Kenneth Anger
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
Credits
- 2023 · 24 Hour Sunset as
- 2019 · Anton LaVey: Into the Devil's Den as Himself
- 2019 · Cinemagician: Conversations with Kenneth Anger as
- 2019 · Magick Lantern Cycle as Dreamer / Hecate / The Magick / The Magus
- 2018 · 72 Hours In André Balazs’ Chateau Marmont With Kenneth Anger as Self
- 2017 · Mansfield 66/67 as Self
- 2015 · The 1000 Eyes of Dr Maddin as
- 2010 · 42 One Dream Rush as Lucifer
- 2009 · FLicKeR as Self
- 2009 · Night of Pan as Lucifer
- 2007 · 365 Day Project as
- 2007 · The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume Two as
- 2007 · Disinfo.Con as Self
- 2007 · The Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume One as
- 2006 · Anger Me as Himself
- 2006 · Notes on Marie Menken as Himself
- 2006 · Hedy Lamarr: Secrets of a Hollywood Star as
- 2003 · The Spells of Kenneth Anger as himself
- 2003 · Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof as Self
- 2002 · Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story as Self (uncredited)
- 2001 · Rescued from the Closet as Self
- 1998 · SexTV as
- 1997 · The Beach Boys and The Satan as Self
- 1997 · Birth of a Nation as Self
- 1995 · Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker as Self
- 1994 · Jonas in the Desert as Self
- 1991 · Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon as Himself
- 1986 · He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life as Self (archive footage)
- 1982 · The Rolling Stones - The First 20 Years as Self
- 1975 · Arena as Self
- 1974 · Lucifer Rising as The Magus (uncredited)
- 1974 · Look Back at Anger as Self
- 1970 · Langlois as Self
- 1970 · Kenneth Anger: Film as Magical Ritual as Himself
- 1969 · Invocation of My Demon Brother as The Magick (uncredited)
- 1961 · Arabesque for Kenneth Anger as
- 1960 · The Dead as
- 1954 · The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome as Hecate
- 1947 · Fireworks as Dreamer (uncredited)
- 1942 · Prisoner of Mars as