Person
Ken Russell
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 controver…
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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
Movies and shows, newest first
-
2025
Twiggy
Movie (archival footage)
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2022
The Who: One Band's Explosive Story
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2016
Kitsune
Movie Thanks
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2012
Director of Devils
Movie Self
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2012
Ken Russell: A Bit of a Devil
Movie Self (archive footage)
- 2012
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2010
Mr. Nice
Movie Russell Miegs
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2009
Boudica Bites Back
Movie Roman Senator
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2007
A Kitten for Hitler
Movie Santa
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2007
10 Best Elgar
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2007
Watch the Birdie
Movie Director
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2006
The Real Blue Nuns
Movie Self
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2006
Trapped Ashes
Movie Dr. Lucy (segment "The Girl with Golden Breasts")
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2006
Brothers of the Head
Movie Himself
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2006
Charlotte Brontë Enters the Big Brother House
Movie Choreographer
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2005
Colour Me Kubrick
Movie The Man In Nightgown
More credits
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2005
The Miners' Picnic by Ken Russell
Movie Director
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2004
Agatha Christie's Marple
TV show Rev Caleb Dane Calthrop
- 2004
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2003
100 Greatest Sexy Moments
Movie Self
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2003
Celebrity Naked Ambition
Movie Self - Contributor
- 2002
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2002
Elgar: Fantasy on a Composer on a Bicycle
Movie Narrator (voice)
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2002
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
Movie Dr. Calahari
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2001
Waking the Dead
TV show Gerry Raistrick
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2001
Celebrity Big Brother
TV show Self
-
2000
The Real Oliver Reed
Movie Self
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2000
Lion's Mouth
Movie Ken
-
1998
Dogboys
Movie Director
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1997
In Search of the English Folk Song
Movie Self
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1996
Mindbender
Movie Writer
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1996
Tales of Erotica
Movie Mr. Kirsch (segment 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch') (uncredited)
-
1995
Treasure Island
Movie Director
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1995
Empire of the Censors
Movie Self
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1995
Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue
Movie Self
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1995
The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch
Movie Mr. Kirsch
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1995
Alice in Russialand
Movie
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1993
Frank Stubbs Promotes
TV show Self
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1993
Lady Chatterley
TV show Sir Michael Reid
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1992
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
Movie Sir Arnold Bax
