HAIRSPRAY (1988) | John Waters, Part 6

Cinema Shock

After unsuccessfully trying to get a PINK FLAMINGOS sequel off of the ground, John Waters revisited an idea that he'd been batting around since the late 1970s, about a teenage girl growing up in early 1960s Baltimore.

That film, HAIRSPRAY, would prove to be John Waters' unintentional ticket to mainstream recognition. By far his most popular and successful film to date, HAIRSPRAY would launch its director — and star, Divine — to whole new levels of fame, fame that, sadly, Divine would not live to see.

In this episode, we take one of our signature deep dives into the development, production and release of HAIRSPRAY and the lives of those who made it in the penultimate episodd in our series John Waters: Divine Filth.