American actor Harris Milstead, better known by his drag persona Divine, was BOTD in 1945. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Milstead developed an interest in drag while working as a hairdresser. In the 1960s, he met filmmaker John Waters, who christened him “Divine”, described as “the most beautiful woman in the world, almost”. After starring in Water’s early feature films Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs, he became a countercultural sensation in 1972’s Pink Flamingos, playing an escaped criminal who lives up to the title of “filthiest person alive” by eating dog shit on camera. Banned in several countries for obscenity, the film became an underground hit, inspiring the early works of Pedro Almodóvar. Divine went on to star in Waters’ Female Trouble, Polyester and Hairspray, also working with the San Francisco drag collective The Cockettes alongside his friend Sylvester. Seeking to diversify his career, he took male-gendered roles in 1980s indies Lust in the Dust and Trouble in Mind. Divine identified as a gay man, though impressively used the name Divine in his passport. He had an extended relationship with Lee L’Ecuyer and a brief, highly-publicised affair with gay porn star Leo Ford. Divine died in 1988 of heart failure, aged 42. A cult figure in the LGBTQ community, he is thought to be the inspiration for Ursula the Sea Witch in the 1989 Disney film The Little Mermaid. In 2021, Pink Flamingos was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”, proving Divine’s worldview that sometimes you have to eat shit to be a star.