Divine Dressed Like Liz Taylor On Dates With His Girlfriend

Categories: Drag

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In this week's column, I give you some exclusive tidbits from Jeffrey Schwarz's upcoming doc about the late, great drag comic Divine.

Well, Divine wasn't exactly about understatement, so here's some more!


Director JOHN WATERS:

"Before he was Divine, he was a normal drag queen for about five minutes. He dressed as Elizabeth Taylor. Idolized Elizabeth Taylor. And went out on dates with his girlfriend named Diane dressed as Elizabeth Taylor. Which is really odd when she lived with her parents. 'Diane, your date's here!' and it's Glenn Milstead dressed as Elizabeth Taylor."

Divine's mother, FRANCES MILSTEAD:

"When he got to high school, I took him to a diet doctor. The doctor gave him pills. But soon as we come out of the doctor's office, he said, 'Come on mom. Let's go get a pizza.'"

Polyester co-star TAB HUNTER:

When they met: "He came on over and we had a quick little bite to eat. And was like a big beached whale. He was wonderful and he was on his best behavior. He was really cute, really terrific. Very vulnerable."

"Behind the scenes, I found him to be quiet. He was in a big muumuu and he'd sit around. He was very serious. He did have a sense of humor that was quite wonderful. He'd say outlandish things."

Drag star HOLLY WOODLAWN:

"That summer was the best summer in the world because the two of us ruled Provincetown. We did Neon Woman every night. ... Everyone thought that Holly Woodlawn and Divine -- they're supposed to hate each other. And we didn't. We loved each other. We lived together. So when we went out to Commercial Street: 'OK, Divie, you take the right side and I'll take the left. And when we come up to each other, we'll look at each other and [snarl].' And that would make everybody happy."

"He never wanted to be a woman. Are you kidding? No, no. He just wanted to be a movie star. There's a difference."

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14 comments
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Ccryder7771961
Ccryder7771961

Of course Glenn was an actor or hambone first however long he did drag for real or fun in the beginning... Who else in the history of film has ever raped themselves as he did in Female Trouble, think about it...

Tedheine
Tedheine

I think she looks very "Elizabeth Taylor" in the scene from Female Trouble...when she's sitting in a chair eating a doughnut waiting for Gator to come home drunk.

DEvans7107
DEvans7107

This is Diana - Divine dressed normally when we went out on dates.  He only dressed like Elizabeth Taylor for a costume party he threw for Halloween.  He was a handsome date and dressed in the best sports coats and clothes.  Only dressed like Elizabeth once while we were dating and we dated for 6 years.  Diana

Laury
Laury

who would wanna have a 2nd date?

Rabbit
Rabbit

There were photos of Divine in one of John Waters' books when he was first doing drag and before he gained weight. A Victorian outfit if memory serves, with elaborate wig and little make-up.

Paul
Paul

I'm always amazed that whenever we talk about Divine it's always about Pink Flamingos or Polyester, no one ever seems to talk about Lust in the Dust. Her closest movie to main stream. Also one of my favorites.

Meta
Meta

Close to mainstream, but kind of a bomb, no? It didn't come near the inspired fun of a John Waters film.

Movielover
Movielover

It was a masterpiece compared to Low Down Dirty Shame, the only John Waters movie I really hated.

Kearns
Kearns

Ooh yeah, that was disappointing except for maybe one or two scenes. Waters hasn't had a single film since (unless you count the musical of Hairspray).

Paul
Paul

Kinda a bomb, but it did have it's moments, and I always felt that anything Divine was Divine.

Rabbit
Rabbit

The part where she accidentally cracks the little person's neck (he had snuck up on her in the night) between her thighs was hilarious.

Harding
Harding

I just love the idea of divine meeting Tab Hunter to work on a new movie. Those were the days.

Oil
Oil

Divine had a girlfriend????

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