Ken Russell
Known For: Directing
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: July 3, 1927
Day of Death: November 27, 2011 (84 years old)
Place of Birth: Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK
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."
2025
2022
2016
2012
2010
2009
2007
2006
Actor Self
The Real Blue Nuns
Actor Dr. Lucy (segment "The Girl with Golden Breasts")
Trapped Ashes
Actor Himself
Brothers of the Head
Director
Trapped Ashes
Producer
Charlotte Brontë Enters the Big Brother House
Director
Charlotte Brontë Enters the Big Brother House
Director of Photography
Charlotte Brontë Enters the Big Brother House
Writer
Charlotte Brontë Enters the Big Brother House
Choreographer
Charlotte Brontë Enters the Big Brother House
2005
2004
2002
Actor Dr. Calahari
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Actor Self
Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils
Actor Narrator (voice)
Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle
Director
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Producer
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Cinematography
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Editor
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Writer
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Director
Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle
Producer
Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle
Writer
Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle
2000
1998
1997
1996
1995
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
Actor Cappadocian
Salome's Last Dance
Actor Himself
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
Actor Police Radio (voice) (uncredited)
The Lair of the White Worm
Director
The Lair of the White Worm
Screenplay
The Lair of the White Worm
Producer
The Lair of the White Worm
Director
Salome's Last Dance
Screenplay
Salome's Last Dance
Writer
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
Director
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
