John Samuel Waters, Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American
film director,
screenwriter, author, actor, stand-up comedian, journalist,
visual artist, and
art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his
transgressive cult films. Waters's 1970s and early '80s films feature his regular troupe of actors known as the
Dreamlanders—among them
Divine,
Mink Stole,
David Lochary,
Mary Vivian Pearce, and
Edith Massey. Starting with
Desperate Living (1977), Waters began casting real-life convicted criminals (
Liz Renay,
Patty Hearst) and controversial people (
Traci Lords, a former
pornographic actress).