Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger (Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer) was born on February 3rd, 1927. Kenneth passed away May 11th, 2023 at 96 years old. Kenneth Anger was born in Santa Monica, California, USA.
Kenneth Anger was an American underground experimental filmmaker, writer, and actor.
He worked exclusively in short films, and produced nearly 40 works starting in 1937, nine of which were grouped together as the
Magick Lantern Cycle. His films variously merge homoeroticism with surrealism and the occult. Anger has been described as being one of the first openly gay American filmmakers, with several of his films having been released before homosexuality was even legal in the US.
He explored occult themes in numerous films, having been fascinated by Aleister Crowley, the English occultist and adhered to Thelema, the religion that Crowley founded.
Kenneth began making short films at the age of 10, although his first film to gain any sort of recognition was
Fireworks, a homoerotic short released in 1947. Its controversial nature led to Anger being tried on obscenity charges, but was acquitted.
The first short he ever made was
Ferdinand the Bull, and was shot on the remains of 16 mm film which was lefty unused after the Anglemyers had made their home movies with it on their family vacation to Yosemite National Park. Anger dressed as a matador, wearing a cape, as two of his friends he made in Boy Scouts played the bull.
His next work, called
Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat was made when he was 14 and Anger often called this his first proper film. It was made out of footage of kids playing during the summer time, accompanied by popular songs by bands that include the Ink Spots.
His family moved to Hollywood and Kenneth started attending Beverly Hills High School. While here, he met Maxine Peterson, who once been the stand in for Shirley Temple, and asked her, along with another classmate and an older woman to be in his next project, which was called
Escape Episode. It revolved in part around the occult, and was filmed at a spooky old castle located in Hollywood and then screened at the Coronet Theatre in LA.
Hollywood Babylon: The Legendary Underground Classic of Hollywood’s Darkest and Best Kept Secrets takes you on a walk down “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, a place where sex goddesses, starlets, matinee idols, Mafia moguls, and American aristocracy all meet.
This is a town made manic back in its heyday by cocaine-crazed comedies and “joy powder”, seduced by vamping heroin heroines, shaken up by Errol Flynn’s amoral extravagances, Fatty Arbuckle’s orgiastic excesses, stunned by Sharon Tate’s brutal murder and Marilyn Monroe’s tragic death.
Here, like never revealed before, is the scalding reality lying behind the glittering facade: the darkest secrets and true stories behind the lurid headlines which have titillated the world and electrified a nation for decades.
Related Authors
The most common authors followed by users who also follow Kenneth Anger are:
- Stephen King, author of The Dark Tower Series.
- J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series.
- Charles Dickens, author of the novel: A Christmas Carol.
- Sue Grafton, author of the Kinsey Millhone Series.
- Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Series.
Kenneth Anger: F.A.Q
When was Kenneth Anger Born?
Kenneth Anger was born on February 3rd, 1927.
When did Kenneth Anger die?
Kenneth Anger died on May 11th, 2023 at 96 years old.
Where was Kenneth Anger Born?
Kenneth Anger was born in Santa Monica, California, USA.
What was the first book Kenneth Anger wrote?
The first book written by Kenneth Anger was Hollywood Babylon, published in 1959.
What was the most recent book Kenneth Anger wrote?
His most recently released work was Suicide in the Entertainment Industry on January 1st, 2001.
How many books has Kenneth Anger written?
Kenneth Anger has written 4 books excluding contributions to anthologies. 1 book in the Non-Fiction Books, 3 books in the Hollywood Babylon Series.