John Waters has achieved the rare sort of sustained celebrity that imbues his name with an aura of recognition, no matter who you are.

After five decades in the public eye, the filmmaker turned counterculture icon has earned every bit of fame that has come his way.

Waters has lived a life full of so many twists, turns and twisted mashups that it seems at times that his creations are circling back to devour themselves.

Take his mainstream breakthrough Hairspray, for example. Re...