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