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."

Directed

1. Altered States (1980) — Director
2. The Devils (1971) — Director
3. Tommy (1975) — Director
4. The Lair of the White Worm (1988) — Director
5. Crimes of Passion (1984) — Director
6. Gothic (1987) — Director
7. Women in Love (1969) — Director
8. Billion Dollar Brain (1967) — Director
9. Whore (1991) — Director
10. The Music Lovers (1971) — Director
11. Trapped Ashes (2006) — Director
12. Aria (1987) — Director
13. Mahler (1974) — Director
14. Valentino (1977) — Director
15. The Boy Friend (1971) — Director
16. Lisztomania (1975) — Director
17. The Rainbow (1989) — Director
18. Salome's Last Dance (1988) — Director
19. Savage Messiah (1972) — Director
20. Lady Chatterley (1993) — Director
21. Dante's Inferno (1967) — Director
22. Prisoner of Honor (1991) — Director
23. French Dressing (1964) — Director
24. Amelia and the Angel (1958) — Director
25. The Debussy Film (1965) — Director
26. Dogboys (1998) — Director
27. The Fall of the Louse of Usher (2002) — Director
28. Tales of Erotica (1996) — Director
29. Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990) — Director
30. Song of Summer (1968) — Director
31. A Kitten for Hitler (2007) — Director
32. Elgar (1962) — Director
33. The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch (1995) — Director
34. Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1966) — Director
35. A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible (1989) — Director
36. The Mystery of Dr Martinu (1992) — Director
37. A House in Bayswater (1960) — Director
38. The South Bank Show (1978) — Director
39. Always on Sunday (1965) — Director
40. The Planets (1983) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Tommy (1975) — Cripple (uncredited)
2. The Russia House (1990) — Walter
3. The Lair of the White Worm (1988) — Police Radio (voice) (uncredited)
4. Gothic (1987) — Tourist
5. Mr. Nice (2010) — Russell Miegs
6. Agatha Christie's Marple (2004) — Rev Caleb Dane Calthrop
7. Whore (1991) — Waiter (uncredited)
8. Colour Me Kubrick (2005) — The Man In Nightgown
9. Trapped Ashes (2006) — Dr. Lucy (segment "The Girl with Golden Breasts")
10. Valentino (1977) — Rex Ingram (uncredited)
11. Waking the Dead (2001) — Gerry Raistrick
12. Celebrity Big Brother (2001) — Self
13. The Who: The Kids Are Alright (1979) — Self
14. Salome's Last Dance (1988) — Cappadocian
15. Savage Messiah (1972) — Passenger getting off train in station (uncredited)
16. Brothers of the Head (2006) — Himself
17. Lady Chatterley (1993) — Sir Michael Reid
18. The Fall of the Louse of Usher (2002) — Dr. Calahari
19. Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils (2002) — Self
20. Tales of Erotica (1996) — Mr. Kirsch (segment 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch') (uncredited)
21. A Kitten for Hitler (2007) — Santa
22. Song of Summer (1968) — Priest
23. Omnibus (1967) — Self
24. Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1966) — Captain Patterson
25. The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch (1995) — Mr. Kirsch
26. A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible (1989)
27. The South Bank Show (1978) — Self
28. The Real Blue Nuns (2006) — Self
29. Film '72 (1971) — Self
30. Twiggy (2025) — (archival footage)
31. In Search of the English Folk Song (1997) — Self
32. Empire of the Censors (1995) — Self
33. The Secret Life of Arnold Bax (1992) — Sir Arnold Bax
34. Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle (2002) — Narrator (voice)
35. Alice in Russialand (1995)
36. 100 Greatest Sexy Moments (2003) — Self
37. Celebrity Naked Ambition (2003) — Self - Contributor
38. Frank Stubbs Promotes (1993) — Self
39. Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait (1984) — Self
40. Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue (1995) — Self