Director of the Who’s “Tommy,” Ken Russell, Passes Away

Share this
View Comments
AP Photo

AP Photo

Ken Russell, who directed the film version of the Who‘s Tommy, has passed away at the age of eighty-four. The British filmmaker was known for his pioneering work in television and film, which was both praised and criticized for their flamboyant and controversial style.

Besides Tommy, which earned Pete Townshend an Oscar nomination for its score, Russell won an Academy Award for his 1969 film Women in Love, and directed other noteworthy films like The Devils (1971) and the science fiction film Altered States (1980).

Released in 1975, Tommy featured an all-star cast which included Jack Nicholson, Elton John, Tina Turner, and lead singer of the Who, Roger Daltrey.


As Rolling Stone reports, the director passed away after a series of strokes.


More from WCBSFM.com >

[photogallerylink id=62385]
[photogallerylink id=62361]
[photogallerylink id=62383]
[photogallerylink id=62424]

Share this
View Comments
  • ahzroc

    I saw all the Ken Russell films in the 70′s…When the Phoenix song “Lisztomania” was released, most of the on-air personalities old enough to have known it did NOT remember it or any of the other challenging, entertaining, and yes, disturbing films from this enigmatic master…Hope people will go back and review his repetoire

blog comments powered by Disqus
Listen Live!

WCBSFM on Twitter

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.