Ken Russell
Biography
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was an English film director. He is known for his pioneering work in television and film, and for his controversial style. He has been criticized as being over-obsessed with sexuality and the church. His subject matter is often about famous composers, or based on other works of art which he adapts loosely. Russell began directing for the BBC, where he did creative adaptations of composers' lives which were unusual for the time. He also directed many feature films independently and for studios. He is best known for his Oscar-winning romantic drama Women in Love (1969), the notoriously controversial The Devils (1971), the rock musical Tommy (1975), and the science fiction film Altered States (1980). One noted admirer, British film critic Mark Kermode, attempting to sum up the director's achievement, called Russell; "somebody who proved that British cinema didn't have to be about kitchen-sink realism – it could be every bit as flamboyant as Fellini. He now makes very strange experimental films like Lion's Mouth and Revenge of the Elephant Man, and they are as edgy and out there as the work he made in the 1970s."
Known For
Waiter (uncredited)
Whore
Self
Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait
Tourist
Gothic
Self
The Real Blue Nuns
Cripple (uncredited)
Tommy
Dr. Lucy (segment "The Girl with Golden Breasts")
Trapped Ashes
Rex Ingram (uncredited)
Valentino
Captain Patterson
Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World
Cappadocian
Salome's Last Dance
Self
The Real Oliver Reed
Dr. Calahari
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Santa
A Kitten for Hitler
Self
Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils
Self
Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue
Roman Senator
Boudica Bites Back
Passenger getting off train in station (uncredited)
Savage Messiah
Mr. Kirsch
The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch
Revenge of the Elephant Man
Russell Miegs
Mr. Nice
Ken
Lion's Mouth
Self (archive footage)
The Who : pile et faces – La double vie d'un groupe anglais de légende
Self
Vem Var Dracula
Your Honour, I Object! Guccione V Russell
Himself
Don’t Shoot the Composer
Himself
Brothers of the Head
Himself
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
Self
Director of Devils
Self
A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema
Self (archive footage)
10 Best Elgar
Walter
The Russia House
Self
Empire of the Censors
Self (archive footage)
Ken Russell: A Bit of a Devil
Priest
Song of Summer
The Man In Nightgown
Colour Me Kubrick
Police Radio (voice) (uncredited)
The Lair of the White Worm
Hood
Walk With The Damned
Russell at Work
Sir Arnold Bax
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
The Aristofrogs
A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible
The Devils Original on-set footage
god
PuzzleFace
Himself
Ken Russell: In Search of the English Folk Song
Self
The Who: The Kids Are Alright
(archival footage)
Twiggy
Narrator (voice)
Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle
Alice in Russialand
Self
100 Greatest Sexy Moments
Mr. Kirsch (segment 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch') (uncredited)
Tales of Erotica
Personal Info
Known For
Directing
Known Credits
49
Gender
Male
Birthday
1927-07-03
Place of Birth
Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK
Also Known As
Alfred Russell