“She had a tough life. She said to me once, “I wouldn't have minded if I’d gone to jail. I think that would be a nice place to retire.” And she wasn't kidding. They would take care of her. Wow, Edie – aim higher! But she was in jail – she wasn't someone you’d ever imagine had been in jail, because if there was ever a person without a mean bone in her body, it was Edith. Except when she drank: then she’d turn completely and get mean. “I hate eggs!” I only saw her drunk a couple of times. She knew it wasn't a good idea.” / John Waters reminiscing about Edith Massey in my epic 2010 interview with him for Nude magazine /
Snaggle-toothed punk granny, thrift shop proprietress and “outsider actress” Edith “Edie” Massey (28 May 1918 - 24 October 1984) – perhaps the most beloved of all John Waters’ freaky repertory troupe of actors – died on this day forty years ago. Massey made her film debut in Waters’ early “gutter film” Multiple Maniacs (1970). Her final appearance (for Waters) was as cleaning lady-turned-debutante Cuddles Kovinsky in Polyester (1981). Massey’s most treasured performances – as Mama Edie the Egg Lady in Pink Flamingos (1972), Aunt Ida in Female Trouble (1974) and Queen Carlotta in Desperate Living (1977) – will live forever. Massey and Divine onscreen together is probably my all-time favourite comedy double act (like Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz for freaks and punks). Crank up “Punks Get off the Grass” (or her covers of “Fever” or “Big Girls Don’t Cry”), eat a hard-boiled egg and use “rah sha sha” in a sentence today in Massey’s honour.
