Legacy of the Ultimate Outsider

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Visit eightyt d. com or call one eight hundred eightyT ASAP Hello I've got something a little different in the feed for you that I think you're going to enjoy Today, we're featuring an episode from a podcast called Hollywood Land from Jake Brennan host of the award winning Disgraceland podcast Hollywood Land explores the lives of our most celebrated actors and actresses through the true crimes that have most impacted them David Lynch and the real life brutal murder that inspired Twin Peaks, Steve McQueen's brush with Charles Manson The three conspiracies surrounding Marilyn Monroe's death, Dennis Hopper's easy writing at excessive seventies Hollywood. The obsessive murder of Dorothy Stratton And today, I've got an episode for you about the indeccent arrest of John Waters The films of John Waters were so nasty, so shocking, and so subversive that none other than William S. Burroughs called him the Pope Trash But from John Waterterers beginnings in X rated art films to cult classics like Hspray and Cry Baby, John Wterers created and cultivated his own peculiar niche in films. while nurturing a legendary troupe of players, who became a family of outcasts Stay right here for the full story Hollywoodand is a production of Double Elvis This is a story about John Waters, a man whose films were so nasty, so subversive that author William Borrows called him the Pope of Trash. John Waters was arrested for indecent exposure while making his first movie. His breakthrough film features a scene where the lead character literally eats Well, we'll get to that later After starting with X rated R films John Waters would eventually score cult hits with movies such as Hairspray and Cry Baby. Smuggling is outside our ideals and a family friendly fare Thanks to a close circle of collaborators and scorching soundtracks stuffed with R and B in early rock and roll Great films Unlike that clip I played for you at the top of the show That wasn't from a great film That was a fair use sample from the Library of Congress off the Victor Grand cononcert band playing the Baltimore Centennial March in nineteen oh four playlay you that clip. because I can't afford the rights to a clip from Carmen Jones by Auto Preminger Why would I play you that specific slice of cinnemascope cheese? Could I afford it because that was the number one movie in America On november eighth, nineteen fifty four And that was the day that a fourteen year old, Carlyn Wazilusski. was murdered in Baltimore an event that would indirectly set John Watterers on his path to become the ultimate outsider filmmaker onn this episode Car chases, FBI raids. An unsolved murder in the Pope of trrash John Waters. I'm Jake Brennan And this is Hollywoodand The ninth day of November nineteen fifty four The early morning air was frigid as the train chugged south toward its final stop in Baltimore The train engineer shivered and pulled his coat tight against his body In the dim light, he could see patches of frost clinging to the grass as the train whipped down the tracks When the train left Harrisburg, It was pch black But now the sun was starting to peak over the horizon Soon the frost would melt And the engineer would ease the freight train the station In this graveyard shift Finally be over He was dreaming about a hot cup of coffee with fried eggs and toast. There was a diner just a few blocks from the rail yard He would be there soon for now He needed to stay focused on the track ahead of him Before he could relax, he still needed to guide the train through the busy railyard and bring it safely to its destination He had to stay alert for other trains crisscrossing the tracks For maintenance workers hopping between train cars And lately He had to watch out for groups of teenagers who for some unknown reason, had started using the rail yard as a place to meet up get drunk feel each other up More than once. He turned a corner in the darkness, and the train's headlights would catch a pack of teens scattering in all directions Boys with their baggy jeans, black leather jackets and big papador hair slicked back until it looked like a duck's ass The girls with their tight pants, te' hair bright red lipstick dressed to look like they were twenty five, even though they were only fifteen Greasers, Hoodlums Juvenile delinquents or as they were called in Baltimore. Drapes and drape betts What kind of boys who stole cars for kicks who drag race suped up hot rods at night kind of girls who snuck out while their parents slept. Who listen to rock and roll and who went all the way personersonally. The engineer couldn't give a shit how these kids wanted to dress or what they got up to in the wee hours of the night After all He was hardly an angel himself when he was their age. He just wished they would find a different spot to get into trouble The last thing he needed was to end up with some teenager's skull crushed under the wheels of the train So he watched the track carefully as the train rounded a bend Sure enough, off in the distance, he could see a figure near to the track Probably some dead drunk dra Drape Ben He pulled the cord and the train whistle pierced the quiet air. But the figure didn't move. He pulled the court again. Again, the sound of the whistle echoed across the railiar Still Nothing Grumbl He pulled the train to a stop. gravel crunched under his feet as he hopped down and walked towards the figure lying on the tracks Now he could see that it was a girl She was face down Her wavy blonde hair was fanned out on the tracks in front of her. She wasn't moving And now we can see their pants and shoes were missing And his stomach was a knz as he walked closer His heart pounded in his chest Finally He reached down and rolled her over And that's when his worst suspicions were confirmed Her face was bruised and beaten The front of her shirt was caked with blood as bright red as the lipstick still fresh on her lips And the same lipstick had been used to scraw some message on her inner thigh The engineers screamed for help and then sprinted for the train depot But it was too late Carolyn Wasilowski Already dead murdered I'm just fourteen years old thirirty five years later, Carolyn's murder was still unsolved And her face was still burned into John Waters' memory as he sat in the trailer on the set of his movie, Cry Baby A Baltimore native John had been eight when Caron was killed He remembered the breathless news coverage, the media frenzy about the no good drape teenagers, about the evils of rock and roll and souped up hot rods. about the gruesome fate that awaited girls who snuck out of the house at night If the idea was to scare kids away from this new subculture bubbling up through Baltimore, it'd have the opposite effect on a young John Waters The images of rebellious outsider teens in black leather jackets and a perpetual sneer excited him It entice him It inflamed him And he began to look for it everywhere There was the olderan across the street, the bllack forord hot rod with flames painted along the side. There was a boy with the black leather jacket and white t shirt standing next to the jukebox at the bowling alley, looking like a young James Dean while he played the same little Richard song over and over. And then was Elvis as an upper middle class square John Waters knew he could never really be a dream. But watching Elvis shake his hips to that's all right, it ignited a revelation That night, when he sat in bed thinking about Elvis Presley twisting his pelvis, John knew he was an outsider too He didn't have the words for it yet John already knew that he was gay. As the nineteen fifties drifted into the sixties, the drapes went out of fashion But John Watatterers held on to his affinity for outsiders As a teenager, he befriended a small band of beatnicks, hippies and artists. One of those friends eventually introduced him to a chubby,eminate boy The name Glen Millstead Glenn went to beauty school. and worked as a hairstylist But he was best known for hosting parties while dressing in drag as his idol Elizabeth Taylor John and Glenn quickly became close And although Glenn didn't always dress and drag bold and for the time shocking style inspired John Waters to start writing small screenplays that Glenn could star in. soon Thereir small gang of counterculture friends We're writing and producing short movies at John's childhood home Baltimore suburbs a place he eventually dubbed Dreamland Studios John began giving nicknames to the members of a circle as well His friend Nancy Stole became Mink Stole for the film Rooman Candles And he gave Glen the name and tagline he would use for the rest of his life Divine, the most beautiful woman in the world. Now, decades later John felt compelled to return back to the moment that first sparked his interest in outsiders for his movie Cry Baby which was strongly inspired by Baltimore's anti drape frenzy following Carolyn Wazilski's murder As he sat in his trailer John marveled at the resources he'd assembled for this project For the first time, he had a big budget to work with He had a dream cast filled with some of his favorite oddballs and outsiders He had incredibly talented actors like William H. Macy and Pauly Berggin. He had an honest to God heartthrob and ang Johnny depp who is eager to slash and burn his te idle image He had everyone from Iggy Pop to the infamous heiress turned kidnapping victim turned possible bank robber Nse. But he also had a problem Although He didn't know it yet. Be someone else had just arrived on set To FBI agents they were on the scene to deliver a message threaten to stop John Waters' movie dead It's tracks We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature, whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to, or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives, well, better Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With All Trails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently. With offline maps and on trail navigation. Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with All Trails Have you ever considered surrounding your house with a moat to keep it safe? Would you hire a professional wrestler as a bodyguard for your car? Okay, maybe you wouldn't go that far But if you'd go to great lengths to avoid dealing with your insurance company You might have insoranoia And if you have insanoia, you should have NJM insurance They go to great lengths to do what's best for their policyholders Start relieving your insureanoia today injM. com It was early on the morning of november third, nineteen sixty eight Everything was quiet except the sound of a church bell told softly in the distance callalling the morally upright to Sunday morning services onn the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. A few students heeded the call Most were still in bed sleeping off their Saturday nights The coast was completely clear as a young man in a bathrobe stepped out of the woods and up to the side of the road that wound its way through the campus thirty yards off the road John Waters stood behind a camera. He looked through the viewfinder and adjusted the camera lens one final time. John knew they would have to be quick They'd likely only get one chance at the shop before they would have to make a run for it Further up the road, Deivvine was sitting behind the wheel of a bright red nineteen fifty nine Cadillac El Dorado convertible, wearing full drag makeup, with a giant blonde wig, dressed in a sparkling gold Lemet outfit, not exactly inconspicuous. Of course, the outfit paled in comparison to what Mark Issherwood was wearing. When John Waters called action twenty year old actor slipped out of his bathroom and stepped out into the road completely naked The sunlight glinted off his bare ass as he struck a hitchhiker's pose. Deivine punched the gas on the Elldorado, pulled up in front of Mark, hit the brakes. Markark hopped in, and they drove off a few feet before John called Cut. The scene is for John's first feature length movie, Mondo Trasho Just twenty two years old John, using money borrowed from his father had already released a handful of short films that captured attention around Baltimore And they even earned enough money for John to pay back his father's loans. And now he was attempting something more ambitious John huddled with a handful of his cast and crew. including regulars from his circles such as Mary Vivian Pierce, Pat Morren, and Mig Stole They decided that the shot was satisfactory It was time to h tail it away from Johns Hopkins before anyone started asking questions. Unfortunately for John and the rest of his team Two graduate students heading to church had spotted Mark walking naked across the road They immediately called campus security while the crew was frantically packing up equipment and getting ready to flee, A security guard approached He saw Mark who is by now wearing a robe again and made a beeline straight for him And before anyone could react, The guard grabbed Mark by the arm and screamed that they were all going to jail for making a porno. thenen All hell broke loose Mark twisted free from the guard and took off spinning towards the cadillac where Divine still sat in the driver's seat The Mark dove into the passenger seat, Divine hit the gas The tire squealed as the convertible peeled out and went speeding away Meanwhile John grabbed camera and ran in the opposite direction along with the rest of his crew. He hopped into the back of the sedan while Mick Stole slid into the driver's seat and jammed the key into the ignition Now, the officer had to make a choice which car to follow He figured that a bright red cadillac convertible driven by a drag queen in a gold lameay outfit with a naked man in the passenger seat wouldn't be hard to track down. So he sprinted after John and the rest of the actors. Mink stole through the car in reverse and frantically turned the steering wheel. She sped past the officer and flew down the road away from Johns Hawkins close call, they had escaped, or so they thought It turned out that the security officer managed to scribble the license plate number just as the car sped out of you. A few hours later, the police showed up at John's Dreamland studio house and arrested everyone dececent exposure from jail John used his one phone call to ring up the ACLU soon A radical Baltimore lawyer was dispatched to take up the cause When he was released the next day on bail, John was furious. He knew his parents would be mortified doubly bad because John's dad had loaned him the two thousand dollars it cost to produce the film A few months later in February of nineteen sixty nine John had nearly completed the movie when his obsenity case went to trial His lawyer argued passionately for the protection of the arts. And John screened a cut of the film for the judge to prove he was making an our house movie and not a porno Although the judge found the movie tasteless, He found the arguments compelling He was so amused by John's antics that he wrote his decision in a poem that ran and full in that evening's Baltimore sun It ended with the following lines. And so go thou and sin no more Disrobe if need be, but behind the door And if again you heed the call of art Rest assured, the judge do his part. If John was embarrassed about the arrest back in November, by the time the movie premiered in March He recognized the publicity value of an obscenity trial. And the preremiere screening sold over a thousand tickets And the film was picked up by a small film distribution company and Variety ran a positive review along with a story about the arrests The film's success meant John could pay back his father's loan quickly Unfortunately, though The attention brought to the film pro to be its downfall The movie, which contained almost no dialogue, was soundtracked by a selection of John's favorite duo Early RM B and Rck and Rll records sourced from his own record collection And while making an indie film for what he thought would be an audience of friends and fans in the Baltimore area It never occurred to him to try to license the music But once the film began to get national attention Music publishers quickly picked up on the unlicensed usage and they sued evenven to this day, that dispute has kept the film almost completely out of circulation. It was a painful lesson But John would learn from it. And although Mondo Trasho was pulled from the theaters, the attention from the arrests and the screenings raised his profile among edgy R film fans John will push the envelope even further with his next three pictures a series of transgressive films he called his Trash trilogy These included John's most infamous work, nineteen seventy two's Pink Famingos, which starred Divine as a woman competing for the title of Filthiest Person Alive In addition to jokes about masturbation, incest and sodomy It included an infamous scene of Divine eating literal dogshit. and no, it was not a prop And that all happened in the finale The film was banned in Switzerland And the film was banned in Australia It was also banned in Canada. pulled big crowds for midnight screenings in New York It was eventually picked up by new Line cinema Like Mondo Trashh, the soundtrack once again featured a rocking group of songs by Little Richard, Link Ray, Bill Haley in his comments, and more This time though All of it was licensed legally. By the early nineteen eighties, none other than the provocateur and beatw writer William Burrows had labeled John Watterers the Pope of trrash. John was the country's foremost outsider filmmaker, with a reputation for creating some of the most boundary pushing scenes ever committed to celluloids And that's when John Waters decided to do the most shocking thing imaginable You would make a family friendly picture for nineteen eighty eights hairspray. John Waters once again revisited his Baltimore roots The screenplay centered around a fictional version of the real life Buddy Dean show An American bandstand style program that aired in Baltimore in the nineteen fifties and sixties The show featured black and white musical artists, but On white dancers until protesters eventually succeeded in integrating the show briefly before it was canceled. While all of John's previous films had been rated X Hirspray was rated PG Expectations were low when it was released in February of nineteen eighty eight Critics raved over newcomer Ricky Lake who starred as Tracy Turnblad and Deivine who played her mother, Edna The film pulled in over eight million dollars at the box office John's profile was bigger than ever and divine seem destined for stardom a recurring role on television's Married with Children film offers began pouring in And then things came to a screeching halt The night of march seventh, nineteen eighty eight. Vine was in Los Angeles preparing to film Married withith Children died suddenly Momentum for hair spray dried up immediately No one wanted to laugh at a dead actor up on the screen And John was heartbroken His friend, his muse, the star of nearly all of his films, was gone. His next project would be his biggest yet, and now he would have to tackle it alone We'll be right back after this wor, W, wor The days are longer, the calendar is filling up, and I want to feel as good as this beautiful summer weather. That's why I've been loving Groons. It's one daily pack of gummies that covers my greens, vitamins, minerals, and even has six grams of prebiotic fiber. so I don't need to juggle a complicated wellness routine on top of everything else. They taste amazing. they're easy toss my bag on the go. Plus, they're vegan, gluten free, and HSA FSA eligible for reimbursement Save up to fifty two percent off with code podcast at gros. co. That's code podcast at gruns. co Have you ever considered surrounding your house with a moat to keep it safe Would you hire a professional wrestler as a bodyguard for your car? Okay, maybe you wouldn't go that far But if you'd go to great lengths to avoid dealing with your insurance company, You might have insoranoia And if you have insuranoia, you should have NJM insurance They go to great lengths to do what's best for their policyholders Start relieving your insure anoia today. at njM. com rain poured down hammering the metal roof of the trailer insside The sound was deafening But Tracy Lordds hardly even noticed it Inside, she was staring at a piece of paper in her hands fear crept up inside of her as she tried over and over to read the letter. Her hands were shaking so much that she finally gave up and put the paper down She got the gist of it anyway There was a subpoena, forcing her to testify in a criminal trial that she wanted nothing to do with She looked up across the trailer at the two mistachioed FBI agents staring silently at her. and she asked the million dollar question So are you going to arrest me Tracy Lordds was fifty days into a fifty eight day shoot of her first major motion picture when the FBI came calling on the set of Crybaby in nineteen eighty nine. She, along with Rickie Lake and fellow newcomer Kim McGuire, were playing a gang of Drake Betts alongide Johnny Depp's leading role as Wade Cry Baby Walker The cast, which included John's regular circle plus ringers such as the veteran actresses Susan Tarrell or Polly Berggin, a newly sober Iggy Pop and non actors like Pattty Hearst got along extremely well But the conditions have been hard It rained almost every day, and trailers got stuck in the mud, and cameras and lights malfunctioned, and massive song and dance numbers had to be postponed and reshopot Some of the actors started to grumble about the conditions, but not Tracy. Tracy knew what a real groweling shoe was like At just twenty two, she was still new to acting, but she had spent more than her share of time in front of the camera seeven years earlier At just fifteen, she left an abusive home life in California and quickly found herself sucked into the porn industry With help of a fake ID, she was soon starring in films with titles like Those Young Girls, Beverly Hills Copulator, and Tracy Takes Tokyo. She appeared in Penthouse Magazine with a caption calling her The Princess of porn. On the outside, she seemed like a tough, savvy player in the industry. She ran her own production company and was soon making a thousand dollars a day Inside though, she was still a traumatized teenager who needed drugs and alcohol to numb herself. Finally, just days after her eighteenth birthday, an anonymous tip to police revealed that she had starred in dozens of films while she was underage Her movies were pulled from sheelves, controversy raged in court and in the media, where she was alternately painted as a victim and as a schemer who lied to producers, police, and to the press. Now afterfter months of therapy and months of training with famed method acting coach Lee Strasberg Tracy was eager to turn the page on her past and focus on a career as a legit screen actress. But it seemed like no one else was willing to let her move on. including The FBI. Outside of Tracy's trailer, word was spreading fast around the set John Waters huddled with his longtime collaborators, Pat Moore and Mink Stole and Mary Pierce as they tried to figure out what to do if Tracy was taken off the set in handcuffs After a few tense moments of waiting, the rain finally stopped, and John was relieved to see the FBI agents leave the trailer without Tracy A few moments later, she stepped outside with tears in her eyes, as she walked up to John and started apologizing. John didn't exactly think of himself as a father figure He knew Tracy was a tough kid. He couldn't help but compare it to Carlyn Wazilski fourteen year old whose murder had indirectly set John on this path as a filmmaker They were both young blonde and raised in a troubled home But un'm like Carlyn. Tracy had survived hell and now she was coming out of it on the other side Job would be damned if you would let anyone interfere with that Even the Feds As Tracy broke down sobbing, he summoned his best paternal instincts and patted her on the back while Ricky Lake, Johnny Depp, and the rest of the young actors tried to cheer her up Nothing worked Tracy kept crying as she apologized to everyone for ruining the day's shoot She admitted she was worried she could never leave her past behind As the rest of the cast and crew circled around them John finally found a way to break the tension He looked down at Tracy and wiped a tear from her face twisted up his signature pencil thin mustache and mischievous grin Honey Do you think you're the only one in this crowd who's been arrested He told her about his arrest for indecent exposure while making Mondo trasho John looked around at the casting crew And he asked if anybody else had been arrested Make Stol raised her hand. Theame charge, she said with a smile Johnnyepp raised his hand Assault, bar fight Vancouver. Grand Theft Auto called out one of the camerammen. Piggy Pop mentioned a drug bust with David Bowie that had everyone laughing And next, John raised an eyebrow while looking directly at Patty Hearst Tatricia What about you Have you ever been arrested Everyone went silent. Patty Harst's face turned bright red She does nod at her head, yes. Soon Nearly every member of the cast and crew is sharing some story about an arrest or an incident with the police And the message was clear No matter what the outside world thought of Tracy Laordds in this group of odd balls and outlaws. She wasn't unusual And they weren't going to judge her for her past They were going to embrace her for it Finally, Tracy, quit crying. She ded her tears and told John she was ready to continue shooting A few days later the film wrapped, and the cast emerged more tight knit than ever. Jump later described the group as the dinner party at the celebrity Mental Institution of his dreams with an eight million dollars budget It was an expensive party and a far cry from the two thousand dollars he used to make Mondo trasho But after editing. John couldn't believe how great the film looked Then There was the music In addition to more deep cuts from John's record collection, this time, the soundtrack included original songs written for the movie by legendary rock and roll songwriter Doc Pomas and modern day roots rock icons, including Dave Alvin from The Blasters and JD South. The songs rocked. John was convinced the movie was going to be a hit And he figured even the soundtrack might be a big seller. A few months later, they did their first test screening for Crybaby at Universal Studios in LA The crowd reacted beautifully. People roared with laughter at the jokes, and they applauded after the big musical numbers. And teenage girls screamed for Johnny Depp like he was Elvis every time he appeared on screen. The studio greamed a huge marketing budget complete with billboards on Sunset Sirp and in Times Square, and the film was set to appear at over one thousand theaters nationwide Momentum was building Unfortunately, for John Waters, that momentum was about to hit a brick wall John Waters sat in the offices of Universal Pictures He couldn't believe his eyes In front of him was a printed report from the opening weekend groces for Cry Baby It was official The film. was a flop Like most of his films, reviews were mixed. Some critics loved the Zenie energy in big musical numbers. Some wondered if it was time for him to get out of Baltimore and focus on something new The movie received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, and the studio invested in a huge marketing push However, despite opening in over a thousand theaters across America, the film only pulled in three million dollars in its opening weekend It did solid business in the big cities, but any hope of a crossover hit in Middle America was quickly squashed. The teen girls who were screaming for Johnny Depp at the test screening in Los Angeles soon began to feel like they were the target of the joke. Kids who had never seen an Elvis movie in their lives didn't understand the satire fans of John Watatterers's more extreme art Housewor stayed away too. and the second week's gses were even worse than the opening weekend And by the summer, the film limped out of theaters without turning a profit John followed up with another big studio picture nineteen ninety four is Cereal M