Hairspray (1988)
- Starring:
- Ricki Lake, Michael St. Gerard, (more)
- Director(s):
- John Waters
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- PG
- Category:
- Comedy
My RatingTheatrical Release Information | See Details About All Versions
Forever interested in the kitsch built into past eras, director John Waters chooses the TV dance show craze of the early '60s for his playful focus in Hairspray. Ricki Lake plays Tracy Turnblad, just one of several alliteratively named characters coming of age in 1962 Baltimore, where "The Corny Collins Show" is the most popular American Bandstand-type program, watched by hundreds of young dreamers each day after school. Being chosen to dance on it is the ultimate status symbol and every young girl's dream, and Tracy improbably wins a featured spot when she infiltrates a dance contest and makes a better impression than her favored rival, the catty Amber von Tussle (Colleen Fitzpatrick). Always able to have fun, even when she's being mocked by the jealous popular girls, Tracy wins the affections of Amber's boyfriend and soon begins leading a movement to integrate the dance show, which has previously featured blacks only in a once-weekly theme night. She is arrested following a demonstration at a local theme park owned by Amber's father (Sonny Bono), who subscribes to the same theory of race relations as "The Corny Collins Show." Tracy's adventures are also filtered through her loving but eccentric parents (Divine and Jerry Stiller) and involve a humorous cultural clash with pot-smoking beatniks (Ric Ocasek and Pia Zadora). ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 92 mins
Complete Cast:
- Ricki Lake - Tracy Turnblad
- Divine - Edna Turnblad
- Sonny Bono - Franklin von Tussle
- Deborah Harry - Velma Von Tussle
- Clayton Prince - Seaweed
- Mink Stole - Tammy
- Ric Ocasek - Beatnik Cat
- James Parisi - Governor's Aide
- Brenda Alford - Trinklette #2
- W.H. Brown - Governor's Mansion Picket
- Divine - Arvin Hodgepile
- Holter Graham - I.Q. Jones
- Mary Jefferson - Street Lady #1
- Susan Lowe - Angry Mother
- Matt Myers - Singing Bum
- Patrick Mitchell - Teen Street Fan
- Rick Anderson - Von Tussle Picket
- John Waters - The Psychiatrist
- Peter Koper - Governor's Mansion Policeman
- Mark Oliver - Geometry Student
- Joseph Eubanks - Governor's Mansion Picket
- Toussaint McCall - Himself
- Alan J. Wendl - Mr. Pinky
- Carolyn Walker - Trinklette #3
- June Thorne - Von Tussle Picket
- George Stover - Governor's Mansion Policeman
- Michael St. Gerard - Link Larkin
- Colleen Fitzpatrick - Amber von Tussle
- Ruth Brown - Motormouth Maybell
- Leslie Ann Powers - Penny Pingleton
- Jerry Stiller - Wilbur Turnblad
- Shawn Thompson - Corny Collins
- William Rose - Amusement Park Patron
- Leo Rocca - Governor
- Scheryll Anderson - Amusement Park Patron
- Josh Charles - Iggy
- Jeff Gardner - Tough Guy #2
- Charlie Hawke - Amusement Park Patron
- Rosemary Knower - Mrs. Shipley
- Brooke Mills - Lou Ann
- Mary Vivian Pearce - Hairhopper Mother
- Keith Douglas - Lead Lafayette
- Joey Perillo - TV Secruity Guard
- Kevin Joseph - Joke Store Customer
- Michael Willis - Governor's Mansion Newsman
- Dan Griffith - Brad
- Brook Yeaton - Tough Guy #1
- Pia Zadora - Beatnik Chick
- Kim Webb - Carmelita
- Adam Tucker - Cop
- Darrell Taylor - Governor's Mansion Picket
- David Samson - WZZT Official
- Director(s):
- John Waters
- Writer(s):
- John Waters
- Producer(s):
- Robert Maier, Rachel Talalay, Sara Risher
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- PG(Suitable for Teens, Scatological Humor, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language)
- Categories:
- Comedy
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions







