# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/john-waters
# Generated: 2026-08-31T14:37:41.152Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/john-waters"
name: "John Waters"
slug: "john-waters"
description: "John Waters made his name by daring audiences to watch the unwatchable — his early cult films pushed taste past any recognizable boundary, and Pink Flamingos remains a test of nerve. He later packaged that same subversive eye into Hairspray, proving the underground could go mainstream without losing its edge."
tagline: "American filmmaker, actor, comedian and writer (born 1946)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/JohnWaters-byPhilipRomano.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Directors"
  slug: "directors"
profileType:
  name: "Movie Director"
  slug: "director"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q33999"
birthDate: "1946-04-22"
livingStatus: "LIVING"
scores:
  popularity:           59.61
  momentum:             0
  historical:           27.142472
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
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    slug: "actors"
  - name: "Actor"
    slug: "actor"
  - name: "Television"
    slug: "television"
  - name: "Movies"
    slug: "movies"
  - name: "Screenwriting"
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  - name: "Film Directing"
    slug: "film-directing"
  - name: "Journalism"
    slug: "journalism"
  - name: "Art"
    slug: "art"
platforms:
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    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000691/"
    handle:    "nm0000691"
sources:
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    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
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    title: "جون ووترز"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "John Waters"
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    title: "John Waters (Regisseur)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "John Waters"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "John Waters"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "ჯონ უოტერსი"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
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    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://www.discogs.com/artist/483088"
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    title: "John Waters"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born April 22, 1946, Waters rose through the early 1970s with transgressive cult films like Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos, and Female Trouble — works soaked in post-modern comedy and calculated shock. He kept that sensibility through Desperate Living, Polyester, Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, Pecker, and Cecil B. Demented, each film a skewed funhouse version of American life. His 1988 comedy Hairspray became his crossover: it grew into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 film adaptation, carrying his love of outcasts to a vastly wider audience. He's acted in Sweet and Lowdown, Seed of Chucky, and the Chucky series, hosted a TV series on corrupting cinema, and works as a visual artist in installations, photography, and sculpture. France named him an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2018; Hollywood gave him a Walk of Fame star in 2023.