From Maniac to Mother: Remembering Divine

Divine is the only “drag queen” or “female impersonator” personality that I truly enjoy. I like the fact that he just happened to be a man who specialized in playing female roles. He wasn’t playing a drag queen in these movies; he was the character. It was never acknowledged that the role was played by a male. However, I am always disappointed when I hear people talk about Divine with typical drag queen connotations—a lot of people thought that he lived his everyday life in wigs and tight-fitting, sequined cocktail dresses. I guess a positive way to look at that is it shows how successful he was at what he did.

Photo © Eamonn J. McCabe
From Mom Smackley

Unfortunately, this perception really did pigeonhole his career as an actor which I know caused him a lot of frustration. That is another thing that makes his death so sad. As I mentioned earlier, he was finally changing people’s ideas about his talent and his appearance on Married. . . with Children (where he would have played a male role, that of Uncle Otto) would no doubt have further propelled him into popular, mainstream culture and introduced him to a new, more accessible audience.

Every piece of artwork, story, drawing, or photo I have taken has some sort of reference to Divine in it. So much so, that I even groomed my best friend, Dale, into my own version of Divine. In high school and college, I liked to think that we were Divine and John Waters. Dale was the star of my shot-on-video movies and was featured in countless photographs I had taken of him as various bizarre female characters. Dale certainly had Divine’s sense of being a real “trooper”. They would do anything. . . no matter how crazy.

If Divine was alive, he would have turned 63 last October. I can’t help but think what Divine would be doing today. . . what movies and projects would he be doing? I could totally see him making guest appearances on such oddball shows as LOSTand nip/tuck—his quirky appearance and delivery was tailor-made for the plethora of offbeat shows currently on the air. Can’t you imagine him on Desperate Housewives?

Not only do I miss his female characters, but I think it’s a real shame that we didn’t get to see more male characters from him. Watch Trouble in Mind and see an example of one of his rare male roles where he played a vicious, albeit effeminate, gangster. He even played a strange male character on an episode of Tales from the Darkside. Certainly, John Waters’ recent movies would have benefited if Divine was still around, as Cry-Baby, Pecker, Cecil B. Demented, and A Dirty Shame were all deeply disappointing. Notice I did exclude Serial Mom, as that film encompassed the mad fever and clever ideas of Waters’ earlier work with Divine. I also believe Divine would have been proud of Kathleen Turner’s amazing performance.

Photo from Mom Smackley

One of the most impressive of Divine’s legacies is the fact that he even inspired a Disney villain. There’s no doubt that the evil sea witch Ursula from The Little Mermaid is clearly based on Divine’s stage persona. I only wish he had been around to actually voice Ursula; to hear him sing “Poor Unfortunate Souls” would have been, well. . . divine.

I think that the art of Divine is certainly more understood today. The world has finally caught up with his unusual sense of humor and visual outrageousness. I’m glad that he is still on a lot of people’s minds and still discussed amongst people. . . some of whom weren’t even born yet when he passed away. It’s interesting that he is still a sort of beacon for odd, different, outrageous, and creative people. And it’s also very interesting that he’s not a strictly “gay” icon, he’s admired and appreciated by all demographics. I can definitely see some Divine influences in many current female character actresses like Amy Sedaris and Jennifer Coolidge. I just wish there were more performers out there today that were as brave and genuine as Divine was. Movies are certainly a lot duller without him.

Some people have Marilyn. Others have Elvis. But I’ve always been proud to have Divine as my favorite actor and personality. John Waters put it best when he said, “He started his career playing a homicidal maniac and ended playing a loving mother—if that’s not good acting, what is? Especially when you’re a man!”

Postscript—March 30, 2009:

After this article was written, I learned that Divine’s mother, Frances Milstead, died March 24 at the age of 88 following complications from a stroke. I found it unusual that she passed away the same month as her son.

Ms. Milstead started out being totally unaware of her son’s “double life” but later embraced the fact that her son was Divine. She wrote the book, My Son Divine in 2001 (along with Steve Yeager, director of the John Waters documentaries, Divine Trash and In Bad Taste) and was a proud supporter of gay rights.

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