In
1984, David Letterman hosted the incredibly talented and original filmmaker
John Waters and his frequent star player, Divine.
It's fascinating to watch
this clip in which Letterman is more than "a little flustered" as he navigates
interviewing the king of trash cinema and a very large drag performer who never
met a pound of pancake makeup she didn't like. When they first meet, Letterman
asks her, "exactly what are you?"
One has to appreciate how
new and different this interview was for its time. Although Water's earlier
films like 'Pink Flamingos' were already more than 10 years old by 1984, putting
these two guests on a national TV show was huge. Even though Letterman is
obviously a little out of his element, he has some fun with the odorama
card from 'Polyester' (though he refuses to scratch 'n sniff) and
invites Divine to perform 'Born to Be Cheap.'
(Thanks to
Pixel Pusher-Jeff for sending these
gems.)
John Waters & Divine on Letterman
(1984)
2 comments:
Years ago, the early 80's, when I was young and cute, I was lucky enough to actually meet Divine at San Diego nightclub. He was there on a tour of appearances and by some stroke of luck I happened to go to that club on that night and because I knew the doormen I got in! All these years later I can't remember the name of the club, it was on University Ave. Meeting Divine wasn't really any more than a quick handshake and a hello but it was exciting for me. I'd seem Pink Flamingos back in the 70's and was a big fan of John Waters and Divine. I even named a band I was in Pink Flamingos.
Robert
More power to you
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