| The Diane Linkletter Story | |
|---|---|
 Divine as Diane Linkletter | |
| Directed by | John Waters |
| Written by | John Waters |
| Produced by | John Waters |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John Waters |
| Edited by | John Waters |
| Distributed by | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 9 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Diane Linkletter Story is a 1970 16mm short film by American filmmaker John Waters starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, and David Lochary.
This improvised film is based on the 1969 suicide of TV personality Art Linkletter's daughter, Diane. In the film, Mr. and Mrs. Linkletter fret about their daughter's recent behavior, which includes taking drugs and dating a lowlife named Jim. Eventually, the parents confront Diane, which results in her suicide under the influence of LSD. Waters claims that the film is "accidental" – he and his friends improvised a story while testing a new synch-sound camera (later used on Multiple Maniacs ). [1] The film had a very limited release in the early 1970s, mainly in art houses as short feature before Pink Flamingos, and gained a wider audience when it showed up on a 1990 videotape entitled A Divine Double Feature , paired with a live recording of the off-Broadway play The Neon Woman , which also starred Divine.
John Waters stated in a 2015 interview with the British Film Institute that the short is the worst of his works, but that The Diane Linkletter Story was ad-libbed and was really just a test of the camera the day it was filmed. [2]
Arthur Gordon Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, which aired on NBC radio and television for 19 years. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1942.
Harris Glenn Milstead, better known by the stage name Divine, was an American actor, drag queen, and singer. 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. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, to a conservative middle-class family, Milstead developed an early interest in drag while working as a women's hairdresser. By the mid-1960s he had embraced the city's countercultural scene and befriended Waters, who gave him the name "Divine" and the tagline of: "The most beautiful woman in the world...almost."
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). He 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.
Polyester is a 1981 American comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, and Mink Stole. It satirizes the melodramatic genre of women's pictures, particularly those directed by Douglas Sirk, whose work directly influenced this film. The film is also a satire of suburban life in the early 1980s, involving topics like divorce, abortion, adultery, alcoholism, racial stereotypes, foot fetishism, and the religious right.
Female Trouble is a 1974 American independent dark comedy film co-composed, photographed, co-edited, written, produced, and directed by John Waters and starring Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, and Edith Massey. The film follows a delinquent high school student who runs away from home, gets pregnant while hitchhiking, and becomes entangled in a criminal scheme to prove "crime is beauty".
Desperate Living is a 1977 American black comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters. The film stars Liz Renay, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Susan Lowe, Mary Vivian Pearce, and Jean Hill.
Multiple Maniacs is a 1970 independent American black comedy horror 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.
Mary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.
Eat Your Makeup is a 1968 short film directed by John Waters, starring Marina Melin, Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Howard Gruber, and Maelcum Soul.
Roman Candles is a 1966 short film directed by John Waters and starring Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Mink Stole, and Maelcum Soul.
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.
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 film made in Baltimore, Maryland, by John Waters and starring Mona Montgomery and Mary Vivian Pearce.
Diane Linkletter was the daughter and youngest child of popular American media personality Art Linkletter and his wife, Lois Foerster. In 1969, she died by suicide at the age of 20.
Divine Trash is a 1998 American documentary film directed by Steve Yeager about the life and work of filmmaker John Waters, and the making of the 1972 film Pink Flamingos, which is written and directed by Waters and stars Divine.
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.
I Am Divine is a 2013 American documentary film produced and directed by Jeffrey Schwarz of the Los Angeles-based production company Automat Pictures. The documentary focuses on the American actor, singer and drag performer Divine, born Harris Glenn Milstead, a lifelong friend and collaborator of filmmaker John Waters.
Jack Stevenson is an author and film showman, who lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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