Caramel Corn

Name
Ken Russell

Known For
Directing

Birthday
1927-07-03

Deathday
2011-11-27 (84 years old)

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.

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."

Known For

Movies

Tv Shows

1991 Whore as Waiter (uncredited)
1984 Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait as Self
1987 Gothic as Tourist
2006 The Real Blue Nuns as Self
1975 Tommy as Cripple (uncredited)
2006 Trapped Ashes as Dr. Lucy (segment "The Girl with Golden Breasts")
1977 Valentino as Rex Ingram (uncredited)
1966 Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World as Captain Patterson
1988 Salome's Last Dance as Cappadocian
2000 The Real Oliver Reed as Self
2002 The Fall of the Louse of Usher as Dr. Calahari
2007 A Kitten for Hitler as Santa
2002 Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils as Self
1995 Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue as Self
2009 Boudica Bites Back as Roman Senator
1972 Savage Messiah as Passenger getting off train in station (uncredited)
1995 The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch as Mr. Kirsch
2004 Revenge of the Elephant Man
2010 Mr. Nice as Russell Miegs
2000 Lion's Mouth as Ken
2022 The Who: One Band's Explosive Story as Self (archive footage)
1987 Your Honour, I Object! Guccione V Russell
1966 Don’t Shoot the Composer as Himself
2006 Brothers of the Head as Himself
1988 Ken Russell's ABC of British Music as Himself
2012 Director of Devils as Self
1986 A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema as Self
2007 10 Best Elgar as Self (archive footage)
1990 The Russia House as Walter
1995 Empire of the Censors as Self
2012 Ken Russell: A Bit of a Devil as Self (archive footage)
1968 Song of Summer as Priest
2005 Colour Me Kubrick as The Man In Nightgown
1988 The Lair of the White Worm as Police Radio (voice) (uncredited)
1961 Walk With The Damned as Hood
1966 Russell at Work
1992 The Secret Life of Arnold Bax as Sir Arnold Bax
2010 The Aristofrogs
1989 A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible
2012 The Devils Original on-set footage
Soon PuzzleFace as god
1997 In Search of the English Folk Song as Self
1979 The Who: The Kids Are Alright as Self
2025 Twiggy as (archival footage)
2002 Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle as Narrator (voice)
1995 Alice in Russialand
2003 100 Greatest Sexy Moments as Self
1996 Tales of Erotica as Mr. Kirsch (segment 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch') (uncredited)
2003 Celebrity Naked Ambition as Self - Contributor
1991 Road to Mandalay as Self

1978 The South Bank Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
1990 Plunder ( 1 episode )
2001 Waking the Dead ( 1 episode ) as Gerry Raistrick
1993 Frank Stubbs Promotes ( 1 episode ) as Self
2004 Agatha Christie's Marple ( 1 episode ) as Rev Caleb Dane Calthrop
2001 Celebrity Big Brother ( 1 episode ) as Self
1967 Omnibus ( 3 episodes ) as Self
1993 Lady Chatterley ( 2 episodes ) as Sir Michael Reid
1971 Film '72 ( 1 episode ) as Self

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