Ken Russell
Directing
- Born:
- 1927-07-03
- Died:
- 2011-11-27
- Place of birth:
- Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK
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. Among his best known works are the Oscar-winning romantic drama Women in Love (1969), the notoriously controversial psychological horror 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
Filmography
Twiggy
The Who: One Band's Explosive Story
Kitsune
Director of Devils
Ken Russell: A Bit of a Devil
The Devils Original on-set footage
Mr. Nice
Boudica Bites Back
A Kitten for Hitler
10 Best Elgar
Watch the Birdie
The Real Blue Nuns
Trapped Ashes
Brothers of the Head
Charlotte Brontë Enters the Big Brother House
Colour Me Kubrick
The Miners' Picnic by Ken Russell
Agatha Christie's Marple
Revenge of the Elephant Man
100 Greatest Sexy Moments
Celebrity Naked Ambition
Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils
Elgar: Fantasy on a Composer on a Bicycle
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Waking the Dead
Celebrity Big Brother
The Real Oliver Reed
Lion's Mouth
Dogboys
In Search of the English Folk Song
Mindbender
Tales of Erotica
Treasure Island
Empire of the Censors
Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue
The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch
Alice in Russialand
Erotic Tales
Frank Stubbs Promotes
Lady Chatterley
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
The Mystery of Dr Martinu
Prisoner of Honor
Whore
Road to Mandalay
The Russia House
The Strange Affliction of Anton Bruckner
Women and Men: Stories of Seduction
Plunder
The Rainbow
A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible
Il Mefistofele
The Lair of the White Worm
Salome's Last Dance
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
Your Honour, I Object! Guccione V Russell
Aria
Gothic
A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema
Faust