Divine

Divine born 19 October 1945 (d. 1988)

Harris Glenn Milstead was best known for his drag persona, Divine.

Born in Towson, Maryland, 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. It was to be a fateful friendship.

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's earlier works such as Pink Flamingos, which contained an unforgettable final scene in which he ate dog shit, 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.

In the 1980s, Divine's high energy records were hits through America, Europe, and Australia. The early records were composed, created, performed and produced by unsung electronic dance music pioneer Bobby Orlando. His club appearances - I was privileged to see him perform twice and even met him once - were outrageous, filthy, hilarious and hugely entertaining. In Britain, his Stock, Aitken and Waterman record You Think You're A Man was his most successful hit, reaching No 16 and resulting in an unforgettable appearance on Top of the Pops.

Late in his career, Divine 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 (which he had first done in the earlier Female Trouble).

In 1988, Divine was chosen to portray the dual character of Peggy Bundy's Mother and her Uncle Otto on the hit comedy 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. The producers of Married With Children sent flowers to the funeral, along with a humorous card that read, "If you didn't want to do the show, you could have just SAID something!"

His funeral in Towson, Maryland was preceded by 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