Directing · Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK · Born July 3, 1927
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."
MovieTwiggy
2025
as (archival footage)
MovieThe Who: One Band's Explosive Story
2022
as Self (archive footage)
MovieDirector of Devils
2012
as Self
MovieKen Russell: A Bit of a Devil
2012
as Self (archive footage)
The Devils Original on-set footage
2012
MovieMr. Nice
2010
as Russell Miegs
MovieThe Aristofrogs
2010
Boudica Bites Back
2009
as Roman Senator
MovieA Kitten for Hitler
2007
as Santa
Movie10 Best Elgar
2007
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Real Blue Nuns
2006
as Self
MovieTrapped Ashes
2006
as Dr. Lucy (segment "The Girl with Golden Breasts")
MovieBrothers of the Head
2006
as Himself
MovieColour Me Kubrick
2005
as The Man In Nightgown
TVAgatha Christie's Marple
2004
as Rev Caleb Dane Calthrop
Revenge of the Elephant Man
2004
Movie100 Greatest Sexy Moments
2003
as Self
MovieCelebrity Naked Ambition
2003
as Self - Contributor
MovieHell on Earth: The Desecration & Resurrection of The Devils
2002
as Self
MovieElgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle
2002
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Fall of the Louse of Usher
2002
as Dr. Calahari
TVWaking the Dead
2001
as Gerry Raistrick
TVCelebrity Big Brother
2001
as Self
MovieThe Real Oliver Reed
2000
as Self
Lion's Mouth
2000
as Ken
MovieIn Search of the English Folk Song
1997
as Self
MovieVem Var Dracula
1996
as Self
MovieTales of Erotica
1996
as Mr. Kirsch (segment 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch') (uncredited)
Empire of the Censors
1995
as Self
MovieMusic for the Movies: Georges Delerue
1995
as Self
MovieThe Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch
1995
as Mr. Kirsch
MovieAlice in Russialand
1995
TVFrank Stubbs Promotes
1993
as Self
TVLady Chatterley
1993
as Sir Michael Reid
MovieThe Secret Life of Arnold Bax
1992
as Sir Arnold Bax
MovieWhore
1991
as Waiter (uncredited)
Road to Mandalay
1991
as Self
MovieThe Russia House
1990
as Walter
Plunder
1990
MovieA British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible
1989
MovieThe Lair of the White Worm
1988
as Police Radio (voice) (uncredited)
MovieSalome's Last Dance
1988
as Cappadocian
MovieKen Russell's ABC of British Music
1988
as Himself
MovieYour Honour, I Object! Guccione V Russell
1987
MovieGothic
1987
as Tourist
MovieA Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema
1986
as Self
MovieVaughan Williams: A Symphonic Portrait
1984
as Self
MovieThe Who: The Kids Are Alright
1979
as Self
TVThe South Bank Show
1978
as Self
MovieValentino
1977
as Rex Ingram (uncredited)
MovieTommy
1975
as Cripple (uncredited)
MovieSavage Messiah
1972
as Passenger getting off train in station (uncredited)
Film '72
1971
as Self
MovieSong of Summer
1968
as Priest
TVOmnibus
1967
as Self
MovieDon’t Shoot the Composer
1966
as Himself
MovieIsadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World
1966
as Captain Patterson
Russell at Work
1966
MovieWalk With The Damned
1961
as Hood
MoviePuzzleFace
as god
