Eccentric British Film Director Ken Russell known for making Controversial Films died

The acclaimed and eccentric British film director Ken Russell died on 27 November 2011. The director was known for a florid adaptations of classic literature and over-the-top biopics that ranged from perverse to merely provocative. Russell is best known for controversial films including Women In Love and The Devils. Music played a central role in much of his work including The Music Lovers, and Tommy and Lisztomania.

About Ken Russell

Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell  born on 3 July 1927 in England was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism for being obsessed with sexuality and the church.In his famous film The Devils, Vanessa Redgrave played a nun who is vividly tortured. The church and the critics disgusted by the film's excesses and sadomasochism had objected.

He is best known for his Oscar-winning film Women in Love (1969), The Devils (1971), The Who's Tommy (1975), and the science fiction film Altered States (1980). Classical musicians and conductors held him in high regard for his story-driven biopics of various composers, most famously Elgar, Delius, Liszt, Mahler and Tchaikovsky.
He had moved into television work after short careers in dance and photography.

His series of documentary Teddy Girl photographs were published in Picture Post magazine in the summer of 1955, and he continued to work as a freelance documentary photographer until 1959. He worked with the BBC from 1959 to 1970 making arts documentaries for Monitor and Omnibus.

Russell's first feature film was French Dressing (1963), a comedy loosely based on Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman.

Russell in 1969 directed what is considered his signature film, Women In Love, an adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's novel of the same name about two artist sisters living in post-World War I Britain. Glenda Jackson won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Women In Love. Russell himself was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director for Women in Love. The film was BAFTA-nominated for the costume designs of Russell's first wife, Shirley.

Ken Russell (1927-2011) won a BAFTA in 1969 for creative contribution to television.