John Waters
Known for: Directing
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. Other films he has written and directed include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism. As an actor, Waters has appeared in Sweet and Lowdown (1999), 'Til Death Do Us Part (2007), Mangus! (2011), Excision (2012), Suburban Gothic (2014), and has appeared in the Child's Play franchise with Seed of Chucky (2004) and third season of the television series Chucky (2024). He hosted and produced the television series John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You (2006). Throughout his career, Waters has often collaborated with actor and drag queen Divine and his regular cast of the Dreamlanders. More recently, he performs in his touring one-man show This Filthy World. Waters also works as a visual artist and across different media, such as installations, photography, and sculpture. The audiobooks he narrated for his books Carsick and Mr. Know-It-All were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015 and 2020, respectively. In 2018, Waters was named an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.
Filmography
Series
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Pornmonger Man
1999
Series
The Simpsons
John (voice)
1989
Series
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest
2009
Series
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
Series
The Blacklist
John Waters
2013
Series
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self - Guest
2014
Series
The Daily Show
Self - Guest
1996
Series
The Daily Show
Self
1996
Series
Late Show with David Letterman
Self - Guest
1993
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self - Cameo (uncredited)
1975
Series
RuPaul's Drag Race
Self - Guest Judge
2009
Series
RuPaul's Drag Race
Self - Special Guest
2009
Series
Frasier
Roger (voice)
1993
Series
Real Time with Bill Maher
Self - Guest
2003
Series
The Graham Norton Show
Self - Guest
2007
Series
The View
Self
1997
Series
The Colbert Report
Self - Guest
2005
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Series
21 Jump Street
Mr. Bean
1987
Series
Homicide: Life on the Street
R. Vincent Smith
1993
Series
My Name Is Earl
Walter Hamerick
2005
Series
Chucky
Wendell Wilkins
2021
Series
Clarence
Captain Tom (voice)
2014
Series
Helluva Boss
Rolando (voice)
2020
Series
Fish Hooks
The Yeti Lobster (voice)
2010
Series
Fish Hooks
Ezekiel Freshwater / Hair Man (voice)
2010
Series
Search Party
Sheffield
2016
Series
Late Night with David Letterman
Self - Guest
1982
Series
Eurotrash
1993
Series
Finding Your Roots
Self
2012
Series
FEUD
William Castle
2017
Film
Jackass Number Two
Self
2006
Series
Explained
Narrator (voice)
2018
Series
Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
Self - Writer and Film Director
2025
Series
The Word
1990
Series
HBO First Look
1992
Film
Seed of Chucky
Pete Peters
2004
Film
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
First Class Passenger
2015
Series
Digman!
Magnus (voice)
2023
Series
Kevin
Armando (voice)
2026
Series
HitRECord on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Self
2014
Series
So Graham Norton
Self - Guest
1998
Film
Pink Flamingos
Mr. J (narration) (uncredited)
1972
Film
Hairspray
Flasher
2007
Series
Indie Sex
Self
2007
Film
Inside Deep Throat
Self
2005
Series
The Henry Rollins Show
2006
Film
Hairspray
Dr. Fredrickson
1988
Series
I Love the '70s: Volume 2
Self
2006
Series
The Andy Warhol Diaries
Self
2022
Film
Serial Mom
Ted Bundy (voice) (uncredited)
1994
Series
Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Time
Self - Host
2020
Film
Welcome to Hollywood
John Waters
2000
Series
Pride
Self
2021
Film
Thinking XXX
Self
2004
Film
Paul Bowles: The Cage Door Is Always Open
Self
2013
Film
Excision
William
2012
Film
Sweet and Lowdown
Mr. Haynes
1999
Film
Wall Writers
Narrator (voice)
2016
Series
Charles Band’s Full Moon Freakshow
2022
Film
Something Wild
Used Car Guy
1986
Series
The Incredibly Strange Film Show
Self
1988
Film
Pecker
Pervert on Phone (voice) (uncredited)
1998
Film
These Amazing Shadows
Self
2011
Film
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
Self
2026
Film
Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh
Stage Manager
2025
Series
'Til Death Do Us Part
2007
Series
Liverspots and Astronots
O-Dor
2018
Film
Forever Hollywood
Self
1999
Film
As Time Goes By
2024
Film
Cecil B. Demented
Reporter
2000
Series
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
Series
Family Album
Vincent
1994
RuPaul Drives...
Self - Guest
2013
Film
Tab Hunter Confidential
Self
2015
Film
The Velvet Underground
Self
2021
Film
Abby Singer
John Waters (uncredited)
2003
Film
The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3D! On Ice!
Self
2010
Film
I Am Divine
Self
2014
Film
The Cockettes
Self
2002
Series
The Roseanne Show
Self - Guest
1998
Film
Time Warp Vol. 3: Comedy and Camp
Host
2020
Series
The New Yorker Presents
Self
2016
Film
Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness
Host
2020
Film
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Self - Director of 'A Dirty Shame'
2006
Film
Yesterday's Tomorrows
Self
1999
Film
Time Warp Vol. 2: Horror and Sci-Fi
Host
2020
Film
The Roots of 'Hairspray'
Self
2007
Film
Baltigore
The Broker
Film
Doc of Chucky
Self
2024
Film
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
Self
2010
Film
Mansfield 66/67
Self
2017
Film
Anarchy TV
1998
Film
30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
Self
2019
Film
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
Self
2006
Film
Lynch/Oz
Host (Chapter 3: 'Kindred') (voice)
2023
New Line: Independent Legacies
Self
Divine Waters
Self
1985
Film
Little Richard: I Am Everything
Self
2023
Film
Return to Mortville
Self
2026
Film
This Filthy World
Self
2006
Film
The Last Impresario
Self
2014
Mamie Exposed! The Life and Loves of the Last Blonde Bombshell
Film
Homer and Eddie
Robber #1
1989
Film
You Can’t Stop the Beat: The Long Journey of "Hairspray"
Self
2007
Film
Living with Chucky
Self
2022
Film
Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story
Self
2015
Film
Starz Inside: In the Gutter
Self
2008
Film
Way USA!
1988
Film
Love Letter to Edie
Self
1975
Film
The Book of Harth
Self
2022
Film
Here’s Looking at You, Boy
Self
2007
Film
Frankenstein: A Modern Myth
Self - Director
2012
Film
Sniffing Out ‘Polyester’
Self
2019
Film
Mugworth
Sir Butler
2018
Film
A Summer with Joe, Liz and Richard
Self
2025
Film
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Self
2006
Film
Suburban Gothic
Cornelius
2014
Film
Joel Calls Indie Film Type Dudes
2020
Film
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
Self
2019
Film
Scala!!!
Self
2024
Film
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
Self
2007
Film
Beautiful Darling
Self
2010
Film
Jingle Bell Rocks!
Self
2013
Film
Tell Me Iggy
Self
2022
Film
Edith's Shopping Bag
Self
1976
Film
Mondo Trasho
Reporter (voice) (uncredited)
1969
Film
Mansome
Self
2012
Film
Divine Trash
Self
2000
Film
In Bad Taste
Self
1999
Film
It Came from... Baltimore!!
Self
2005
Film
The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin
2015
Film
Blank City
Self
2011
Film
Ballyhoo: The Hollywood Sideshow!
1996
Film
All the Dirt on 'A Dirty Shame'
Self
2005
Film
Mangus!
Jesus Christ
2011
Sylvester: Mighty Real
Self
2002
Film
Sickies Making Films
Self
2018
Film
365 Day Project
Self
2007
Film
Mary Woronov: Cult Queen
Self
Film
The Junior Defenders
Narrator
2007
Film
A History of Sex
Self
2003
Film
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
Self
2017
Film
Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press
Self
2008
Film
It Came from Kuchar
Self
2009
Film
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
Self
2006
Film
In Conversation With Director John Waters, Actress Kathleen Turner and Actress Mink Stole
Self
2016
Film
Fragments of Paradise
Self
2022
Film
The Advocate for Fagdom
Self
2011
Serial Mom: Surreal Moments
Self
Film
The Big Wet
Narrator
1993
Film
Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore
2010
Film
The Brandon Novak Story
Self
Film
The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies
Self
2013
Film
Memories of Oz
Self
2001
Film
Female Trouble: On-Set Footage
2018
Film
Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida
Self [archival]
2021
Film
Anthem
Self
1997
Film
Mommie Dearest: Joan Lives On
2006
Film
It's Dorothy!
Self
2025
Film
At the Video Store
Self
2019
Film
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat
The Reverend
2002
Film
TURA!
Self
2025
Film
The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
1985
Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid'
Self
2006
Film
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
Self
2007
Film
Gays Against Guns
2026
Film
Don't Fall in Love with Yourself
Self (Archival)
2022
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players: Off & On Broadway
Self
2006
Busby Berkeley's Kaleidoscopic Eyes
2006
Film
(buz'be bur'kle) n. A Study in Style
Self
2006
Crime and Beauty: Making ‘Female Trouble’
2018
Film
Sympathy for the Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment
Self
2015
Film
The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels
Narrator
2008
Film
New Line Cinema: The First Generation and the Next Generation
Self
2008
Film
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
Self
2009
Film
God Save the Queens
1995
Film
Each Time I Kill
Movie Watcher
2007
Film
That Man: Peter Berlin
Self
2006
Film
The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo
Himself
2020
Film
Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades
2006
Film
Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story
Self
2000
Film
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
Self - Narrator (voice)
2006
Film
Velvet Vision: The Story of James Bidgood and the Making of Pink Narcissus
Self
2025
My Life with the Waters
Self
2021
Film
Growing Up with John Waters
Self
1993
Film
Nuart Theatre No Smoking PSA
Self
1982
Film
Jessica the Hippo
Narrator (Voice)
2007
Film
Whatever Happened to Gelitin
Self
2016
Film
Meet The Kuchar Brothers
2006
Film
I, of the Cyclops
2006
Film
Gastronomic Getaway
1991
Film
Coven of the Heathenites
Self
2008
Film
Closer Than That: A Documentary on Low
Himself
2004