Mary Vivian Pearce | |
---|---|
Born | November 9, 1947 |
Nationality | American |
Other names | Bonnie Pearce |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1964–present |
Known for | Dreamlanders |
Mary Vivian Pearce (born November 9, 1947) is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters. [1]
Pearce is a childhood best friend of Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members. Along with Mink Stole and Pat Moran, she is one of only three actors to appear in all of his films to date. Pearce is always credited by her real name, but in her personal life, she is known as Bonnie. [2] Her first film with Waters, in 1964, was a 17-minute independent short film called Hag in a Black Leather Jacket . [3] The film was never released. In the rest of Waters' films, she's played both main and bit parts. [2]
Her most famous roles were in Waters' Mondo Trasho , Multiple Maniacs , Pink Flamingos , Female Trouble and Desperate Living . However, as the years progressed, Pearce appeared less and less in Waters' films, usually as an extra or a character without a major impact on the plot. She continues to appear in Waters' films; she appeared as a protester in Cecil B. Demented just weeks after brain surgery.
At the age of eighteen, Pearce was married to a jockey who worked at Saratoga. In an interview with Gerald Peary, Pearce explained that she left for Provincetown to live with Waters and his then-girlfriend, Mona Montgomery:
I was 18, and it was three months after I got married. My husband was a jockey at Saratoga, and he told my father I'd left him and run off with beatniks. I was so pissed at him for telling! As far as I was concerned, it was a fake marriage to get me out of the house. I'd taken all our wedding presents back and bought books and records. [4]
Pearce's alma mater is Goucher College. She has a graduate degree in creative writing. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her sister and brother-in-law. [3]
Harris Glenn Milstead, better known by the stage name Divine, was an American actor, singer, and drag queen. Closely associated with independent filmmaker John Waters, Divine was a character actor, usually performing female roles in cinematic and theatrical productions, and adopted a female drag persona for his music career.
Pink Flamingos is a 1972 American black comedy film by John Waters. It is part of what Waters has labelled the "Trash Trilogy", which also includes Female Trouble (1974) and Desperate Living (1977). The film stars the countercultural drag queen Divine as a criminal living under the name of Babs Johnson, who is proud to be "the filthiest person alive". While living in a trailer with her mother Edie, son Crackers, and companion Cotton, Divine is confronted by the Marbles, a pair of criminals envious of her reputation who try to outdo her in filth. The characters engage in several grotesque, bizarre, and explicitly crude situations, and upon the film's re-release in 1997 it was rated NC-17 by the MPAA "for a wide range of perversions in explicit detail". It was filmed in the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland, where Waters and most of the cast and crew grew up.
David Crawford Lochary was an American actor, one of the regular "Dreamlander" actors in early films of the controversial "trash" film director John Waters. He starred in such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs, in which he typically played exotically-dressed, sophisticated perverts. Lochary co-wrote The Diane Linkletter Story with Divine, and worked as an uncredited hair and makeup artist on many of Waters' films. Lochary met Divine at beauty school and used to style his wigs and makeup for parties. Divine later commented that he had "never even heard the word 'drag' before David."
John Samuel Waters Jr. is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. Other films he has written and directed include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism.
Desperate Living is a 1977 American black comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters. The film stars Liz Renay, Mink Stole, Susan Lowe, Edith Massey, Mary Vivian Pearce, and Jean Hill.
Multiple Maniacs is a 1970 independent American black comedy film composed, shot, edited, written, produced, and directed by John Waters, as his second feature film and first "talkie". It features several actors who were part of the Dreamland acting troupe for Waters' films, including Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, George Figgs, and Cookie Mueller. The plot follows a traveling troupe of sideshow freaks who rob their unsuspecting audience members.
Dorothy Karen "Cookie" Mueller was an American actress, writer, and Dreamlander who starred in many of filmmaker John Waters' early films, including Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living.
Mondo Trasho is a 1969 American 16mm mondo black comedy film by John Waters. The film stars Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary and Mink Stole. It contains very little dialogue, the story being told mostly through musical cues.
The Diane Linkletter Story is a 1970 16mm short film by American filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, and David Lochary.
Nancy Paine Stoll, known professionally as Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, and has appeared in all of his feature films to date. Her extensive work with Waters has made her one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.
Dreamlanders are the cast and crew of regulars whom John Waters has used in his films. The term comes from the name of Waters' production company, Dreamland Productions.
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket is a 1964 short 8 mm film made in Baltimore, Maryland, by John Waters and starring Mona Montgomery and Mary Vivian Pearce. The film has no dialogue, with the only sound being piano accompaniment played by Waters' mother and scattered pop songs playing over the footage.
Walter Avant "Van" Smith, Jr. was an American costume designer and make-up artist. He worked primarily in the films of John Waters, designing the costumes and make-up for every John Waters film from 1972 to 2004. Because of his work with Waters, he is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.
Channing Wilroy is an American film actor who has appeared in seven films by John Waters. His first film role was the character Channing, the manservant in the film Pink Flamingos. Because of his work with Waters, Wilroy is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.
Susan Walsh was an American actress. She worked primarily in the films of John Waters. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.
Susan Lowe is an American actress, educator and painter. She has appeared almost exclusively in the works of John Waters for most of her career, starring in ten of his films.
George Figgs is an American actor and projectionist. He began his career portraying characters in the early films of John Waters. Because of his work with Waters, he is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.
Elizabeth Lamont Coffey Williams, simply known by her maiden name Elizabeth Coffey, is an American actress and transgender activist. Coffey, a trans woman, had small but notable roles in four of the early films of John Waters, becoming a member of the Dreamlanders, his regular cast. Her work has been show at multiple national venues, including the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Chicago Art Institute.
Patricia Moran Yeaton, known professionally as Pat Moran, is an American actress and casting director active in Baltimore, having won three Emmy Awards for her work. Since early in her career, Moran has been a member of the Dreamlanders, director John Waters' regular cast of actors, notably being, along with Mink Stole and Mary Vivian Pearce, the only actress to appear in every film directed by Waters.