Anger, Kenneth
Variant names
Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost forty works since 1937, nine of which have been grouped together as the "Magick Lantern Cycle". 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", with several being released prior to the legalization of homosexual acts between consenting adults in the United States. He has also focused upon occult themes in many of his films, being fascinated by the English gnostic mage and poet Aleister Crowley, and is an adherent of Thelema, the religion Crowley founded.
Archival Resources
| Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
|---|---|---|---|
| referencedIn | Hollis Frampton Collection, 1963-2001 | Harvard Film Archive, Fine Arts Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University | |
| referencedIn | Bradley mss., 1902-1997 | Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington) | |
| referencedIn | Anthology Film Archives. Film stills collection, [ca. 1920-1970], [ca. 1960-1970] (bulk). | Campbell University, Wiggins Memorial Library | |
| referencedIn | Howard P. Lovecraft collection, Lovecraft (Howard P.) collection, 1894-1971 | John Hay Library, Special Collections | |
| referencedIn | Anger, Kenneth. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. | Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library | |
| referencedIn | Lothar and Eva Just Film Stills Collection. | Harvard Film Archive, Harvard College Library, Harvard University | |
| referencedIn | Wodening, Jane, 1936-. Jane Wodening and Stan Brakhage scrapbooks, 1958-1967. | Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
| referencedIn | Weinberg, Herman G. Papers, 1926-1983. | New York Public Library System, NYPL | |
| referencedIn | Duncan, Robert Edward, 1919-. Structure of Rime XXVI (Passages 20) for Kenneth Anger : ms. S. | UC Berkeley Libraries | |
| referencedIn | Jimmy De Sana Papers, Bulk, 1977-1990, 1954-1997 | Fales Library & Special Collections | |
| referencedIn | Anthology Film Archives. Biographical files, [ca. 1920-1985], [ca. 1960-1970] (bulk) | Campbell University, Wiggins Memorial Library | |
| contributorOf | 1907-1983. Papers. Series I. Correspondence | Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center | |
| referencedIn | Willie Varela Papers, ca. 1960-1995 | Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives | |
| contributorOf | Getty Research Institute. Recordings of Modern art in Los Angeles [multimedia] : Beat film, 2003. | Getty Research Institute | |
| referencedIn | William S. Burroughs papers, 1951-1972, 1958-1972 | The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. | |
| referencedIn | Anger, Kenneth. Kenneth Anger artist file. | Whitney Museum of American Art, Library | |
| referencedIn | Canyon Cinema Records, ca. 1961-2009 | Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Bibliographic and Digital Archival Resources
| Role | Title | Holding Repository |
|---|
Filters:
| Relation | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| associatedWith | Anthology Film Archives. | corporateBody |
| associatedWith | Burroughs, William S., 1914-1997 | person |
| associatedWith | Burroughs, William S., 1914-1997. | person |
| Cameron, Marjorie, 1922-1995 | person | |
| associatedWith | Crowley, Aleister, 1875-1947 | person |
| correspondedWith | David Shedd Bradley | person |
| associatedWith | De Sana, Jimmy | person |
| associatedWith | Duncan, Robert Edward, 1919- | person |
| associatedWith | Faller, Marion, 1941- | person |
| associatedWith | Faller, Marion, 1941- | person |
| associatedWith | Frampton, Hollis, 1936-1984 | person |
| associatedWith | Frampton, Hollis, 1936-1984 | person |
| associatedWith | Kinsey, Alfred C. (Alfred Charles), 1894-1956 | person |
| associatedWith | Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips), 1890-1937 | person |
| associatedWith | Swanson, Gloria. | person |
| associatedWith | Varela, Willie. | person |
| associatedWith | Varela, Willie. | person |
| associatedWith | Weinberg, Herman G. | person |
| associatedWith | Whitney Museum of American Art. | corporateBody |
| associatedWith | Wodening, Jane, 1936- | person |
| Place Name | Admin Code | Country |
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| Subject |
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| Counterculture |
| Experimental films |
| Homosexuality and art |
| Homosexuality in art |
| Occultism |
| Satanism |
| Occupation |
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| Filmmaker |
| Occultists |
| Activity |
|---|
Person
Birth 1927-02-03
Americans
English
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