Ken Russell, controversial film director of Women In Love and The Devils, dies at 84

Tributes pour in for veteran director, who had been unwell 'for some time'
Russell passed away peacefully in his sleep
He recently agreed to direct feature film Alice In Wonderland The Musical

By Graham Smith

Last updated at 4:25 PM on 28th November 2011

Film director Ken Russell died in hospital yesterday. He was 84

Ken Russell, the film director whose daring and sometimes outrageous films often tested the patience of audiences and critics, has died. He was 84.

The director's son, Alex, said Russell died in hospital on Sunday.

His widow Elize Tribble said she was 'devastated' by her husband's death, which had been 'completely unexpected'.

She said: 'It is with great sadness that I can confirm that Ken Russell passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday afternoon.

'It was completely unexpected, as he was doing what he loved.

'He had recently agreed to direct the feature film Alice In Wonderland The Musical and he was working on the script and casting of that.

'He also had just completed an article for The Times on a review of the re-release of his film The Devils, so he was keeping himself very busy.

'I am in the process of informing his extended family who are, like me, devastated at Ken's passing.'

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.

Like its source novel, Women In Love immediately attracted controversy on its release in 1969 for its nude male wrestling scene between Alan Bates and Oliver Reed.

One of its stars, Glenda Jackson, today said she was shocked and saddened to hear of Russell's death.

She said working with the director on the film, for which she won an Oscar and he was Oscar-nominated was a 'wonderful experience'.

'Enfant terrible': Russell and his fourth wife Elize Tribble, who he married in 2001

At work: Russell and former Beatle Ringo Starr on the set of 1975's Lisztomania

RUSSELL'S LIFE IN FILM

French Dressing (1963)
Billion Dollar Brain (1967)
Women In Love (1969)

Lead: Roger Daltrey in Tommy (1975)

The Music Lovers (1971)
The Devils (1971)
The Boy Friend (1971)
Savage Messiah (1972)
Mahler (1974)
Tommy (1975)
Lisztomania (1976)
Valentino (1977)
Altered States (1980)
Crimes Of Passion (1984)
Gothic (1987)
The Lair Of The White Worm (1988)
Salome's Last Dance (1988)
The Rainbow (1989)
Whore (1991)
The Lion's Mouth (2000)
The Fall Of The Louse Of Usher (2002)

The actress-turned-Labour MP, who starred in a number of the director's other films including The Music Lovers, said he 'became a friend for life'.

She said: 'I was in regular touch with him by phone and we last spoke only a few weeks ago.

'It has come as a great shock to me. There was no forewarning.'

She added: 'He was absolutely fantastic and working with him was a wonderful experience. He created a climate in which people could produce their best work and I loved him dearly.'

Oliver Reed also starred alongside Vanessa Redgrave in Russell's 1971 film The Devils, a movie so incendiary that it was only announced this month that the X-rated British version - itself cut pre-release - would finally be receiving a DVD release next year.

Russell, who has been described as the enfant terrible of British cinema, began his career in television.

Film director Michael Winner today praised Russell for his 'unique' contribution to British film-making.

He said: 'He had been terribly, terribly ill for some time. I've known Ken since 1968. He was the most innovative director.

'I persuaded Oliver Reed to work with him even though Oliver said "I'm not a TV star, I'm a movie star."

'His television was in a field of its own, it was absolutely extraordinary. Then he graduated to movies.'

Mr Winner added: 'He was also a very nice person. He was very cheerful and very well-meaning.

'He had a very good run even though his style of picture-making became obsolete, but that happened to everyone, Billy Wilder and Hitchcock.

'His contribution to TV and cinema in this country is absolutely unique. He took it into areas it hadn't been before.

'They were riveting movies and TV because this strange mind was at work.'

Joely Richardson, who starred as Lady Chatterley opposite Sean Bean in Russell's 1993 BBC TV series Lady Chatterley, was also among those who paid tribute.

'I will forever feel privileged and honoured to have worked with the great Ken Russell,' she said.
'More than that, I was extremely fond of the man himself.'

The film-maker in 2004. Film director Michael Winner today paid tribute to Russell, saying he made a 'unique' contribution to British cinema

Incendiary: Vanessa Redgrave (pictured) starred alongside Oliver Reed in The Devils, Russell's highly controversial 1971 film

Actress Amanda Donohoe, who starred in Russell's The Rainbow and The Lair Of The White Worm, said: 'He pushed the boundaries of British cinema to its limits in both comedy and serious drama.
'His work was unique, vibrant and provocative and his influence on contemporary film-makers should never be underestimated.'
Television host and film critic Jonathan Ross was one of many to pay tribute to Russell on Twitter.
He Tweeted: 'A film-maker of rare vision and unique talent. Also, a lovely man to spend time with. Sad day.'
Russell went on to make an unlikely appearance in Celebrity Big Brother in 2007, although he lasted only a matter of days, leaving after a disagreement with fellow contestant Jade Goody.

Looking on: Russell stands outside his New Forest cottage as it burns behind him in 2006

The film-maker first gained a reputation while directing for BBC arts programme Monitor. He is still revered for a programme about Edward Elgar which did much to revive the composer's music.
He went on to establish a successful cinema career, following up the notoriety of Women In Love with films such as The Music Lovers and Valentino.
In 1971 he won huge acclaim for his adaptation of the Broadway hit The Boy Friend - a 1920s musical pastiche - casting model Twiggy in the lead role.
Four years later he brought to life The Who's rock opera Tommy with a star-studded cast including Oliver Reed, Jack Nicholson, Tina Turner and Elton John.
But as time went on his budgets became more modest although he continued to use familiar themes of sex and religion in movies such as The Lair Of The White Worm, which gave an early break to Hugh Grant, and Crimes Of Passion.

OBITUARY: 'AN INSANE, LIKEABLE FILM DIRECTOR'

Ken Russell, who has been described as the enfant terrible of British cinema, was one of the most acclaimed and controversial film directors of his generation.
He made his name with his sexually-graphic 1969 adaptation of DH Lawrence's Women In Love, which earned him an Oscar nomination and international recognition.
The late actor Oliver Reed, who wrestled naked with Alan Bates in the film, said that when he worked with Russell on Women in Love, the director was 'starting to go crazy'.

Altered reality: Russell arrives to cheers outside the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2007. He walked out four days later

Reed said: 'Before that he was a sane, likeable TV director. Now he's an insane, likeable film director.'
The success - and notoriety - of Women In Love enabled Russell to cast aside any inhibitions and to embark on outlandish pseudo-biographical films which helped to earn him the reputation which he craved, that of an unconventional eccentric on the wild side.
Ken Russell was born on July 3, 1927 in Southampton. At the age of ten, he was given a film projector which sparked off his love of movies.
He was sent to Pangbourne Nautical College at 15, but found the discipline irksome. Even so, he entered the Merchant Navy as sixth officer on a cargo ship bound for the Pacific.
After the Second World War, his fascination with the sea ended, and his family assumed he would enter the shoe business, a prospect which horrified him.
Russell tried without success to enter the film business, but in his early 20s he turned his attention to ballet and classical music.
For five years he attended dance school and toured with dance troupes, before finally accepting that he was not a good dancer.

From left to right: Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson, Alan Bates, Jennie Linden and Eleanor Bron in 1969's Women In Love

Then he turned to fashion photography and started to make some black and white silent films. He took one of these films Amelia to the BBC and as a result he landed a job on the Monitor arts programme.
He continued to make films and his film on composer Edward Elgar became one of the most popular shows on TV and was largely responsible for the revival of Elgar's music.
Overall, Russell made some 32 films for the Monitor and Omnibus programmes and established himself as one of the finest directors in British TV.
He was then given the opportunity of directing outside TV and his film Women In Love was not only a landmark in British cinema but for Russell as well.
In the 1970s his talents blossomed and over the next two decades he was to direct a succession of remarkable films, most of them containing his trademark flamboyance.

Russell's final years as a film-maker saw him work within increasingly small budgets

These included The Music Lovers, Savage Messiah, Mahler, Lisztomania and Valentino. In 1971 he moved from the X-rated The Devils to The Boy Friend, which he turned into a homage to 1930s movie musicals.
In 1975 he turned his attention to The Who's rock opera Tommy, but later returned to small budget, but no less flamboyant fare, including Crimes of Passion, Gothic, Salome's Last Dance and the cult horror-comedy The Lair Of The White Worm.
Later, he was to revisit Lawrence for a straightforward adaptation of The Rainbow followed by the gritty Whore in 1991.
And his performance as the tea-pouring secret agent in The Russia House (1990) was a welcome bit of comedy relief.
The following year he was to direct Richard Dreyfuss in the TV movie Prisoner of Honour. And he also tried a music video, making Nikita for Elton John.
Russell was always vulgar and outrageous but seen, too, as a master stylist. He published an autobiography Altered States in 1992 and a broad-ranging collection of film critiques, The Lion Roars two years later.
One of the most unlikely chapters of his career was a stint in the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2007.
He lasted just four days, driven out in the wake of a row about contestants having to wait on Jade Goody and her family.
Russell had earlier started in good spirits, performing Singin' In The Rain as he entered the house. But as he left he spoke about the divisiveness created by being in the house, saying: 'I don't want to live in a society riddled with evil and hatred.'
In later years his film-making efforts were rather low-budget affairs such as his The Fall Of The Louse Of Usher which was panned by the critics.
Four-times married Russell also took a number of cameo roles in the past decade, appearing in his own films as well as movies such as Brothers Of The Head and Colour Me Kubrick.

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