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Kenneth Anger

Director, Editor, Writer, Actor, Producer, Additional Credits
Born February 3, 1927Died May 11, 2023 (96 years)
Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemeyer; February 3, 1927 - May 11, 2023) was an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor and author. Working exclusively in short films, he produced almost forty works since 1937, nine of which in particular have been grouped together as the "Magick Lantern Cycle," and form the basis of Anger's reputation as one of the most influential independent filmmakers in cinema history. His films variously merge surrealism with homoeroticism and the occult, and have been described as containing "elements of erotica, documentary, psychodrama, and spectacle." Anger himself has been described as "one of America's first openly gay filmmakers, and certainly the first whose work addressed homosexuality in an undisguised, self-implicating manner," and his "role in rendering gay culture visible within American cinema, commercial or otherwise, is impossible to overestimate." Some of his particularly homoerotic works, such as Fireworks (1947) and Scorpio Rising (1964), were produced prior to the legalisation of homosexuality in the United States. He has also focused upon occult themes in many of his films, being fascinated by the notorious English occultist Aleister Crowley, and is a follower of Crowley's religion, Thelema. This influence is evident from films like Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954), Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969) and Lucifer Rising (1972).

Anger has described filmmakers such as Auguste and Louis Lumière and Georges Méliès as influences, and has been cited as an important influence on later film directors like Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and John Waters.He has also been described as having "a profound impact on the work of many other filmmakers and artists, as well as on music video as an emergent art form using dream sequence, dance, fantasy, and narrative." During the 1960s and 70s he associated and worked with a number of different figures in popular culture and the occult, including Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey, sexologist Alfred Kinsey, artist Jean Cocteau, playwright Tennessee Williams and musicians Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Marianne Faithfull. He is also the author of the controversial best seller Hollywood Babylon (1959) and its sequel Hollywood Babylon II (1986), in which he claims to expose many of the rumours and secrets of Hollywood celebrities.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Kenneth Anger, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.​

Known For

  • Babylon
  • Scorpio Rising
  • Lucifer Rising
  • Fireworks
  • Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
  • Invocation of My Demon Brother
  • Rabbit's Moon
  • Puce Moment
  • Eaux d'artifice
  • Kustom Kar Kommandos
  • Mouse Heaven
  • Magick Lantern Cycle
  • Missoni

Kenneth Anger Filmography

2019
2017
Mansfield 66/67 · as Self
2015
Satan Lives · as Self
2013
Hot Package (TV Series) · as Self
2012
Sunset Strip · as Self
2008
Flicker · as Self
2008
Ghost Adventures (TV Series) · as Self - Former Resident - Westerfeld House
2006
Anger Me · as Himself
2006
2002
In Search of (TV Series) · as Self - Filmmaker
2002
2001
1998
1998
1997
1994
1988
American Experience (TV Series) · as Self
1986
1983
1975
Arena (1975) (TV Series) · as Self
1970
Langlois · as Self

2023
2015
2010
42 One Dream Rush · as Lucifer
2009
Magick Lantern Cycle · as Dreamer / Hecate / The Magick / The Magus
2006
1998
SexTV (TV Series)
1987
Biography (TV Series) · as Historian
1984
Before Stonewall · as Watches Man Flexing Muscles
1972
Lucifer Rising · as The Magus (uncredited)
1969
Invocation of My Demon Brother · as The Magick (uncredited)
1954
1947
Fireworks · as Dreamer (uncredited)

2022
Babylon · as Original Story
2009
Magick Lantern Cycle · as Director Of Photography
1969
Invocation of My Demon Brother · as Director Of Photography
1965
Kustom Kar Kommandos · as Director Of Photography
1963
Scorpio Rising · as Director Of Photography
1954
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome · as Director Of Photography
1953
Eaux d'artifice · as Director Of Photography
1953
Eaux d'artifice · as Costume Designer
1950
Rabbit's Moon · as Director Of Photography
1950
Rabbit's Moon · as Costume Designer
1947
Fireworks · as Cinematographer

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