<\/p>\n
John Waters turned 80 on April 22<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Waters was celebrated in a special night out with his closest friends, marking the milestone birthday with laughs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Waters previously opened up to PEOPLE about his gratitude as he shares his art and continues to entertain the masses for six decades<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Happy birthday, John Waters<\/a>!<\/p>\n The filmmaker received a bounty of birthday wishes from collaborators as he celebrated turning 80 on April 22. Ricki Lake<\/a>, whose career was changed by Waters’ decision to cast her as Tracy Turnblad<\/a> in Hairspray<\/em><\/a>, penned a tribute to Waters shared on Instagram.<\/p>\n “Happy 80th Birthday to John Waters! Yes, celebrating this international treasure today and everyday. Eternally grateful for his mentorship and friendship and for choosing me to be his Tracy almost 39 years ago. \ud83d\udc97\ud83c\udf82\ud83d\ude18,” she captioned a set of photos of them throughout the years.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <\/strong>PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a> to stay up-to-dewlate on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n Waters celebrated his special day with a birthday dinner, photos of which were shared by Rajendra Roy, Chief Curator of Film at the Museum of Modern Art.<\/p>\n Roy previously praised Waters in a 2019 MoMA Magazine<\/em> piece, sharing, “John is the rarest of birds; monumentally smart and unimpeachably irreverent. He is, quite simply, our chosen Pope.\u201d<\/p>\n Lake, Steve Buscemi, Henny Garfunkel and Debbie Harry were among the friends gathered for the special celebration, which saw Waters blowing out the candles on a poppers-themed cake.<\/p>\n Garfunkel also shared a sweet tribute, along with more photos<\/a> from the evening out. “Happy 80th Birthday to my Great friend John Waters!! He is the gift that keeps giving to all of us !! Such a gorgeous celebration dinner. Thank you so much Marcus Hu, Christine Vachon, Cindy Sherman, and the folks at Prune! What a a joyful night!! And a wonderful way to spend my Birthday as well\u2026. I love you John\u2026”<\/p>\n Waters spoke with PEOPLE in November about his recently released audiobook, John Waters Screenplay Collection<\/em><\/a>, where he narrates six of his screenplays<\/a>.<\/p>\n Asked about what’s bringing him joy in this phase of life, Waters said, “Joy? I’ll be 80 years old next year and still doing 52 shows and being in touch with my audience and doing what I want to do for a living for so long, and I just thank all the people who’ve let me get away with this. All the people.”<\/p>\n Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n