John Waters
Directing
Born: April 22, 1946 (age 80) · Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Highest Rated
Biography
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. Other films he has written and directed include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism. As an actor, Waters has appeared in Sweet and Lowdown (1999), 'Til Death Do Us Part (2007), Mangus! (2011), Excision (2012), Suburban Gothic (2014), and has appeared in the Child's Play franchise with Seed of Chucky (2004) and third season of the television series Chucky (2024). He hosted and produced the television series John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You (2006). Throughout his career, Waters has often collaborated with actor and drag queen Divine and his regular cast of the Dreamlanders. More recently, he performs in his touring one-man show This Filthy World. Waters also works as a visual artist and across different media, such as installations, photography, and sculpture. The audiobooks he narrated for his books Carsick and Mr. Know-It-All were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015 and 2020, respectively. In 2018, Waters was named an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.
Known for
The Simpsons
1989
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
Chucky
2021
The Blacklist
2013
Hairspray
2007
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
2015
Seed of Chucky
2004
Cry-Baby
1990
Jackass Number Two
2006
My Name Is Earl
2005
Frasier
1993
An American Crime
2007
Photos (8)
Movies (47)
Hairspray
Flasher
Seed of Chucky
Pete Peters
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
First Class Passenger
Something Wild
Used Car Guy
Sweet and Lowdown
Mr. Haynes
Pink Flamingos
Mr. J (narration) (uncredited)
Serial Mom
Ted Bundy (voice) (uncredited)
Hairspray
Dr. Fredrickson
Pecker
Pervert on Phone (voice) (uncredited)
Cecil B. Demented
Reporter
Excision
William
Lynch/Oz
Host (Chapter 3: 'Kindred') (voice)
Mondo Trasho
Reporter (voice) (uncredited)
Anarchy TV
1998
Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh
Stage Manager
Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness
Host
Suburban Gothic
Cornelius
Welcome to Hollywood
John Waters
Homer and Eddie
Robber #1
God Save the Queens
1995
Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow!
1996
Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
Host
Way USA!
1988
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat
The Reverend
Wall Writers
Narrator (voice)
Vincent Price: What Keeps Us Alive
2026
Abby Singer
John Waters (uncredited)
Joel Calls Indie Film Type Dudes
2020
Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi
Host
As Time Goes By
2024
Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades
2006
The Junior Defenders
Narrator
The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin
2015
Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore
2010
I, of the Cyclops
2006
The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
1985
Mommie Dearest: Joan Lives On
2006
Mugworth
Sir Butler
Female Trouble: On-Set Footage
2018
Meet The Kuchar Brothers
2006
Mangus!
Jesus Christ
Jessica the Hippo
Narrator (Voice)
The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels
Narrator
Each Time I Kill
Movie Watcher
Gays Against Guns
2026
The Big Wet
Narrator
Gastronomic Getaway
1991
TV Shows (27)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Pornmonger Man · 2 eps
The Simpsons
John (voice) · 1 eps
American Horror Story
Mr. Phibes · 3 eps
The Blacklist
John Waters · 1 eps
Frasier
Roger (voice) · 1 eps
My Name Is Earl
Walter Hamerick · 1 eps
Homicide: Life on the Street
R. Vincent Smith · 2 eps
Clarence
Captain Tom (voice) · 1 eps
21 Jump Street
Mr. Bean · 1 eps
Helluva Boss
Rolando (voice) · 1 eps
Chucky
Wendell Wilkins · 1 eps
Fish Hooks
The Yeti Lobster (voice) · 1 eps
Fish Hooks
Ezekiel Freshwater / Hair Man (voice) · 1 eps
Eurotrash
1 eps
Explained
Narrator (voice) · 1 eps
The Word
1 eps
FEUD
William Castle · 1 eps
HBO First Look
1 eps
Digman!
Magnus (voice) · 1 eps
Kevin
Armando (voice) · 8 eps
Search Party
Sheffield · 2 eps
The Henry Rollins Show
1 eps
E! True Hollywood Story
1 eps
Charles Band’s Full Moon Freakshow
1 eps
'Til Death Do Us Part
13 eps
Liverspots and Astronots
O-Dor · 21 eps
Family Album
Vincent · 2 eps
Self / Appearances (109)
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest · 1 eps
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self - Guest · 1 eps
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest · 1 eps
The Daily Show
Self - Guest · 2 eps
The Daily Show
Self · 1 eps
Late Show with David Letterman
Self - Guest · 1 eps
Saturday Night Live
Self (uncredited) · 1 eps
The Colbert Report
Self - Guest · 2 eps
The View
Self · 1 eps
The Graham Norton Show
Self - Guest · 2 eps
Real Time with Bill Maher
Self - Guest · 9 eps
RuPaul's Drag Race
Self - Guest Judge · 1 eps
RuPaul's Drag Race
Self - Special Guest · 1 eps
Late Night with David Letterman
Self - Guest · 6 eps
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter · 1 eps
Finding Your Roots
Self · 1 eps
The Andy Warhol Diaries
Self · 6 eps
Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
Self - Writer and Film Director · 1 eps
So Graham Norton
Self - Guest · 1 eps
Indie Sex
Self · 1 eps
The Incredibly Strange Film Show
Self · 2 eps
HitRECord on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Self · 1 eps
Inside Deep Throat
Self
I Love the '70s: Volume 2
Self · 10 eps
I Am Divine
Self
Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Time
Self - Host · 3 eps
Thinking XXX
Self
The New Yorker Presents
Self · 1 eps
Jackass Number Two
Self
Pride
Self · 6 eps
Living with Chucky
Self
The Velvet Underground
Self
Little Richard: I Am Everything
Self
Forever Hollywood
Self
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Self - Director of 'A Dirty Shame'
It Came from Kuchar
Self
Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story
Self
In Bad Taste
Self
These Amazing Shadows
Self
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
Self
Frankenstein: A Modern Myth
Self - Director
The Roseanne Show
Self - Guest · 1 eps
Tab Hunter Confidential
Self
365 Day Project
Self
Doc of Chucky
Self
The Cockettes
Self
At the Video Store
Self
Tell Me Iggy
Self
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
Self
Divine Trash
Self
Love Letter to Edie
Self
Fragments of Paradise
Self
Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’
Self
You Can’t Stop the Beat: The Long Journey of "Hairspray"
Self
All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame'
Self
30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
Self
Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida
Self [archival]
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
Self
Mansfield 66/67
Self
Blank City
Self
Paul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open
Self
Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story
Self
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
Self
It Came from... Baltimore!!
Self
A Summer with Joe, Liz and Richard
Self
Yesterday's Tomorrows
Self
This Filthy World
Self
The Book of Harth
Self
The Advocate for Fagdom
Self
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
Self
New Line Cinema: The First Generation and the Next Generation
Self
(buz'be bur'kle) n. A Study in Style
Self
Whatever Happened to Gelitin
Self
Edith's Shopping Bag
Self
Scala!!!
Self
A History of Sex
Self
Return to Mortville
Self
The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3D! On Ice!
Self
The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo
Himself
Mansome
Self
Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press
Self
Eddie Cochran: Don't Forget Me
Self
Starz Inside: In the Gutter
Self
The Roots of 'Hairspray'
Self
That Man: Peter Berlin
Self
It's Dorothy!
Self
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
Self
Here’s Looking at You, Boy
Self
TURA!
Self
Growing Up with John Waters
Self
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
Self
Jingle Bell Rocks!
Self
The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies
Self
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
Self - Narrator (voice)
Sickies Making Films
Self
Sympathy for the Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment
Self
The Last Impresario
Self
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
Self
Closer Than That: A Documentary on Low
Himself
Velvet Vision: The Story of James Bidgood and the Making of Pink Narcissus
Self
Nuart Theatre No Smoking PSA
Self
In Conversation With Director John Waters, Actress Kathleen Turner and Actress Mink Stole
Self
Don't Fall in Love with Yourself
Self (Archival)
Coven of the Heathenites
Self
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
Self
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Self
Beautiful Darling
Self
Anthem
Self
Memories of Oz
Self
Upcoming (4)
Directing (19)
A Dirty Shame
Director
Pink Flamingos
Director
Cry-Baby
Director
Serial Mom
Director
Hairspray
Director
Pecker
Director
Cecil B. Demented
Director
Desperate Living
Director
Female Trouble
Director
Polyester
Director
Multiple Maniacs
Director
Mondo Trasho
Director
30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
Director
The Diane Linkletter Story
Director
Kiddie Flamingos
Director
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
Director
Eat Your Makeup
Director
Nuart Theatre No Smoking PSA
Director
Dorothy, the Kansas City Pot Head
Director
Writing (20)
Hairspray
Original Film Writer
A Dirty Shame
Writer
Pink Flamingos
Writer
Cry-Baby
Writer
Serial Mom
Writer
Hairspray
Writer
Pecker
Screenplay
Cecil B. Demented
Writer
Desperate Living
Writer
Hairspray Live!
Original Story
Female Trouble
Writer
Polyester
Writer
Multiple Maniacs
Writer
Mondo Trasho
Writer
This Filthy World
Screenplay
The Diane Linkletter Story
Writer
Kiddie Flamingos
Writer
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
Writer
Eat Your Makeup
Writer
Dorothy, the Kansas City Pot Head
Writer
Producing (11)
Pink Flamingos
Producer
Hairspray
Co-Producer
Desperate Living
Producer
Hairspray Live!
Associate Producer
Female Trouble
Producer
Polyester
Producer
Multiple Maniacs
Producer
Mondo Trasho
Producer
The Diane Linkletter Story
Producer
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
Producer
Eat Your Makeup
Producer
Other Crew (25)
Pink Flamingos
Director of Photography
Pink Flamingos
Editor
An American Crime
Thanks
Desperate Living
Additional Photography
Poison
Thanks
Female Trouble
Director of Photography
Female Trouble
Editor
Room Temperature
Thanks
Multiple Maniacs
Original Music Composer
Multiple Maniacs
Director of Photography
Multiple Maniacs
Editor
Mondo Trasho
Original Music Composer
Mondo Trasho
Editor
Mondo Trasho
Director of Photography
Permanent Green Light
Thanks
Putty Hill
Thanks
Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’
Thanks
The Diane Linkletter Story
Editor
The Diane Linkletter Story
Director of Photography
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
Director of Photography
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket
Editor
Eat Your Makeup
Director of Photography
Eat Your Makeup
Editor
Marisa y Gomoso
Thanks
Whipped
Thanks