Born April 22: John Waters

He's a visionary, he's unique, and his bizarro, vulgar yet sweet movies are part of the permanent collection at MoMA, so of course you think of John Waters as a filmmaker. But he's more: He has written four books, published three volumes of photographs, and his artwork has been shown in many museums and galleries internationally. As for the movies, he has made sixteen, with his best work clustered from 1972 to 1988: Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Desperate Living, Polyester and Hairspray starring the incomparable Divine [also pictured] who was his special ally since their shared childhood in Maryland. Johnny Depp fans might insist on including 1990's Cry Baby, but the four movies since then seem like lesser efforts, or at least they are more mainstream. His children's Christmas movie starring Johnny Knoxville and Parker Posey, endearingly titled Fruitcake, has been canceled, as has the sequel New Line convinced Waters to write, Hairspray 2: White Lipstick, imagining Tracy in the late 60s during the British Invasion and Vietnam. The paperback of his wonderful Role Models -- the best LGBT book of 2010 according to Bill Clegg and Sebastian Stuart -- goes on sale on Tuesday, April 26. (At odd times my partner still quotes Waters' fashion advice from that book, such as wear Scotch Tape on your face.) If you're near New York, join me on Wednesday, April 27 to hear him read from Role Models at the Paula Cooper Gallery in Chelsea. The event is free but reservations are mandatory from 192 Books.