Trivia

Has taught classes at the Patuxent Institution, a correctional facility located halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The classes are meant as rehabilitation therapy for convicted killers, in which they learn to write about their violent fantasies rather than act them out.

Grew his thin pencil-line mustache in honor of Little Richard.

Bears such a strong resemblance to actor Steve Buscemi that as a joke, John Waters sent out cards with a photo of Buscemi made up to look like Waters.

Subscribes to more than 80 magazines. Also goes to see just about every movie that comes out and hardly ever rents movies.

His favorite childhood memory was seeing real blood on the seat of a wrecked car when visiting a scrap yard and fantasizing about lethal car crashes.

He is obsessed with true-crime and used to regularly attend gory trials all over the United States, where he often saw the same faces in the public galleries.

As a youth, he would watch adult-only films at the local drive-in, with binoculars.

In 2008, Waters was planning to make a children's Christmas film called Fruitcake, starring Johnny Knoxville and Parker Posey. Filming was planned for November 2008, but it was shelved in January 2009. In 2010, Waters told the Chicago Tribune that "Independent films that cost $5 million are very hard to get made. I sold the idea, got a development deal, got paid a great salary to write it-and now the company is no longer around, which is the case with many independent film companies these days".

Is a well known bibliophile and owns over 8,000 books.

Waters originally wanted a man named "Mr. Ray" to be the narrator of Pink Flamingos (1972). Mr. Ray was famous for his hair-weave radio ads and for his Baltimore accent. Mr. Ray refused, so Waters recorded the voice-over himself, imitating Mr. Ray's voice as "Mr. J".

Waters has always been very gracious in acknowledging his creative influences, such as Russ Meyer, Otto Preminger, Liberace, William Castle, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Jayne Mansfield, Robert Bresson, and Pier Paolo Pasolini.

There is a special section of his immense book collection devoted to Liberace.

Was considered for the role of Det. John Munch on Homicide: Life on the Street (1993).

Maintains a home in north Baltimore, Maryland.

As a youth, he made as much as $50 a week doing puppet shows for the neighborhood children, and was often hired to entertain at birthday parties. He stated that many of his puppet shows were inspired by the gimmick-heavy films of William Castle.

Favorite movies are The Wizard of Oz (1939), Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), Boom! (1968), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), I Stand Alone (1998), and Maps to the Stars (2014).

Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 48th Cannes International Film Festival in 1995.

His husband Jacob is 29 years his junior.

Huge fan of 1950s director Douglas Sirk and actually got to meet him while in Europe.

His musical, "Hairspray" at the Marriott Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 2010 Joseph Jefferson Award for Production of a Musical (Large).

Son of John Waters Sr. and Pat Waters.

He resides in Baltimore and owns homes in New York City and San Francisco.

One of his closest friends is Baltimore based casting director Pat Moran.

Was supposed to have a cameo in American Splendor (2003), as the David Letterman guest holding an alligator.

He has directed two films that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant": Pink Flamingos (1972) and Hairspray (1988).

Was good friends with Russ Meyer, the sexploitation filmmaker. As a huge fan of his work, he would often go see his films in the theatre with Divine.

Older brother of Steve Waters. Brother-in-law of Sharon Waters.

Listed All That Heaven Allows (1955), Baby Doll (1956), Boom! (1968), Brink of Life (1958), Chelsea Girls (1966), 8½ (1963), Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), The Mother and the Whore (1973), The Tingler (1959) and The Wizard of Oz (1939) as the 10 Greatest Films of All Time in the 2002 Sight & Sound Directors' Poll.

Has released a collection of his scripts called Hairspray, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs (Thunder's Mouth Press). (September 2005)

Attended Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, Maryland.

He is the son of Patricia Ann (Whitaker) and John Samuel Waters, and is of mostly Irish and English descent. Through his mother, he is the great-great-great-grandson of prominent businessman George Price Whitaker, of the Whitaker iron family of Pennsylvania.

Through Richard Owings and his wife Rachel, he is a sixth cousin once removed to Maria Shriver.

Fan in some way of Charles Manson and his cult, who are a constant reference in his movies. Attended sessions of Manson's judicial process and even dedicated the movie Pink Flamingos (1972) to Manson's girls Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, and the movie Female Trouble (1974) to Charles 'Tex' Watson. Even befriended Van Houten after her incarceration and was a defender of her release from prison.

Was member of the dramatic jury at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6644 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on September 18, 2023. Mink Stole, Greg Gorman and Ricki Lake were guest speakers at the ceremony.