Ken Russell
Known for: Directing
Born: July 3, 1927
Died: November 27, 2011
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."
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Filmography
106 movies · 12 TV shows, newest first
7.7
Twiggy
2025
7.0
The Who: One Band's Explosive Story
2022
5.0
Kitsune
2016
NR
Director of Devils
2012
8.0
Ken Russell: A Bit of a Devil
2012NR
The Devils Original on-set footage
2012
6.1
Mr. Nice
2010NR
Boudica Bites Back
2009
4.6
A Kitten for Hitler
2007
NR
10 Best Elgar
20077.0
Watch the Birdie
2007
4.5
The Real Blue Nuns
2006
5.1
Trapped Ashes
2006
5.5
Brothers of the Head
2006NR
Charlotte Brontë Enters the Big Brother House
2006
5.7
Colour Me Kubrick
2005NR
The Miners' Picnic by Ken Russell
2005
7.8
Agatha Christie's Marple
2004NR
Revenge of the Elephant Man
2004
3.5
100 Greatest Sexy Moments
2003
5.3
Celebrity Naked Ambition
2003
6.4
Hell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils
2002
7.3
Elgar: Fantasy on a Composer on a Bicycle
2002
5.1
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
2002
7.2
Waking the Dead
2001
5.0
Celebrity Big Brother
2001
NR
The Real Oliver Reed
20009.0
Lion's Mouth
2000
5.9
Dogboys
1998
7.5
In Search of the English Folk Song
1997
4.4
Mindbender
1996
3.9
Tales of Erotica
1996
5.5
Treasure Island
19955.3
Empire of the Censors
1995
7.0
Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue
1995
4.8
The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch
1995
8.0
Alice in Russialand
1995
7.5
Frank Stubbs Promotes
1993
6.3
Lady Chatterley
1993
6.3
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
19925.8
The Mystery of Dr Martinu
1992
6.1
Prisoner of Honor
1991
5.3
Whore
1991NR
Road to Mandalay
1991
6.1
The Russia House
19905.4
The Strange Affliction of Anton Bruckner
1990
4.4
Women and Men: Stories of Seduction
1990NR
Plunder
1990
5.7
The Rainbow
1989
6.5
A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible
1989
6.0
Il Mefistofele
1989
5.9
The Lair of the White Worm
1988
6.1
Salome's Last Dance
1988
10.0
Ken Russell's ABC of British Music
1988
NR
Your Honour, I Object! Guccione V Russell
1987
5.3
Aria
1987
5.7
Gothic
1987
NR
A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema
1986
6.0
Faust
1985
6.3
Crimes of Passion
1984
6.0
Vaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait
1984
7.3
The Planets
1983
6.7
Altered States
1980
7.3
The Who: The Kids Are Alright
19795.0
Clouds of Glory
1978
5.6
The South Bank Show
1978
5.8
Valentino
1977
5.8
Lisztomania
1975
6.5
Tommy
1975
6.8
Mahler
1974
6.3
Savage Messiah
1972
6.5
The Boy Friend
19715.1
Film '72
1971
7.5
The Devils
1971
6.5
The Music Lovers
1971
8.3
Dance of the Seven Veils
1970
6.6
Women in Love
1969
6.3
Song of Summer
1968
6.9
Dante's Inferno
1967
5.7
Billion Dollar Brain
1967
7.2
Omnibus
1967
8.0
Don’t Shoot the Composer
1966
5.4
Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World
1966NR
Russell at Work
1966
6.5
Always on Sunday
1965
7.6
The Debussy Film
1965
6.0
The Diary of a Nobody
1964NR
Six
1964
6.5
Bela Bartók
1964
5.5
French Dressing
1964
7.0
Elgar
1962
NR
Mr Chesher’s Traction Engines
1962
9.0
The Preservation Man
1962
6.3
Pop Goes the Easel
1962
7.0
The Lonely Shore
1962
7.0
London Moods
196110.0
Old Battersea House
1961
NR
Walk With The Damned
1961
7.0
Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill
1961
6.5
Prokofiev
1961
6.7
Antonio Gaudí
1961
6.0
The Light Fantastic
1960
6.7
Shelagh Delaney's Salford
1960
6.6
A House in Bayswater
1960
NR
A Bedlington Miners' Picnic
1960NR
Journey Into a Lost World
1960
NR
Scottish Painters
1959
NR
Portrait of a Goon
1959
6.0
From Spain to Streatham
1959
7.0
Variations on a Mechanical Theme
1959
NR
Gordon Jacob
1959
NR
John Betjeman: A Poet in London
1959
6.5
Amelia and the Angel
1958
7.3
Monitor
195810.0
Lourdes
19586.8
Peepshow
19565.8
Knights on Bikes
1956
NR
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