Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell born 3rd July 1927 in Southampton, U K took a slightly circuitous path into filmmaking, although it had always been one of his passions.After a stint in the Merchant Navy after an unhappy time at Pangbourne Naval College he grew disillusioned with ambition and spent six months in an armchair, refusing to join his parents shoe company, before deciding he wanted to dance. Five years of training and touring taught him that perhaps it wasnt the career for him either, so instead he drifted into fashion photography and started making short films as a hobby. One of these found its way to the BBC and Russell started to direct for the arts programmes Omnibus and Mentor. His films, particularly those based on Debussy and Elgar, were great successes and led to him being given the opportunity to direct cinematic releases.Once freed from the constraints of television Russells highly individual and in many ways excessive style became honed, and he successfully applied it to many genres musicals, rock operas, historical sagas, science fiction, literary adaptation and, of course, kitsch comedyhorror. Although his explicit overuse of symbolism, visualthematic gariety and religious & sexual imagery has not always won the praise of critics, there are few directors who can sport such a diverse resume or such a defined directorial style.Ken Russell continues to directorproducewrite and act to this day, and his films continue to be purchased and screened worldwide.

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