Ken Russell

London, Nov. 28 (Reuters): Ken Russell, the British director of Women in Love and The Devils, has died at the age of 84, a friend said today.

Norman Lebrecht, the music critic, said the famously provocative film maker died peacefully in his sleep yesterday. Russell began his directing career with the BBC and went on to make some of the most controversial and violent films of the 1960s and 70s.       

Women in Love, a 1969 adaptation of D. H. Lawrence’s novel, became infamous for its nude wrestling scene between actors Alan Bates and Oliver Reed. The picture earned Russell an Oscar nomination for best director.