me

01:15:43just a little bit,

01:15:44but I think I won him over.

01:15:46Mama,

01:15:47welcome to the 60s.

01:15:49He immediately took me

01:15:50by the hand and said,

01:15:51oh no, honey,

01:15:52this is the way

01:15:53you walk in high heels.

01:15:54Oh no, let me show you

01:15:55how it's done.

01:15:56And he really,

01:15:57he goes down in history

01:15:58as teaching me

01:15:59how to walk in high heels.

01:16:00I'd never worn heels

01:16:01before in my life.

01:16:02On set,

01:16:03Ricky Legg wasn't

01:16:04the only actress

01:16:05who got advice from Divine.

01:16:06The actor also gave

01:16:07beatnik lessons

01:16:08to actress Pia Zidora.

01:16:10I mean, your hair

01:16:11is really uncool.

01:16:13He said, first of all, honey,

01:16:14just let loose.

01:16:16Forget who you are

01:16:17and just get down and dirty.

01:16:20And the bongo drums,

01:16:21and we read Howl a few times.

01:16:24And put on the black wig,

01:16:26the white lipstick,

01:16:27and got naked and smoked.

01:16:29Divine was very happy.

01:16:30You know, he was treated

01:16:31like a character actor.

01:16:34He made the kind of money

01:16:35he wanted to make.

01:16:37And he had a percentage

01:16:38of the back end

01:16:39that was very important

01:16:40for him to establish.

01:16:41Also very important

01:16:42for Divine

01:16:43was his male role

01:16:44in Hairspray.

01:16:45Shut up,

01:16:46or we're going off the air.

01:16:48He knew that we had

01:16:49to keep reinventing it

01:16:50each time.

01:16:51So he was glad to do that.

01:16:53And to play a man

01:16:54at the same time again,

01:16:55he liked very, very much too.

01:16:57And that was his idea.

01:16:58Certainly he pushed that.

01:17:00Surrounded by his friends

01:17:01and family,

01:17:02Divine never wanted

01:17:03the cameras to stop rolling.

01:17:05Divine started to cry

01:17:06because he was just upset.

01:17:08It was another thing ending.

01:17:10Probably because he had

01:17:11to be thrown back

01:17:12in that world, you know,

01:17:13away from Baltimore

01:17:14and his family

01:17:15and people loved him.

01:17:16Back to, you know,

01:17:17throwing on the dress

01:17:18every night and doing this, that.

01:17:19I really think Divine knew

01:17:21that was it with John.

01:17:22I think Divine knew

01:17:23that was the last movie.

01:17:24And he cried so much.

01:17:25He said,

01:17:26I'm really going to miss this.

01:17:27The film Hairspray

01:17:28was a box office success.

01:17:30And for the first time,

01:17:31Frances Milstead

01:17:32accompanied her son

01:17:33to a film premiere.

01:17:35He took me to see the premiere

01:17:38of Hairspray in Miami,

01:17:40had the limousine pick us up,

01:17:42take us home,

01:17:43and we partied.

01:17:45Divine's mother was impressed

01:17:46with her son's performance,

01:17:48and so were many film critics.

01:17:50I think Divine

01:17:51got wonderful notices.

01:17:53It was like a snowball ride

01:17:56that just grew

01:17:57and grew and grew.

01:17:58Friend, Pat Moran.

01:17:59But when he got the acceptance

01:18:00was the New York Times review

01:18:02when someone called him an actor

01:18:04instead of a drag queen.

01:18:06And he'd say,

01:18:07read me that review again.

01:18:08Just read it again.

01:18:09Read the review again.

01:18:10Read the review again.

01:18:12And then he would go like,

01:18:13oh, you know,

01:18:14just was thrilled about it.

01:18:15And it was pretty exciting.

01:18:17The film and the reviews

01:18:19provided Divine

01:18:20with another big break,

01:18:21a recurring role as a man

01:18:23on a hit sitcom.

01:18:24He was going to be

01:18:25a character actor

01:18:26and married with children,

01:18:27which was the Fox top show.

01:18:30And he was,

01:18:31it was like, you know,

01:18:33they like me.

01:18:34You know, they accept me.

01:18:36And they did.

01:18:37In the spring of 1988,

01:18:3942-year-old Divine

01:18:41flew to Los Angeles

01:18:42to prepare for his part

01:18:44on the hit television comedy.

01:18:46The night before

01:18:47his triumphant debut,

01:18:48he celebrated with friends.

01:18:50He was in great spirits.

01:18:51And that evening

01:18:52we took Divine home.

01:18:53And the last visual

01:18:55that I have of Divine

01:18:56that evening

01:18:57was he came out

01:18:58on the veranda

01:18:59of his apartment

01:19:00where he was staying

01:19:01in West Hollywood

01:19:02and started singing

01:19:03Arrivederci Roma.

01:19:11Coming up next,

01:19:12Divine takes his place

01:19:13among the stars.

01:19:15And we just sat there

01:19:16like stunned.

01:19:17Weeping.

01:19:18And the phone

01:19:19just kept ringing.

01:19:20My answering machine

01:19:21could not pick up

01:19:22with the calls.

01:19:23And it was every person

01:19:24we knew in the whole world.

01:19:40By March of 1988,

01:19:42Divine was flying high.

01:19:44His movie Hairspray

01:19:46was a big success.

01:19:48The film brought the actor

01:19:49rave reviews

01:19:50and a chance to appear

01:19:51in a hot TV sitcom.

01:19:53The 42-year-old Divine

01:19:55was back in the fame game.

01:19:57He wanted more, more,

01:19:59and even more.

01:20:09In March of 1988,

01:20:11Divine traveled to Los Angeles

01:20:12to appear on the Fox Network's

01:20:14hit TV sitcom

01:20:15Married With Children.

01:20:17The actor was excited

01:20:18to play the part of Uncle Otto.

01:20:20Despite Divine's enthusiasm,

01:20:22the actor's weight,

01:20:23375 pounds,

01:20:25was a real concern.

01:20:27Divine knew he needed

01:20:28to change his ways.

01:20:30Friend and photographer

01:20:31Greg Gorman.

01:20:32He stopped smoking

01:20:33and he stopped a lot of things

01:20:34to try to, you know,

01:20:35improve his health

01:20:36and do all this stuff.

01:20:37Divine was never really a drinker

01:20:38so he never really,

01:20:39that was really never

01:20:40anything that he got into.

01:20:41But just as far as

01:20:42smoking cigarettes or whatever,

01:20:43he stopped a lot of this

01:20:45in terms of trying to

01:20:46help his health

01:20:47because he was very heavy.

01:20:49Divine's mother recalls

01:20:50he was seeing a doctor.

01:20:52He told me, the doctor told me

01:20:53he had to lose weight.

01:20:54And I said,

01:20:55what did you say?

01:20:56And he said,

01:20:57I promised the doctor

01:20:58after Easter,

01:20:59because he was playing

01:21:00the pool party for Easter.

01:21:01And he said he'd go on

01:21:02a diet after that.

01:21:04But he never made it to Easter.

01:21:07On the morning of March 7, 1988,

01:21:10Divine failed to show up

01:21:12on the set of

01:21:13Married with Children.

01:21:15The producers called

01:21:16the actor's agent,

01:21:17Bill Zwergling.

01:21:18Ron Leavitt called me

01:21:19from Married with Children

01:21:20and on the Monday

01:21:21that he was due into work,

01:21:23and Ron said,

01:21:24why isn't Divine here?

01:21:25And I said,

01:21:26are you joking?

01:21:27Because, I mean,

01:21:28it's so not like Divine.

01:21:29Divine had just come in

01:21:30the night before

01:21:31and had been with

01:21:32Greg Gorman

01:21:33and they had a great night.

01:21:34I got a phone call

01:21:35from an actor friend of mine

01:21:36that was staying

01:21:37in the same apartment building

01:21:38where Divine was,

01:21:39saying, called me up

01:21:40and he said,

01:21:41weren't you good friends

01:21:42with Divine?

01:21:43And I said,

01:21:44well, I am really good friends

01:21:45with Divine.

01:21:46And he goes,

01:21:47well, he's dead.

01:21:48And I couldn't

01:21:49quite comprehend it.

01:21:50I said, excuse me?

01:21:51The 42-year-old actor

01:21:53was found dead

01:21:54in his bedroom.

01:21:55His friends

01:21:56rushed to the scene.

01:21:57There was no disarray

01:21:58in the room.

01:21:59The room was very gentle

01:22:00and very serene.

01:22:02The outer room,

01:22:03you know,

01:22:04the lot,

01:22:05whatever it's called,

01:22:06the other room,

01:22:07he had his

01:22:08Married with Children

01:22:09script out.

01:22:10He had slippers

01:22:11from the night before.

01:22:12His little slippers

01:22:13were side by side.

01:22:14It was a happy room.

01:22:15He just happened

01:22:16to have passed.

01:22:17So I immediately called

01:22:18a friend of mine,

01:22:19Thomas Noguchi,

01:22:20who was the county

01:22:21coroner at the time,

01:22:22and I said,

01:22:23you need to get

01:22:24someone over here

01:22:25immediately to get

01:22:26this body out of here

01:22:27before it's exploited

01:22:28by the press and the media

01:22:29because they're so hideous

01:22:30in general in something

01:22:31like this.

01:22:32And we were successful.

01:22:33And, you know,

01:22:34it wasn't easy

01:22:35to carry a 375-pound man

01:22:36down from the second floor

01:22:37down a flight of stairs

01:22:38dead weight.

01:22:39It's just complete

01:22:40shock that this

01:22:41could have happened

01:22:42right after such a

01:22:43joyous time

01:22:44in our lives.

01:22:45And I'm still shocked

01:22:46when I think about it.

01:22:47It's like,

01:22:48how could that

01:22:49have happened?

01:22:50Divine's body

01:22:51was returned

01:22:52to the town

01:22:53where Glenn Milstead

01:22:54grew up,

01:22:55Baltimore.

01:22:56The actor's

01:22:57childhood home

01:22:58was in the city

01:22:59of New York.

01:23:00It was a place

01:23:01where he lived

01:23:02with his family

01:23:03and friends.

01:23:04It was a place

01:23:05where he had

01:23:06a great time

01:23:07with his family

01:23:08and friends.

01:23:09The actor's

01:23:10childhood pastor,

01:23:11the Reverend

01:23:12Leland Higginbotham,

01:23:13delivered the eulogy.

01:23:14A message

01:23:15of tolerance.

01:23:16We tend to expect

01:23:17people to be like us.

01:23:18As long as they're

01:23:19like us, they're okay.

01:23:20If they're not like us,

01:23:21something is wrong.

01:23:22It's as though God

01:23:23is in the Xerox machine

01:23:24turning out

01:23:25exact copies

01:23:26of everybody.

01:23:27Don't we want

01:23:28to celebrate difference?

01:23:29Isn't that what

01:23:30makes life interesting

01:23:31and makes life meaningful?

01:23:32It's that we're not

01:23:33carbon copies

01:23:34of each other.

01:23:35Divine's parents

01:23:36made their own

01:23:37final gesture

01:23:38of acceptance.

01:23:40Oh, I miss him.

01:23:42He's always in my

01:23:43thoughts and prayers.

01:23:45I'll never forget him.

01:23:48I'm sorry.

01:23:51Divine is most

01:23:52easily remembered

01:23:53as a flamboyant

01:23:54and outrageous drag queen

01:23:56who hungered for fame.

01:23:58But behind the makeup

01:24:00was a man

01:24:01who challenged

01:24:02society's rules

01:24:03and refused to give up.

01:24:05He took drag

01:24:07and threw it

01:24:09in an entirely

01:24:10different direction.

01:24:11He put a spin on it

01:24:12that has never

01:24:14stopped spinning.

01:24:15I mean, we're still

01:24:16going with it.

01:24:18And also a quality

01:24:20of never giving up,

01:24:21of continuing to try,

01:24:23continuing to work,

01:24:25of loving what he was doing

01:24:27and finding it worthwhile

01:24:28to suffer whatever

01:24:29he had to suffer

01:24:30to keep at it.

01:24:31He just wanted

01:24:32to be a star,

01:24:33and he took that vehicle

01:24:34and springboarded it

01:24:36into stardom.

01:24:37Because now,

01:24:38like Marilyn Monroe,

01:24:40he is an icon,

01:24:42a true, absolute legend,

01:24:44an American legend.

01:24:46Divine's determination

01:24:48won't be forgotten

01:24:49by his fans and friends.

01:24:52He stood up for

01:24:53outsiders of any kind

01:24:55like Tim.

01:24:56It had nothing to do

01:24:57with sexuality.

01:24:58It didn't have to do

01:24:59with race.

01:25:00It didn't have to do

01:25:01with weight.

01:25:02It had to do

01:25:03that he won as an outsider.

01:25:05So he gave hope to everybody,

01:25:07and he made people laugh.

01:25:33¶¶

01:26:02¶¶

Divine - E True Hollywood Story documentary

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