John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. As an actor, Waters has appeared in films such as Sweet and Lowdown (1999), Seed of Chucky (2004), Excision (2012), and Suburban Gothic (2014). More recently, he performs in his touring one-man show This Filthy World. In addition to filmmaking and acting, Waters also works as an artist and across different mediums such as installations, photography, and sculpture. He has published multiple collections of his journalistic exploits, screenplays, ruminations, and artwork which exhibits regularly in galleries and museums around the world. In 2015, Waters was nominated for a Grammy Award for the spoken word version of his book Carsick, and again in 2020 for his book Mr. Know-It-All. In 2018, the government of France made him a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.