Let's write about Baltimore native John Waters on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Baltimore's John Waters Receives Star On Hollywood Walk of Fame

In an interview with Baltimore Fishbowl last year, Waters said he was thrilled to be chosen as an honoree. “I am really excited about it,” he added. “Are you kidding? I wish my parents were alive.”

John Waters poses with his new star during a ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in Los Angeles. Waters, a Baltimore native, has directed more than a dozen movies. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Known for his pencil-thin mustache, Waters grew up in Baltimore in the 1950s. According to his IMDb profile, he began making silent films in the mid-'60s and screened them in rented Baltimore church halls to underground audiences.  His "big break" came with the 1972 release of "Pink Flamingos," a movie about an eccentric woman named Divine and her unusual family competing with a Baltimore couple to be named "the filthiest people alive."

His Hollywood crossover success came with 1988's cult classic, "Hairspray," a movie Waters directed and wrote.

Several of Waters' friends and collaborators shared their thoughts about the filmmaker during the ceremony, including Mink Stole, who has appeared in all 12 of Waters' features.  "I don't know how John's brain works. I don't know how he comes with with characters like the Egg Lady, who lives in a crib in her underwear," Stole said. "What I do know is that John is brilliant, he is decent — unfailingly decent — and he is the hardest working man in show business. I am proud of the work that I've done with John but I have to tell you that I am far more proud that for well over half a century he has been my friend."

Ricki Lake, who appeared in five of Waters' films, including 1988's "Hairspray," shared a letter she wrote after production of the film wrapped — revealing how Waters' off-color sensibilities remained baked in to the film despite its PG rating.

The then 18-year-old Lake, who starred as a "pleasantly plump" teen dancer on an anti-racial segregation crusade, wrote that working on the film instilled her with self-confidence despite the strange situations production put her in.

"So what if 1. I had to remain fat for two months straight. 2. Wear live roaches on my back, not to mention rats. 3. Be smashed in the face with a huge ball. 4. Be hoisted in the air like an immobile Mack truck. 5. Lick a TV screen as if it was licking me back. And 6. Respond to the name Orca — So what, I'm me!," Lake said.

Waters' star is located outside the Larry Edmunds Bookshop, at 6844 Hollywood Blvd., a long-running film-history focused store.
"I've been coming here for half a century. It's still my favorite spot on Hollywood Boulevard," Waters said.
And he has a wish for the pedestrians strolling the Walk of Fame and passing by his star.
"I hope the most desperate showbiz rejects walk over me here and feel some sort of respect and strength. The dreams on this magic boulevard will never wash away the gutter of my gratitude," he said.

The Academy Museum's exhibition, "John Waters: Pope of Trash," runs through Aug. 4, 2024. It includes costumes, set decorations, props, handwritten scripts, posters, concept designs, correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs and film clips