Divine

Göttlicher (19. Oktober 1945 – 7 March 1988), geboren Harris Glenn Milstead, was an American actor, singer and drag queen. Described by People magazine as the "Drag Queen of the Century", die Göttliche often performed female roles in both cinema and theater and also appeared in women ' s clothing in der musikalischen leistung. Even so, he considered himself to be a character actor and performed male roles in a number of his later filme. He was often associated with independent filmmaker John Waters and starred in ten of Waters's filme, usually in a leading role. Concurrent with his acting career, he also had a successful career as a disco singer during the 1980s, at one point being described as "the most successful and in-demand-disco-performer in the world."

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, into a conservative, wealthy middle-class family, he became involved with John Waters and his acting ensemble, the Dreamlanders, in the mid-1960s and starred in a number of Waters's early filme such as Mondo Trasho, Multiple Maniacs, die Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble. These films have since become cult classics. In the 1970s, Milstead made the transition to theater and appeared in a number of productions, including Women Behind Bars and The Neon Woman, while continuing to star in such films as Polyester, Lust in the Dust and "Hairspray".

The New York Times said of Milstead's '80s filme: "Those who could get past the unremitting weirdness of Divine's performance discovered that the actor/actress had genuine talent, including a natural sense of comic-timing and an uncanny gift for slapstick." He was also described as "one of the few truly radical and essential artists of the century... was an audacious symbol of man' s quest for liberty and freedom." Since his death, Göttlicher has remained a cult figure, particularly with those in the LGBT-community.