Actors - Divine

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Harris Glenn Milstead (October 19, 1945 – March 7, 1988) was better known by his drag persona Divine.

Early life

Born in Towson, Maryland to Bernard and Diana Frances Milstead, at the age of 12 the family moved to Lutherville, a suburb of Baltimore. John Waters was a childhood friend who lived six houses down the street.

Film career

Milstead starred in a number of films and was part of the regular cast known as the Dreamlanders
. The Dreamlanders appeared in many of John Waters' earlier works such as Pink Flamingos
, Female Trouble
, Polyester, and Hairspray. Repeating their successful pairing in Polyester, in 1985 Divine appeared opposite Tab Hunter in their bigger hit Lust in the Dust
. Besides these roles, Milstead was the inspiration for the appearance of Ursula, the half-octopus villain from Disney's 1989 animated movie The Little Mermaid
.

He is also remembered as a major character in the documentary homage Divine Trash by Steve Yeager, covering the life and work of John Waters.

In the 1980s, Milstead's comedy records were hits through America, Europe, and Australia. The typical progressive type of synthesizer disco music was composed, created, performed and produced by Bobby Orlando.

Late in his career, Milstead also played in non-drag roles in his last three films: Trouble in Mind, Hairspray, and Out of the Dark. In Hairspray he played two roles - one male and one female.

Sudden death

In 1988, Milstead was chosen to portray the character of Uncle Otto on the new FOX prime-time series Married With Children. Quite unexpectedly, he died at age 42 from sleep apnea in Los Angeles, California. The cause was attributed to his obesity.

He was buried in Towson, Maryland, which was accompanied with a funeral procession attended by thousands.

"Glenn was born before civil rights, gay rights, or women's rights...God doesn't want people created out of a Xerox machine...The tragedy is that Glenn was cut off right at the point of becoming who he really was, and the world will never see how that flower could have unfolded." :–Reverend Leland Higginbotham at Divine's eulogy; Baltimore, Maryland, March, 1988

Filmography

Roman Candles
(1966)
Eat Your Makeup
(1968)
The Diane Linkletter Story
(1969)
Mondo Trasho
(1969)
Multiple Maniacs
(1970)
Pink Flamingos
(1972)
Female Trouble
(1974)
Underground and Emigrants (1976) (documentary)
Tally Brown, New York (1979) (documentary)
The Alternative Miss World (1980) (documentary)
Polyester (1981)
Lust in the Dust
(1984)
I Wanna Be a Beauty Queen (1985) (documentary)
Divine Waters (1985) (documentary)
Trouble in Mind (1985)
Hairspray (1988)
Out of the Dark (1989)

Discography

My First Album (1982)
Jungle Jezebel (1982)
The Story So Far (1984)
Maid In England (1988)
The Best Of & The Rest Of (1989) (compilation)
The 12" Collection (1993) (compilation)
Born to Be Bad (1995) (live)
Shoot Your Shot (1995)
The Originals and the Remixes (1996) (2 CD compilation)
The Best of Divine (1997) (compilation)

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