Someone I work with tells me that pre-diet Richard Simmons was once in a John Waters movie. He played, apparently, a fat guy. She thinks it was Pink Flamingos, but IMDB has no such reference.
Any clues?
If I were to say that today’s tomatoes are an index of the decline of Western man I should be thought a crank but nations do not, I think, ascend on such tomatoes.
–Russell Hoban in Turtle_Diary
Being an ex-and-future-Baltimoron, and from hanging out at the Club Charles and other venues that Mr. Waters frequents, I think I would have heard this before if it were true. However, maybe it is one of those things where everyone knows and talking about it as if it were a revelation would be showing your ignorance. Name dropping and being “in the know” rate up there with money and sex appeal in that crowd (luckily I get by on sex appeal 
).
I can definitely see John getting along with Richard and using him. However, I have my doubts that Richard Simmons would be a part of Pink Flamingos. I know several people who were in Pink Flamingos and they claim that, other than Devine, the the cast was mostly made up of people who lives were in pretty bad shape. Several heroin addicts including one of my friends (now recovering) agreed to do the film for very little money because it was their only was to get ANY money. Whether you think Mr. Waters was abusing these down and outs, or just taking advantage of their angst to produce a piece of art for his minimal budget, depends somewhat upon your opinion of the film. Was Richard Simmons in a low enough point in his life to be a part of this crowd? Possibly.
If men had wings,
and bore black feathers,
few of them would be clever enough to be crows.
Boy, my brain’s internal editor must be out of whack today. I’m writing some of the most over-complicated, difficult-to-interpret sentences of my life today. And I misspelled “Divine” to boot.
If Richard Simmons was in Pink Flamingos it’s possible he wouldn’t want anyone to know it today. As Vile points out, Waters’ Dreamland group was rather a motley crew. Perhaps the only way to find out would be to trick Richard into singing Surfin’ Bird. 
AFAIK Mink Stole is the only one of his original group still acting.
“Was Richard Simmons in a low enough point in his life to be a part of this crowd?”
—Ahem, I was part of this crowd in the mid 1970s . . . No, Richard Simmons was NOT in Pink Flamingos, but maybe John used him as a celeb joke in one of the later films. By the way, you can spot me as an extra in Polyester—I came along with Edie Massey for the ride that day.
Eve, do you know Danny who played Divine’s son in Flamingos? I’ll be seeing him when I visit Bmore next month. He shoots a very good game of pool when he’s in the right mood, but I’ve been working on my game.
Richard Simmons did appear in an Italian movie, “Fellini Satyricon” back when he weighed like 300 lbs. I don’t believe Richard Simmons was ever “down and out” enough to appear in a John Waters film, he has always had a very close loving relationship with his family. Can’t picture him down in the gutter with druggies, his big vice was food when he was young.
Not that he had a starring role in “Satyricon”, he was an extra in a Roman banquet scene!
Salinqmind, you seem to have a very odd idea of who the Dreamlanders were. Yes, some of them took drugs and others didn’t. But being in one of John’s movies has never been about being “down and out.” In the early days (c1970-80), it was a group project of a buncha friends having fun. That’s how I got into Polyester—I was hanging out with Edie Massey and she said, “I’m gonna be in a film, hon, ya wanna come?”
John and Divine and the crew, I might add, were always very professional—no drugs or anything like that on the set! After 1980, being in one of John’s films was an honor and a hoot.
So no, we were NOT a bunch of drugged-out Bowery Bums. More like impish middle-class kids with movie cameras.
Oh, and Vile, I never met Danny Mills, but give him my best, anyway. Glad he’s doing well.
I’ve Always admired John Waters and wanted to be in one of his films. I still remember watching Pink Flamingos with a guy pal from church. He sat silently, but I never saw him again after that!
Far be it from me to diss John Waters, “Dreamlanders”, Baltimore, or “Pink Flamingos”, I love all of these things. Please refer to VileOrb’s post above stating that people in the cast of P.F. were in pretty bad shape, some were heroin addicts, and down and outs. I cannot believe Richard Simmons would be mixed up with any of them. I’ll have to read his autobiography and see if he says anything about living in Baltimore.
For goodness sake, most of the people in Pink Flamingos were rebellious suburban kids!!! Yes, Edie Massey had a few screws loose, and David Lochary and Danny Mills took more drugs than were popular even in the Seventies, but you are confusing the cast with their roles. Divine was not, in real life, “the filthiest person alive,” he was the pampered upper-middle-class son of daycare workers.
I used to hang out a great deal with those good folk and, as the New Yorkers can tell you, I’m about as “down and out” as Princess Caroline.
Richard Simmons’ appearance in Satyricon was apparently the cause for his fanatical devotion to exercise. The 300+ pound Simmons was featured in one of the food orgy scenes. Upon seeing this, a friend sent him a letter which read, “fat people die young, Richard. Please don’t die.” The rest is terrifying and horrible and involves 50s music and Letterman appearances.
Wow! Eve, you knew Edith Massey? My already swell opinion of you rockets ever skyward…
As an aside, I had the pleasure of an evening with John Waters 15 years ago, and he’s not a wacked out freak. Gentle, well-spoken and razor sharp was my impression… I can see Eve as the perfect accompaniment to his circle.
Stupidly, when I posted the question that started this discussion, I checked the little box that asked me if I wanted to be notified of responses.
Now that this thread has wandered completely off the original topic and has become nothing more than a pathetic exercise in nostalgia and namedropping, is there any way to UNcheck that box, or request that this topoic be closed?
If I were to say that today’s tomatoes are an index of the decline of Western man I should be thought a crank but nations do not, I think, ascend on such tomatoes.
–Russell Hoban in Turtle_Diary
Or better yet, is there any way that lissner can butt the hell out and let the rest of us have a dignified conversation without being called pathetic name-droppers?
Those folks are my friends, not “names.”
See, Eve, Darlin, I’m tryna butt the hell out, but since I’m the original poster, I get an email every time you decide to take a moment out of your busy day to prolong this tired thread.
Why don’t you start a new discussion, in MPSIMS, entitled, say, The Last Time I Had Friends.
If I were to say that today’s tomatoes are an index of the decline of Western man I should be thought a crank but nations do not, I think, ascend on such tomatoes.
–Russell Hoban in Turtle_Diary
See, Eve, Darlin, I’m tryna butt the hell out, but since I’m the original poster, I get an email every time you decide to take a moment out of your busy day to prolong this tired thread.
Why don’t you start a new discussion, in MPSIMS, entitled, say, The Last Time I Had Friends.
If I were to say that today’s tomatoes are an index of the decline of Western man I should be thought a crank but nations do not, I think, ascend on such tomatoes.
–Russell Hoban in Turtle_Diary
See, Eve, Darlin, I’m tryna butt the hell out, but since I’m the original poster, I get an email every time you decide to take a moment out of your busy day to prolong this tired thread.
Why don’t you start a new discussion, in MPSIMS, entitled, say, The Last Time I Had Friends.
If I were to say that today’s tomatoes are an index of the decline of Western man I should be thought a crank but nations do not, I think, ascend on such tomatoes.
–Russell Hoban in Turtle_Diary
See, Eve, Darlin, I’m tryna butt the hell out, but since I’m the original poster, I get an email every time you decide to take a moment out of your busy day to prolong this tired thread.
Why don’t you start a new discussion, in MPSIMS, entitled, say, The Last Time I Had Friends.
If I were to say that today’s tomatoes are an index of the decline of Western man I should be thought a crank but nations do not, I think, ascend on such tomatoes.
–Russell Hoban in Turtle_Diary