Ken Russell

Russell married four times in his lifetime. The first was to Shirley Kingdom in 1958. The marriage lasted for exactly two decades and produced five children, four sons and a daughter.

He married Vivian Jolly in 1984. The two separated in 1991 and had a son and a daughter from the relationship.

In 1992, Russell married Hetty Baynes. The couple was blessed with a son. They parted ways in 1997.

Ken Russell was born on July 3, 1927 in Southampton, England, to Ethel and Henry Russell. He was the first of the two sons born to the couple. His father was a shoe shop owner.

He had an unusual childhood. His father was temperamental and showed erratic behaviour, while his mother was mentally ill. Young Russell spent much of his happy times in theatres, watching cinema.

He gained his education from private schools in Walthamstow and later attended Pangbourne College. He studied photography at Walthamstow Technical College.

As a child, Ken Russell intended to become a ballet dancer. As time passed, he however, chose to join the Royal Air Force and Merchant Navy instead. After having served in the army, Russell switched back to his first love - ballet. He pursued a career in ballet and photography for a short duration.

He continued to work as a freelance photographer until 1959. Meanwhile, he also made several amateur films and documentaries. It was these documentaries that secured him a job in the BBC.

From 1959 to 1970, he directed art documentaries and tele-films for Monitor and Omnibus. In the 1960s came his best bit for television with his works gaining prominent success. ‘Elgar’, ‘The Debussy Film’, ‘Isadora Duncan, The Biggest Dancer in the World’, ‘Song of Summer’ and ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ were some of his best directed works.

While working for television, Russell made his tryst in films. He made his film debut in 1964 with ‘French Dressing’. It was a comedy that was loosely based on Robert Vadim’s ‘And God Created Women’. The film was barely noted and became a critical and commercial failure.

Following his debut debacle, Russell did not lose his spirit and made another film, ‘Always on Sunday’. A biopic, it centred on the life of Henri Rousseau, a French native painter. He followed it with ‘Dante’s Inferno’. In 1967, Russell came up with commercial cinema in ‘Billion Dollar Brain’.

Known for his highly controversial style and flamboyance, Russell’s best bit in cinema came in 1969 with the release of the most successful film of his career, ‘Women in Love’. The film gained several Academy Award nominations and became one of the classic films of the era. Till date, it is referred to as the signature film by Russell that delved on 1960s sexual revolution and bohemian politics. He followed its success with several other notable films including ‘The Devils’, ‘Tommy’ and ‘Altered States’.