Wilbur Turnblad

"'This is America, babe. You gotta think big to be big.' – Wilbur Turnblad"Wilbur Turnblad is Tracy Turnblad's father and Edna Turnblad's husband.

Pre-1962
When he was a teenager, his parents begged him to run away and join the circus. However, due to his strong aspiration to open a large chain of joke shops, he turned down their wishes.

Later in life, he became private first class in the military during World War II. It was after the war, in 1945, that he met Edna at a chocolate rationing party no less.

In 1946, he tried to persuade the military to fund nuclear-powered juggling robot research, but was ultimately turned down. Later that year, he and Edna wed, much to the chagrin of his parents (who still hoped he'd end up in the circus). His daughter, Tracy, was born in 1947.

In 1955, he bought a down-and-out novelty shop in Baltimore's Highlandtown and turned it into the Hardy Har Hut, the first of his prospective mega chain.

1962
At the start of the events in Hairspray, Wilbur is still hopeful that his childhood dream would become a reality, even though, seven years after opening the Hardy Har Hut, it hasn't progressed. However, as is his outlook on life, he remains optimistic that everything will work out in the end.

Since he is quite the dreamer himself, Wilbur is ecstatic to find out that Tracy has the opportunity to audition for ''The Corny Collins Show. ''He couldn't be more encouraging of her to chase her aspirations, even if Edna doesn't feel the same way.

When Tracy ultimately lands the gig, Wilbur is right there in front of the television set, cheering on his baby girl. Upon finding out that African Americans can't dance together on TV, Tracy decides to lead a protest against WZZT-TV, and Wilbur gives her his full support. Moreover, after Tracy and the women are arrested at the protest, he ends up mortgaging his business to raise enough money to bail out every one of them – a strong testament to how loyal he is to his family. Nevertheless, when Tracy remains behind bars, he comes up with a plan to get back at the Von Tussles, steer his daughter to victory, and fulfill Edna's dream of becoming a fashion designer.

He ends up inventing a giant Ultra Clutch hairspray can, within which Edna can hide, only to later emerge, revealing her beautiful dress designs on the nationwide broadcast of the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant.

Post 1962
In 1970, Wilbur's dream became even bigger than he'd initially dreamed, when he opened his own amusement park called Har-De-Har Land. The featured attraction of the park were specialized rides, focused on squirting stuff at the patrons and making crude noises.

In 1989, he opened up his second amusement park called Fashion Fair. This time, life-like robots wearing Edna's designs were the feature.

Finally, in 1999, his fifth location of Har-De-Har Land opened in Europe, aptly named Euro-Har-De-Har.