Susan Lowe
American actress, educator and painter (born 1948)
title: "Susan Lowe" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-film-actresses", "1948-births", "living-people", "maryland-institute-college-of-art-alumni", "people-from-reidsville,-north-carolina", "21st-century-american-women"] description: "American actress, educator and painter (born 1948)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Lowe" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American actress, educator and painter (born 1948) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| image | Mink Stole, John Waters and Susan Lowe - 2014 (27653043468) (cropped).jpg |
| name | Susan Lowe |
| alt | Susan Lowe |
| birth_name | Laura Susan Lowe |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Reidsville, North Carolina, U. S. |
| alma_mater | Maryland Institute College of Art |
| occupation | Actress, Educator, Artist |
| nationality | American |
| children | 2 |
| known_for | Dreamlanders |
| :: |
| image = Mink Stole, John Waters and Susan Lowe - 2014 (27653043468) (cropped).jpg | name = Susan Lowe | alt = Susan Lowe | caption = | birth_name = Laura Susan Lowe | birth_date = | birth_place = Reidsville, North Carolina, U. S. | alma_mater = Maryland Institute College of Art | occupation = Actress, Educator, Artist | nationality = American | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | children = 2 | years_active = | known_for = Dreamlanders | spouse = | website = Susan Lowe (born Laura Susan Lowe on January 19, 1948 in Reidsville, North Carolina) is an American actress, educator and painter. She has appeared almost exclusively in the works of John Waters for most of her career, starring in ten of his films.
About
Lowe was born in Reidsville, North Carolina on January 19, 1948. She was a student at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in the 1960s, when she became friends with Divine and other Dreamlanders.
Her first role with Waters was playing an asylum inmate in Mondo Trasho. She continued to play small parts in many of his films, but played the lead role of Mole McHenry, the ultra-butch bleach blonde lesbian, in Desperate Living.
She has taught art history classes at MICA, Catonsville Community College, and University of Maryland.
Personal life
Lowe has been married twice, and has two children. Her first husband, surnamed McLean, was a drawing teacher at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where Lowe had worked as a model. They wed in Ireland and had two children, Ruby and Ramsey McLean. The marriage ended seven years later. She later married Frank Tomboro of Baltimore. That union also ended in divorce.
Filmography
::data[format=table title="Filmography"]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Mondo Trasho | as an asylum inmate | |
| 1970 | Multiple Maniacs | as Suzi (Cavalcade Pervert) | |
| 1974 | Female Trouble | as Vikki, the receptionist | Her son, Ramsey McLean, appeared as the infant "Taffy" in this 1974 film. During her scenes in the film, Lowe was visibly pregnant; the birth scene was filmed a few days after Lowe gave birth. |
| 1977 | Desperate Living | as Mole McHenry, a lesbian heroine | |
| 1981 | Polyester | as Mall Victim | |
| 1988 | Hairspray | as Angry Mother | |
| 1990 | Cry-Baby | as Night Court Parent | |
| 1994 | Serial Mom | as Court Groupie B | |
| 1998 | Pecker | as Hairdresser | |
| 2000 | Cecil B. DeMented | as Family Lady A | |
| 2013 | I Am Divine | as Herself | |
| :: |
References
References
- Simmons, Dan Rodricks, Melody. "A Conversation with Susan Lowe".
- Gunts, Edward. (5 March 2009). "Welcome to the 'Nuthouse'".
- Peary, Gerald. "John Waters and his Dreamlanders in P-Town". Gerald Peary.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::