Ufology, sometimes written UFOlogy, is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors ). While there are instances of government , private , and fringe science investigations of UFOs, ufology is generally regarded by skeptics and science educators as an example of pseudoscience .
68-642: Steven Macon Greer (born 1955) is an American ufologist and a retired physician. He founded the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI) and the Disclosure Project, which seeks the disclosure of alleged classified UFO information . Greer was born in Charlotte, North Carolina , in 1955. He claims he saw an unidentified flying object at close range when he was eight years old, and another UFO when he
136-568: A hot rod . Waters was privately educated at the Calvert School in Baltimore. After attending Towson Jr. High School in nearby Towson , and Calvert Hall College High School , he graduated from Boys' Latin School of Maryland . While still a teen, he made frequent trips into downtown Baltimore to visit Martick's , a beatnik bar, where he and Milstead met many of their later film collaborators. He
204-463: A crowdfunded documentary featuring Greer was released. It was directed by Michael Mazzola and narrated by Giancarlo Esposito . After debuting on iTunes and digital platforms on May 9, Unacknowledged moved to the number 1 documentary spot on those platforms internationally, and number 2 in the U.S. Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind: Contact has Begun was released April 2020. The documentary
272-593: A director for almost two decades. In 2007, Waters became the host ("The Groom Reaper") of 'Til Death Do Us Part , a program on America's Court TV network. In 2008, he planned to make a children's Christmas film, Fruitcake starring Johnny Knoxville and Parker Posey . Filming was set for November 2008, but the project was shelved in January 2009. In 2010, Waters told the Chicago Tribune that " Independent films that cost $ 5 million are very hard to get made. I sold
340-535: A factor in changing attitudes towards UFOs. In 2022, NASA announced a nine-month study starting in the fall to help establish a road map for investigating UAP – or for reconnaissance of the publicly available data it might use for such research. In 2023, the RAND Corporation published a study reviewing 101,151 public reports of UAP sightings in the United States from 1998 to 2022. The models used to conduct
408-442: A fictional character. Waters has had his fan mail delivered to Atomic Books, an independent bookstore in Baltimore, for over 20 years. Puffing constantly on a cigarette, Waters appeared in a short film, shown in film art houses, announcing that "no smoking is permitted" in the theaters. The spot was directed by Douglas Brian Martin and produced by Douglas Brian Martin and Steven M. Martin. They also created two other short films, for
476-605: A good photograph." Ufology Ufology is a neologism derived from UFO (a term apparently coined by Edward J. Ruppelt ), and is derived from appending the acronym UFO with the suffix -logy (from the Ancient Greek -λογία ( -logia )). Early uses of ufology include an article in Fantastic Universe (1957) and a 1958 presentation for the UFO "research organization" The Planetary Center. The roots of ufology include
544-404: A local drive-in , which the young Waters watched from a distance through binoculars, had a greater effect). Cry-Baby was also a product of Waters's boyhood, because of his fascination as a seven-year-old with the " drapes " then receiving intense news coverage because of the murder of Carolyn Wasilewski , a young "drapette", and his admiration for a young man living across the street who had
612-575: A physician in favor of his ufology activities. Greer founded the Center for the Study of Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (CSETI) in 1990 to create a diplomatic and research-based initiative to contact extraterrestrial civilizations. The group defined CE-5 or ' close encounters of the fifth kind' as human initiated contact and communication with extraterrestrial life. CSETI claims to have over 3,000 confirmed reports of UFO sightings by pilots and over 4,000 of what they describe as landing traces. The organisation uses 'Rapid Mobilisation Investigative Teams' with
680-810: A press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. that featured 20 retired Air Force, Federal Aviation Administration and intelligence officers. In 2013, Greer co-produced Sirius , a documentary detailing his work and hypotheses regarding extraterrestrial life, government cover-ups and close encounters of the fifth kind. The film was directed by Amardeep Kaleka and narrated by Thomas Jane , and covers Greer's 2006 book Hidden Truth, Forbidden Knowledge . The movie premiered on April 22, 2013, in Los Angeles, California, and features interviews from former government and military officials. Sirius depicts
748-464: A significant political force in South America, has been noted as a contributing factor in their decline. Starting in the 1940s, governmental agencies and private groups sponsored investigations, studies, and conferences related to ufology. Typically motivated by visual UFO sightings, the goals of these studies included critical evaluation of the observational evidence, attempts to resolve and identify
SECTION 10
#1732875826814816-541: A six-inch (15 cm) human skeleton known as the Atacama skeleton , which they claimed was an alien skeleton. However, genetic evidence demonstrated that it was human, with genetic markers found in "indigenous women from the Chilean region of South America". The director of the center that did the analysis said: "It's an interesting medical mystery of an unfortunate human with a series of birth defects." In 2017, Unacknowledged ,
884-486: A summer home in Provincetown , Waters mainly resides in Baltimore. All his films are set and shot there. He is recognizable by his trademark pencil moustache . As a gay man, Waters is an avid supporter of gay rights and gay pride . In a 2019 interview, he said that he dislikes publicly discussing his personal life, adding that he had a partner but that they both preferred to keep the relationship private. Waters
952-493: A taped line on the floor. Waters has characterized his art as conceptual: "The craft is not the issue here. The idea is. And the presentation." In November 2020, Waters promised to donate 372 artworks from his personal collection, including some of his own work as well as pieces by 125 artists, including Andy Warhol , Roy Lichtenstein , Cy Twombly , Cindy Sherman and more, to the Baltimore Museum of Art. In recognition of
1020-492: A teenager, "tak[ing] LSD and see[ing]...movies all the time". Waters was often on LSD while making his early films, claiming in a 2016 interview "I was on LSD [during Multiple Maniacs ], I don't remember [how long it took to shoot the film]!" He tried LSD again in his 70s, and documented the experience in his 2019 book Mr. Know-It-All . Waters was a smoker before quitting around 2004, saying "the only thing I've ever regretted in my whole life [was] smoking cigarettes. Because it
1088-565: A threat to U.S. national security. A large number of private organizations dedicated to the study, discussion, and publicity of ufology and other UFO-related topics exist worldwide, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Switzerland. Along with such "pro-UFO" groups are skeptic organizations that emphasize the pseudoscientific nature of ufology. During the annual World UFO Day (2 July), ufologists and associated organizations raise public awareness of ufology to "tell
1156-489: A touch of Guy Pearce ." Writing in the Los Angeles Times , critic Noel Murray reported that the film was "overlong and rambling — more concerned with disconnected anecdotes than making a compelling case or telling an interesting story." John Defore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "is far too impassioned in its nuttiness to be a purely cynical, Scientology-style sham," that it "rather strangely squeezes
1224-1032: Is also on the advisory board of the Provincetown International Film Festival , and has hosted events and presented awards there every year since it was founded in 1999. He is a contributor to Artforum magazine and author of its year-end Top Ten Films list. Waters hosts an annual performance, "A John Waters Christmas", which was launched in 1996 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, and in 2018 toured 17 cities over 23 days. In 2017, Waters began hosting an annual "Camp John Waters" event in Kent, Connecticut . Adult fans from as far away as Australia and Chile "relive their sleepaway camping days" with an "extra- campy theme weekend". Notable guests have included Debbie Harry , Patricia Hearst , Kathleen Turner , Mink Stole and Randy Harrison . In 2019,
1292-620: Is not embraced by academia as a scientific field of study, and is instead generally considered a pseudoscience by skeptics and science educators , being often included on lists of topics characterized as pseudoscience as either a partial or total pseudoscience. Pseudoscience is a term that classifies arguments that are claimed to exemplify the methods and principles of science, but do not adhere to an appropriate scientific method , lack supporting evidence, plausibility, falsifiability , or otherwise lack scientific status. Some writers have identified social factors that contribute to
1360-405: Is the replica electric chair in the hall. They range from Taschen art tomes such as The Big Butt Book to Jean Genet paperbacks and a Hungarian translation of Tennessee Williams with a pulp fiction cover. In one corner sits a doll from the horror spoof Seed of Chucky , in which Waters appeared. It feels like an eccentric professor's study, or a carefully curated exhibition based on the life of
1428-543: The 2003 Tony Awards ; and a film adaptation of the Broadway musical was released in theaters on July 20, 2007, to positive reviews and commercial success. Cry-Baby , itself a musical, also became a Broadway musical . In 2004, the NC-17 -rated A Dirty Shame marked a return to Waters' earlier, more controversial work of the 1970s. Having received mixed reviews and bombing at the box-office, it would prove to be his last film as
SECTION 20
#17328758268141496-513: The Dreamlanders . More recently, he performs in his touring one-man show This Filthy World . Waters also works as a visual artist and across different media, such as installations , photography, and sculpture. The audiobooks he narrated for his books Carsick and Mr. Know-It-All were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015 and 2020, respectively. In 2018, Waters
1564-539: The Film Society of Lincoln Center celebrated its 50th anniversary at a gala where John Waters spoke in tribute to the Center along with Martin Scorsese , Dee Rees , Pedro Almodóvar , Tilda Swinton , Jake Gyllenhaal , Michael Moore , Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan . Since the early 1990s, Waters has been making photo-based artwork and installations that have been internationally exhibited in galleries and museums. In 2004,
1632-512: The Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles. Waters has been represented by C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland, since 2002 and by Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York since 2006. Waters's pieces are often comical, such as Rush (2009), a super-sized, tipped-over bottle of poppers (nitrite inhalants), and Hardy Har (2006), a photograph of flowers that squirts water at anyone who traverses
1700-868: The New Museum in New York City presented a retrospective of his artwork curated by Marvin Heiferman and Lisa Phillips. His most recent exhibition John Waters: Indecent Exposure was exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art from October 2018 to January 2019 and later traveled to the Wexner Center for the Arts . Prior to that, Waters exhibited Rear Projection in April 2009, at the Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York and
1768-574: The Nuart Theatre (a Landmark Theater ) in West Los Angeles, California , in appreciation for their showing Pink Flamingos for many years. It is shown immediately before any of Waters' films, and before the midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Waters played a minister in Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat , directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis . In the 1980s, Waters taught inmates at
1836-552: The Patuxent Institution , a Maryland prison. He was hired to teach literature, but his classes also encompassed discussions of film. In 1985, he made a film with his students called Reckless Eyeballs , but it was not intended for release and was never publicly screened. Waters is a board member of the Maryland Film Festival , and has selected and hosted a favorite film there each year since its launch in 1999. He
1904-603: The Roswell Incident of 1947, the Majestic 12 documents, and UFO disclosure advocates. Skeptic Robert Sheaffer has accused ufology of having a "credulity explosion," writing that "the kind of stories generating excitement and attention in any given year would have been rejected by mainstream ufologists a few years earlier for being too outlandish." The physicist James E. McDonald also identified "cultism" and "extreme...subgroups" as negatively impacting ufology. During
1972-726: The United Kingdom , Canada, Denmark, Italy, and Sweden also ended. An exception to this trend is France, which maintains the GEIPAN program, formerly known as GEPAN (1977–1988) and SEPRA (1988–2004), operated by the French Space Agency CNES . On 14 September 2023, NASA reported the appointment, for the first time, of a Director of U.A.P. (known earlier as U.F.O.), identified as Mark McInerney , to scientifically and transparently study such occurrences. Despite investigations sponsored by governments and private entities, ufology
2040-564: The University of Baltimore in 2023. In 2017, Waters received Timeless Star honors from the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (now GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics). The group's career achievement award goes to an entertainment figure "whose exemplary career is marked by character, wisdom and wit." In 2018, Waters was named an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres ,
2108-637: The University of Missouri from 1973 to 1980, and the National Press Club's Disclosure Project in 2001. Additionally, the United Nations from 1977 to 1979 sponsored meetings and hearings concerning UFO sightings. In August 2020, the United States Department of Defense established the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force to detect, analyze and catalog unidentified aerial phenomena that could potentially pose
Steven M. Greer - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-402: The University of Würzburg is developing intelligent sensors that can help detect and analyze aerial objects in hopes of applying such technology to UAP. A 2021 Gallup poll found that belief among Americans in some UFOs being extraterrestrial spacecraft grew between 2019 and 2021 from 33% to 41%. Gallup cited increased coverage in mainstream news and scrutiny from government authorities as
2244-568: The " mystery airships " of the late 1890s, the " foo fighters " reported by Allied airmen during World War II , the "ghost fliers" of Europe and North America during the 1930s, the " ghost rockets " of Scandinavia (mainly Sweden) in 1946, and the Kenneth Arnold "flying saucer" sighting of 1947. Media attention to the Arnold sighting helped publicize the concept of flying saucers . Publicity of UFOs increased after World War II, coinciding with
2312-514: The British Film Institute ran a programme to celebrate 50 years of Waters films which included all of his early films, some previously unscreened in the UK. In 2014, Waters was nominated for a Grammy for the spoken word version of his book, Carsick . His follow-up record, Make Trouble , was produced by Grammy-winning producer, Ian Brennan , and released on Jack White 's Third Man Records in
2380-529: The Cold War, ufology was synthesized with the ideas of a Trotskyist movement in South America known as Posadism . Posadism's main theorist, Juan Posadas , believed the human race must "appeal to the beings on other planets...to intervene and collaborate with Earth's inhabitants in suppressing poverty;" i.e., Posadas wished to collaborate with extraterrestrials to create a socialist system on Earth. The adoption of this belief among Posadists, who had previously been
2448-661: The United States from Victoria, British Columbia , Canada, as a child, he is the great-great-great-grandson of George P. Whitaker of the Whitaker iron family . Waters grew up in Lutherville, Maryland , a suburb of Baltimore. His boyhood friend and muse, Glenn Milstead, later known as Divine , also lived in Lutherville. Waters lived at 313 Morris Avenue in Lutherville from his early teenage years until he moved out in his early twenties. Waters and Milstead shot many of their early films at
2516-701: The aim of arriving at landing sites as quickly as possible. CSETI has defined a protocol for human initiated contact to UFOs using consciousness. In 1993, Greer founded the Disclosure Project, the goal of which is to publicly disclose the government's alleged knowledge of UFOs, extraterrestrial intelligence, and advanced energy and propulsion systems. Greer describes the Disclosure Project as an effort to grant amnesty to government whistleblowers willing to violate their security oaths by sharing classified information about UFOs. In October 1994, Greer appeared in Larry King 's TV special The UFO Coverup? In May 2001, Greer held
2584-552: The analysis showed that reports of UAP sightings were less likely within 30 km of weather stations, 60 km of civilian airports, and in more–densely populated areas, while rural areas tended to have a higher rate of UAP reports. The most consistent and statistically significant finding was that reports of UAP sightings were more likely to occur within 30 km of military operations areas, where routine military training occurs. Although some ufologists (e.g., Peter A. Sturrock ) have proposed explicit methodological activities for
2652-421: The comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film . Other films he has written and directed include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism . As an actor, Waters has appeared in
2720-408: The donation, the museum named its rotunda after Waters, but Waters also insisted the museum name an all-gender bathroom after him. Both the rotunda and the bathroom were renamed for Waters in time for the opening of the first exhibition of his bequeathed collection, Coming Attractions: The John Waters Collection on November 20, 2022. Waters, who serves on the museum's board of directors, has stated
2788-603: The escalation of the Cold War and strategic concerns related to the development and detection (e.g., the Ground Observer Corps ) of advanced Soviet aircraft. Official, government-sponsored activities in the United States related to ufology ended in the late 1960s following the Condon Committee report and the termination of Project Blue Book . Government-sponsored, UFO-related activities in other countries, including
Steven M. Greer - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-461: The extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) hypothesis for UFOs inhibits public understanding of science, dissuades academic inquiry within the physical and social sciences, and undermines progressive space policy initiatives". In 2021, astronomer Avi Loeb launched The Galileo Project which intends to collect and report scientific evidence of extraterrestrials or extraterrestrial technology on or near Earth via telescopic observations. In Germany,
2924-623: The fall of 2017. Waters received his second Grammy-nomination in 2020 for Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder . In 2015, he received the Ted M. Larson Award at the Fargo Film Festival for his contribution to filmmaking. In 2016, Waters received an honorary degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore during the college's undergraduate commencement ceremony. He received an honorary doctorate from
2992-466: The film was "no longer happening". Waters has often created characters with alliterated names for his films, such as Corny Collins, Cuddles Kovinsky, Donald and Donna Dasher, Dawn Davenport, Fat Fuck Frank, Francine Fishpaw, Link Larkin, Motormouth Maybelle, Mole McHenry, Penny and Prudy Pingleton, Ramona Ricketts, Sandy Sandstone, Sylvia Stickles, Todd Tomorrow, Tracy Turnblad, Ursula Udders, Wade Walker and Wanda Woodward. On September 18, 2023, Waters
3060-522: The films Sweet and Lowdown (1999), Mangus! (2011), Excision (2012), and Suburban Gothic (2014), as well as the Child's Play franchise with the film Seed of Chucky (2004) and the third season of the television series Chucky (2024). He hosted and produced the television series John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You (2006). Throughout his career, Waters often collaborated with actor and drag queen Divine and his regular cast of
3128-409: The first Republican I'd ever vote for." Bidle later said: "We are polar opposites when it comes to our politics, religious beliefs. But that's what I loved about the whole trip. It was two people able to agree to disagree and still move on and have a great time. I think that's what America's all about." Although he has maintained apartments in New York City and San Francisco's Nob Hill , as well as
3196-454: The house, dubbing the front lawn the "Dreamland Lot". The film Lili inspired an interest in puppets in the seven-year-old Waters, who proceeded to stage violent versions of Punch and Judy for children's birthday parties. Biographer Robrt L. Pela says that Waters's mother believes the puppets in Lili had the greatest influence on Waters's subsequent career (though Pela believes tacky films at
3264-460: The idea, got a development deal, got paid a great salary to write it—and now the company is no longer around, which is the case with many independent film companies these days." In October 2022, it was announced that Waters will adapt his novel, Liarmouth , into a film. Village Roadshow Pictures was set to produce, with Waters writing and directing. However, in November 2024, it was reported that
3332-594: The interesting cases are unreliable. Unfortunately there are no cases that are both reliable and interesting." The ufologists J. Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallée have each developed descriptive systems for characterizing UFO sightings and, by extension, for organizing ufology investigations. In addition to UFO sightings, certain supposedly related phenomena are of interest to some ufologists, including crop circles , cattle mutilations , anomalous materials, alien abductions and implants . Some ufologists have also promoted UFO conspiracy theories , including
3400-609: The interview did not go well, with Waters later remarking: "It turned into kind of a disaster." Waters advocated for the parole of former Manson family member Leslie Van Houten , writing in his 2010 book Role Models , "Her crime was a long, long time ago and she has paid her dues to society". After Van Houten was paroled in 2023, Waters said he would not speak further about her, in deference to her privacy. Throughout his life, Waters has been open about his recreational drug use, including marijuana and LSD , particularly with regard to his creative process. Waters began using LSD as
3468-409: The investigation of UFOs, scientific UFO research is challenged by the facts that the phenomena are spatially and temporally unpredictable, are not reproducible, and lack tangible physicality. That most UFO sightings have mundane explanations limits interpretive power of "interesting," extraordinary UFO-related events, with the astronomer Carl Sagan writing: "The reliable cases are uninteresting and
SECTION 50
#17328758268143536-453: The last few years of UFO-related news coverage into a misleading frame, arguing that journalists, pundits and the government are collaborating to build fear in the public that would justify the establishment of a "one-world government" that could wage an "interplanetary war", and notes that "though [Greer's] been summoning [UFOs] from across the galaxy for decades, he can never convince an alien ship to travel an extra couple of miles and hover for
3604-451: The museum will acquire all of his art after his death. With the motif "My life is so over-scheduled, what will happen if I give up control?", Waters completed a hitchhiking journey across the United States from Baltimore to San Francisco, turning his adventures into a book titled Carsick . On May 15, 2012, while on the hitchhiking trip, Waters was picked up by 20-year-old Myersville, Maryland , councilman Brett Bidle, who thought Waters
3672-782: The observed events, and the development of policy recommendations. These studies include Project Sign , Project Magnet , Project Blue Book , the Robertson Panel , and the Condon Committee in the United States, the Flying Saucer Working Party and Project Condign in Britain, GEIPAN in France, and Project Hessdalen in Norway. Private studies of UFO phenomena include those produced by the RAND Corporation in 1968, Harvey Rutledge of
3740-448: The status of ufology as a pseudoscience, with one study suggesting that "any science doubt surrounding unidentified flying objects and aliens was not primarily due to the ignorance of ufologists about science, but rather a product of the respective research practices of and relations between ufology, the sciences, and government investigative bodies". One study suggests that "the rudimentary standard of science communication attending to
3808-455: The truth about earthly visits from outer space aliens." The day's events include group gatherings to search for and observe UFOs. John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films , including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed
3876-494: Was 18. He received a B.S. degree in biology from Appalachian State University in 1982 and an M.D. degree from the James H. Quillen College of Medicine of East Tennessee State University in 1987. He was also trained as a Transcendental Meditation teacher and served as director of a meditation organization. Greer received his Virginia medical license in 1989, worked as an emergency room physician. In 1998 he retired as
3944-467: Was a bartender at Pete's Hotel. Waters's early campy movies present exaggerated characters in outrageous situations with hyperbolic dialogue. Pink Flamingos , Female Trouble and Desperate Living , which he labeled the Trash Trilogy , pushed hard at the boundaries of conventional propriety and censorship. Waters's 1981 film Polyester starred Divine opposite former teen idol Tab Hunter . It
4012-458: Was a great fan of the music of Little Richard when growing up. He has said that, ever since he shoplifted a copy of the Little Richard song " Lucille " in 1957, at the age of 11, "I've wished I could somehow climb into Little Richard's body, hook up his heart and vocal cords to my own, and switch identities." In 1987, Playboy magazine employed Waters, then aged 41, to interview his idol, but
4080-724: Was a homeless hitchhiker standing in the pouring rain. Feeling bad for Waters, he agreed to drive him four hours to Ohio . The next day, indie rock band Here We Go Magic tweeted that they had picked John Waters up hitchhiking in Ohio. He was wearing a hat with the text "Scum of the Earth". In Denver , Colorado, Waters reconnected with Bidle (who had made an effort to catch up with him); Bidle then drove him another 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to Reno , Nevada. Before parting ways, Waters arranged for Bidle to stay at his San Francisco apartment: "I thought, you know what, he wanted an adventure, too ... He's
4148-518: Was a nightmare giving up. It's the only thing the government ever told me that was true: It does kill you!" In 2022, Waters said that if he were to write his younger self a letter, he would say "quit smoking [cigarettes] and do everything else". Documentary appearances In 1999, Waters was honored with the Filmmaker on the Edge Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival . In September 2015,
SECTION 60
#17328758268144216-454: Was directed and written by Michael Mazzola and features Greer, Daniel Sheehan , Jan Harzan , and Russell Targ . Writing in Variety , film critic Owen Gleiberman described the film: "...fantasy propaganda...a conspiracy documentary built around the thesis that the 'national security state' has concealed it from all of us,... [Greer is] like a '70s computer nerd played by John Waters with
4284-517: Was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Dreamlanders Ricki Lake and Mink Stole were among the guest speakers. Waters is a bibliophile , with a collection of over 8,000 books. In 2011, during a visit to the Waters house in Baltimore, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson observed: Bookshelves line the walls but they are not enough. The coffee table, desk and side tables are heaped with books, as
4352-531: Was named an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023. Waters was born on April 22, 1946, in Baltimore , Maryland, one of four children born to Patricia Ann (née Whitaker) and John Samuel Waters, a manufacturer of fire-protection equipment. He was raised Catholic by his mother, though his father was not Catholic. Through his mother, who immigrated to
4420-413: Was one of the first movies I ever saw. It opened me up to villainy, to screenwriting, to costumes. And great dialogue. I think the witch has great, great dialogue. Waters has stated that he takes an equal amount of joy and influence from high-brow "art" films and sleazy exploitation films. In January 1966, Waters and some friends were caught smoking marijuana on the grounds of New York University , and he
4488-600: Was soon kicked out of his dormitory. He returned to Baltimore, where he completed his next two short films, Roman Candles and Eat Your Makeup . They were followed by the feature-length films Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs . Waters's films became Divine's primary star vehicles. All of Waters's early films were shot in the Baltimore area with his company of local actors, the Dreamlanders —which, in addition to Divine, included Mink Stole , Cookie Mueller , Edith Massey , David Lochary , Mary Vivian Pearce , Susan Walsh , and others. Waters met Edith Massey while she
4556-432: Was the first time that Waters was not the primary camera operator for his own work, as he had started collaborating with local film student David Insley. Since then, his films have become less controversial and more mainstream, although works such as Hairspray , Cry-Baby , Serial Mom , Pecker and Cecil B. Demented still retain his trademark inventiveness. Hairspray became a hit Broadway musical that swept
4624-427: Was underage and could not enter the bar proper, but loitered in the adjacent alley, where he relied on older patrons to slip him drinks. Waters's first short film was Hag in a Black Leather Jacket . MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939) had a profound effect on Waters' creative mind. He said about it: I was always drawn to forbidden subject matter in the very, very beginning. The Wizard of Oz opened me up because it
#813186