Ken Russell
Directing • Born 1927-07-03 – Died 2011-11-27
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."
Filmography
58 credits
Whore
Movie • 1991
Waiter (uncredited)
Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait
Movie • 1983
Self
Gothic
Movie • 1987
Tourist
The Real Blue Nuns
Movie • 2006
Self
Tommy
Movie • 1975
Cripple (uncredited)
Trapped Ashes
Movie • 2006
Dr. Lucy (segment "The Girl with Golden Breasts")
Valentino
Movie • 1977
Rex Ingram (uncredited)
Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World
Movie • 1966
Captain Patterson
Salome's Last Dance
Movie • 1988
Cappadocian
The Real Oliver Reed
Movie • 2000
Self
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Movie • 2002
Dr. Calahari
A Kitten for Hitler
Movie • 2007
Santa
Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils
Movie • 2002
Self
Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue
Movie • 1995
Self
Boudica Bites Back
Movie • 2009
Roman Senator
Savage Messiah
Movie • 1972
Passenger getting off train in station (uncredited)
The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch
Movie • 1995
Mr. Kirsch
Revenge of the Elephant Man
Movie • 2004
Mr. Nice
Movie • 2010
Russell Miegs
Lion's Mouth
Movie • 2000
Ken
The Who: One Band's Explosive Story
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Vem Var Dracula
Movie • 1996
Self
Your Honour, I Object! Guccione V Russell
Movie • 1987
Don’t Shoot the Composer
Movie • 1966
Himself
Brothers of the Head
Movie • 2006
Himself
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
Movie • 1988
Himself
Director of Devils
Movie • 2012
Self
A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema
Movie • 1986
Self
10 Best Elgar
Movie • 2007
Self (archive footage)
The Russia House
Movie • 1990
Walter
Empire of the Censors
Movie • 1995
Self
Ken Russell: A Bit of a Devil
Movie • 2012
Self (archive footage)
Song of Summer
Movie • 1968
Priest
Colour Me Kubrick
Movie • 2005
The Man In Nightgown
The Lair of the White Worm
Movie • 1988
Police Radio (voice) (uncredited)
Walk With The Damned
Movie • 1961
Hood
Russell at Work
Movie • 1966
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
Movie • 1992
Sir Arnold Bax
The Aristofrogs
Movie • 2010
A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible
Movie • 1989
The Devils Original on-set footage
Movie • 2012
PuzzleFace
Movie
god
Ken Russell: In Search of the English Folk Song
Movie • 1997
Himself
The Who: The Kids Are Alright
Movie • 1979
Self
Twiggy
Movie • 2025
(archival footage)
Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle
Movie • 2002
Narrator (voice)
Alice in Russialand
Movie • 1995
100 Greatest Sexy Moments
Movie • 2003
Self
Tales of Erotica
Movie • 1996
Mr. Kirsch (segment 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch') (uncredited)
Celebrity Naked Ambition
Movie • 2003
Self - Contributor
The South Bank Show
TV • 1978
Self
Plunder
TV • 1990
Waking the Dead
TV • 2001
Gerry Raistrick
Frank Stubbs Promotes
TV • 1993
Self
Agatha Christie's Marple
TV • 2004
Rev Caleb Dane Calthrop
Celebrity Big Brother
TV • 2001
Self
Omnibus
TV • 1967
Self
Lady Chatterley
TV • 1993
Sir Michael Reid