Pink Flamingos November 1972: John Water's trailer-trash masterpiece flabbergasts an unsuspecting nation and launches the career of Indie darlings divine and Mink Stole. (Bold beginnings).

Part of the legend of Pink Flamingos is that those of us in front of the camera were non-pros. Hah! I say. We may not have been classically trained, and God knows we had no union, but we worked as hard as any Hollywood actors--and under worse conditions for virtually no money. We did it for love--the material, of the process, and of course, of John Waters. And in our own naive suburban way, we knew we were movie stars in the raw, mere moments from discovery by the major studios. We'd be loved by the masses and have fabulous clothes, mansions, cars, and money, money, money.

Well, the studios haven't called, and the big bags of money have yet to materialize, but the love--the love comes to me all the time. Whether the love comes from the man in line at Trader Joe's who insists I go ahead of him "because of all the laughs you've given me and my friends," or from the scarlet-headed rocker who calls to me, "I love you more than my own hair color," I am paid well and often. Strangers have thanked me for helping them forget for a few moments the terrible deaths of their lovers. Peers tell me of watching Pink Flamingos while stoned and how they'd take potential mates to a midnight screening and fall in or out of love based on the date's response. It's more than I ever expected to have, such an intimate relationship with so many people I've never met, and I am incredibly gratified and touched by their appreciation and affection.

Of course, having a fashion noun for a name can be an occasional liability. But I've learned to deal with those clever folks who, having never heard of me or Pink Flamingos, will guffaw, "And my name's Beaver Wrap." Aloud, I laugh appreciatively, and to myself I remember, There are two kinds of people in the world: my kind of people and assholes. Works every time.

Stole is taking the hit Sleeping With Straight Men by Ronnie Larsen off-Broadway in January and is currently working with the Best-Looking Band in Silver Lake on their first album.