Kenneth Anger

Biography

Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemeyer; February 3, 1927 - May 11, 2023) was an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor and author. Working exclusively in short films, he produced almost forty works since 1937, nine of which in particular have been grouped together as the "Magick Lantern Cycle," and form the basis of Anger's reputation as one of the most influential independent filmmakers in cinema history. His films variously merge surrealism with homoeroticism and the occult, and have been described as containing "elements of erotica, documentary, psychodrama, and spectacle." Anger himself has been described as "one of America's first openly gay filmmakers, and certainly the first whose work addressed homosexuality in an undisguised, self-implicating manner," and his "role in rendering gay culture visible within American cinema, commercial or otherwise, is impossible to overestimate." Some of his particularly homoerotic works, such as Fireworks (1947) and Scorpio Rising (1964), were produced prior to the legalisation of homosexuality in the United States. He has also focused upon occult themes in many of his films, being fascinated by the notorious English occul…

Directed

1. Scorpio Rising (1964) — Director
2. Lucifer Rising (1974) — Director
3. Fireworks (1947) — Director
4. Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969) — Director
5. Puce Moment (1949) — Director
6. Rabbit's Moon (1971) — Director
7. The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954) — Director
8. Kustom Kar Kommandos (1965) — Director
9. Eaux d'Artifice (1953) — Director
10. The Man We Want to Hang (2002) — Director
11. Mouse Heaven (2004) — Director
12. Magick Lantern Cycle (1974) — Director
13. Anger Sees Red (2004) — Director
14. Rabbit's Moon (1979) — Director
15. Brush of Baphomet (2009) — Director
16. My Surfing Lucifer (2007) — Director
17. Don't Smoke That Cigarette (1999) — Director
18. Ich will! (2008) — Director
19. Missoni (2010) — Director
20. The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume One (2007) — Director
21. The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume Two (2007) — Director
22. The Nest (1943) — Director
23. Tinsel Tree (1942) — Director
24. Senators in Bondage (1976) — Director
25. 42 One Dream Rush (2010) — Director
26. Escape Episode (1947) — Director
27. Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat (1941) — Director
28. Prisoner of Mars (1942) — Director
29. Airships (2013) — Director
30. Technicolor Skull (2014) — Director
31. Uniform Attraction (2008) — Director
32. I'll Be Watching You (2007) — Director
33. Foreplay (2008) — Director
34. Elliott's Suicide (2007) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Lucifer Rising (1974) — The Magus (uncredited)
2. Fireworks (1947) — Dreamer (uncredited)
3. Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969) — The Magick (uncredited)
4. The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954) — Hecate
5. The Dead (1960)
6. Arabesque for Kenneth Anger (1961)
7. Magick Lantern Cycle (1974) — Dreamer / Hecate / The Magick / The Magus
8. Mansfield 66/67 (2017) — Self
9. He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life (1986) — Self (archive footage)
10. Jonas in the Desert (1994) — Self
11. Notes on Marie Menken (2006) — Self
12. FLicKeR (2009) — Self
13. Anger Me (2006) — Himself
14. Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker (1995) — Self
15. Birth of a Nation (1997) — Self
16. Night of Pan (2009) — Lucifer
17. Kenneth Anger: Film as Magical Ritual (1970) — Himself
18. Langlois (1970) — Self
19. SexTV (1998)
20. 24 Hour Sunset (2023)
21. Disinfo.Con (2007) — Self
22. The Beach Boys and The Satan (1997) — Self
23. The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume One (2007)
24. The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume Two (2007)
25. Anton LaVey: Into the Devil's Den (2019) — Himself
26. Rescued from the Closet (2001) — Self
27. Hedy Lamarr: Secrets of a Hollywood Star (2006)
28. The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin (2015)
29. Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (2002) — Self (uncredited)
30. Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon (1991) — Himself
31. 42 One Dream Rush (2010) — Lucifer
32. 365 Day Project (2007) — Self
33. Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof (2003) — Self
34. Prisoner of Mars (1942)
35. The Rolling Stones - The First 20 Years (1982) — Self
36. The Spells of Kenneth Anger (2003) — himself
37. 72 Hours In André Balazs’ Chateau Marmont With Kenneth Anger (2018) — Self
38. Cinemagician: Conversations with Kenneth Anger (2019)
39. Look Back at Anger (1974) — Self
40. A Spy in the House of Love (1998) — Himself