Russell Crowe biography
Russell Ira Crowe (born April 7, 1964) is an Academy Award-, BAFTA-, Golden Globe-, and Screen Actors Guild Award -winning New Zealand and Australian actor. His acting career began in the early 1990s with roles in Australian TV series such as
Police Rescue and films such as
Romper Stomper. In the late 1990s, he began appearing in US films such as the 1997 movie
L.A. Confidential (film). In the 2000s, he has been nominated for three Oscars, and in 2000, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring role in the film
Gladiator (2000 film). Crowe is also co-owner of National Rugby League team the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Biography
Early life
Crowe was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Jocelyn Yvonne (married and maiden names Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe, both of whom were movie set caterers; his father also managed a hotel. Crowe's maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who, according to Crowe, produced the first film by New Zealander Geoff Murphy, and was also named an Member of the Order of the British Empire for filming footage of World War II. Crowe's maternal great-great grandmother was Māori, Two of Russell Crowe's cousins, Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe are former New Zealand national cricket captains.
When Crowe was four years old, his family moved to Australia, where his parents pursued a career in film set catering. The producer of the Australian TV series
Spyforce was his mother's godfather, and Crowe at age five or six was hired for a line of dialogue in one episode, opposite series star Jack Thompson (actor), who years later played Crowe's father in
The Sum of Us and who coincidentally had been educated at the same school which Crowe was to attend for two years: Sydney Boys High School.
From his youth to the present, Crowe has had a special love of horses. "They're just like people," he told CraveOnline, "there are some horses that you have a deeper connection with immediately, and you can work on that over time. He has also noted that he sometimes finds it difficult to part with his equine co-stars when a film Wrap (film industry).
When he was 14, however, Crowe's family moved back to New Zealand, where he (along with his brother Terry) attended Auckland Grammar School with his cousins Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe, then Mt Roskill Grammar School, however he dropped out of the latter at 16 to chase his dreams of becoming a musician or actor.
In the mid-1980s Russell, under guidance from his good friend Tom Sharplin, performed as a rock 'n' roll revivalist, under the stage name
Russ Le Roq, and had a New Zealand single with "I Wanna Be Marlon Brando." In 1986 he was given his first professional role by director Daniel Abineri in a production of The Rocky Horror Show. He played the role of Eddie/Dr Scott. He repeated this performance in a further Australian production of the show. He was also cast again by Daniel Abineri in the role of Johnny in the stage musical of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom in 1989.
Crowe returned to Australia at age 21, intending to apply to the National Institute of Dramatic Art. "I was working in a theater show, and talked to a guy who was then the head of technical support at NIDA," Crowe recalled. "I asked him what he thought about me spending three years at NIDA. He told me it'd be a waste of time. He said, 'You already do the things you go there to learn, and you've been doing it for most of your life, so there's nothing to teach you but bad habits.'" In 1987 Crowe spent a six-month stint as a busking when he couldn't find other work.
After appearing in the TV series
Neighbours and
Living with the Law, Crowe was cast in his first film,
The Crossing (1990 film) (1990), a small-town love triangle directed by George Ogilvie. Before production started, a film-student protegé of Ogilvie's, Steve Wallace, hired Crowe for the film
Blood Oath (movie) (1990) (aka
Prisoners of the Sun) which was released a month earlier, although actually filmed later. In 1992, Crowe starred in the first episode of the second series of
Police Rescue. Also in 1992 Crowe starred in
Romper Stomper, an Australian film which follows the exploits and downfall of a racist skinhead group in blue-collar suburban Melbourne, directed by Geoffrey Wright.
Hollywood
After initial success in Australia, Crowe began acting in American films. He first co-starred with Denzel Washington in
Virtuosity in 1995. He went on to become a three-time Oscar nominee, winning the Academy Awards as Academy Award for Best Actor in 2001 for
Gladiator (2000 movie). Crowe wore his grandfather Stan Wemyss's Member of the Order of the British Empire medal to the ceremony.
Crowe received three consecutive best actor Oscar nominations for
The Insider (film),
Gladiator (2000 movie) and
A Beautiful Mind (film). Crowe won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for
A Beautiful Mind at the 2002 BAFTA award ceremony. However he failed to win the Oscar that year, losing to Denzel Washington. It has been suggested that his attack on television producer Malcolm Gerrie for cutting short his acceptance speech may have turned voters against him.
All three films were also nominated for best picture, and both
Gladiator and
A Beautiful Mind won the award. Within the six year stretch from 1997-2003, he also starred in two other best picture nominees,
L.A. Confidential (film) and
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, though he was nominated for neither. In 2005 he re-teamed with
A Beautiful Mind director Ron Howard for
Cinderella Man. In 2006 he re-teamed with
Gladiator (2000 movie) director Ridley Scott for
A Good Year, the first of two consecutive collaborations (the second being
American Gangster (film) co-starring again with Denzel Washington, released in late 2007). While the light romantic comedy of
A Good Year was not greatly received, Crowe seemed pleased with the film, telling STV in an interview that he thought it would be enjoyed by fans of his other films.
On 9 March 2005, Crowe revealed to
Gentlemen's Quarterly magazine that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had approached him prior to the 73rd Academy Awards on 25 March 2001 and told him that the Islamist terrorism al-Qaeda wanted to Kidnapping him. Crowe told the magazine that it was the first time he had ever heard of al-Qaeda (the September 11, 2001 attacks took place later that year) and was quoted as saying:
Crowe was guarded by United States Secret Service agents for the next few months, both while shooting films and at award ceremonies (Scotland Yard also guarded Crowe while he was promoting
Proof of Life in London in February 2001). Crowe said that he "...never fully understood what the fuck was going on".
It's believed the home is for his niece, who is studying at James Cook University.
Crowe stated in November 2007 that he would like to be Baptised, and feels that he has put it off for too long. "I do believe there are more important things than what is in the mind of a man," he says. "There is something much bigger that drives us all. I'm willing to take that leap of faith."
South Sydney Rabbitohs
On 19 March 2006, the voting members of the South Sydney Rabbitohs National Rugby League rugby club voted (in a 75.8% majority) to allow Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court to purchase 75% of the club, leaving 25% ownership with the members. It has cost them Australian dollar3 million, and they will receive four of eight seats on the board of directors.
Crowe has been a major supporter of the Rabbitohs rugby league club for many years, appearing at many home games, and supporting the club during its time when they were forced from the National Rugby League competition for two years. Crowe paid $40,000 for a brass bell used to open the New South Wales Rugby League season 1908 match in Australia in 1908, which he then returned to the club. In 2005, he made them the first club team in Australia to be sponsored by a film, when he negotiated a deal to advertise his movie
Cinderella Man on their jerseys.
He is friends with many current and former players of the club, and currently employs former South Sydney forward Mark Carroll (rugby league footballer) as a bodyguard and personal trainer. He has encouraged other actors to support the club, such as Tom Cruise and Burt Reynolds. Business and television personality Eddie McGuire has been offered a seat on the Rabbitohs board.
South Side Story, a mini-series documenting the takeover of the club, revealed Crowe urging Souths players to profess their love for one another during training.
Crowe helped organize a rugby league game that took place in Jacksonville, Florida, Florida between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Super League (Europe) 2007 Super League Grand Final Leeds Rhinos on 26 January 2008 (Australia Day). The game was played at the University of North Florida. Crowe told ITV Local Yorkshire the game wasn't a marketing exercise.
Other sporting interests
Crowe is a big cricket fan. He played cricket in school and his cousins Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe are former Black Caps Captains. Russell Crowe also captained the 'Australian' Team containing Steve Waugh against an English side in the 'Hollywood Ashes' Cricket Match.
He is also a fan of the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League.
As with Leeds Rhinos, Crowe is well known to be a supporter of Leeds United A.F.C. He has also admitted to being a big fan of SERIE A club S.S Lazio.
Crowe is a big supporter of the Michigan Wolverines football team, an interest that stems from his friendship with former Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr. Carr used Crowe's movie Cinderella Man to motivate his team in 2006 following a disappointing 7-5 season the previous year. Upon hearing of this, Crowe called Carr and invited him to Australia to address his Rugby team the South Sydney Rabbitohs, an offer Carr took Crowe up on the following summer. In September 2007, after Carr came under fire following the Wolverines' shocking 0-2 start, Crowe traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Wolverines' 15 September game against Notre Dame football to show his support for Carr. He addressed the team before the game and watched from the sidelines as the Wolverines defeated the Irish 38-0.
Crowe is also a fan of the National Football League, and on 22 October 2007, appeared in the booth of a Monday Night game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is also a devout fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs which stems from his shooting of Cinderella Man at Maple Leaf Gardens
He is also considered to be a friend of Kostya Tszyu, who is a boxing world champion, and it is said that he instructed Crowe while shooting "Cinderella Man" movie.
Musical activities
Crowe, going under the name of "Rus le Roq", recorded a 1980s tune titled "I Want To Be Like Marlon Brando".
Crowe and a friend formed a band, "Roman Antix", which later evolved into the Australian pub rock band 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts (TOFOG). Crowe performed lead vocals and guitar for the band, which formed in 1992. The band had found neither critical nor popular success but had several releases including 1998's
Gaslight, 2001's
Bastard Life or Clarity and 2003's
Other Ways of Speaking, plus various CD releases now out of print. The band's web site indicates that group has "dissolved/evolved" and states that Crowe's music would take a new direction.
He continued with a collaboration with Alan Doyle of the Canadian band Great Big Sea in early 2005, which also involved members of his previous band. A new single,
Raewyn, was released in April 2005 and an album entitled
My Hand, My Heart has been released for download on iTunes. The album includes a tribute song to the late actor, Richard Harris (actor), who became Crowe's friend during the making of
Gladiator (2000 film). In 2002, he directed the music video clip (which starred former child actor Duy Nguyen) for his wife Danielle Spencer (Australian actress)'s single 'Tickle Me' from her 'White Monkey' album. On 10 March 2006, Russell Crowe performed with his new band The Ordinary Fear of God on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Crowe landed a role in a musical, "Grease (musical)", in 1983. From 1986-88, Crowe headlined in the touring production of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show".
Crowe did about 458 performances of
The Rocky Horror Show. He played Dr. Frank N. Furter 50 times, and 400 times as Eddie and Dr Scott.
Temperament
Crowe has been involved in a number of altercations in recent years which have given him a reputation for having a bad temper.
In 1999, Crowe was involved in a scuffle at the Plantation Hotel in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, which was caught by a security video. Two men were acquitted of using the video in an attempt to blackmail Crowe.
When part of Crowe's appearance at the 2002 British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards was cut out to fit into the BBC's tape-delayed broadcast, Crowe used strong language during an argument with producer Malcolm Gerrie. The part cut was a poem in tribute to actor Richard Harris who was then terminally ill, and was cut for copyright reasons. Crowe later apologized, saying "What I said to him may have been a little bit more passionate than now, in the cold light of day, I would have liked it to have been." Later that year, Crowe was alleged to have been involved in a "brawl" inside a trendy Japanese restaurant in London.
In June 2005, Crowe was arrested and charged with second degree assault by New York City Police Department, after he threw a telephone at an employee of the Mercer Hotel who refused to help him place a call when the system did not work from his room, and was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (the telephone). The employee, a concierge, was treated for a facial laceration.
Crowe described the incident as "possibly the most shameful situation that I've ever gotten myself in... and I've done some pretty dumb things in my life". He was sentenced to conditional release, and paid US$100,000 to settle a civil lawsuit out of court.
In popular culture
Crowe's temperament was parodied in an episode of the cartoon
South Park titled "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer". In this episode, Crowe is the star of his own, fictional TV series named
Russell Crowe: Fightin' Around the World, in which he travels the globe in his tug boat to instigate altercations with strangers of different nationalities. In the episode, it likens him to Popeye in his style of dress (a sailor costume), tuneful whistling and gait.
Russell Crowe in the news
Crowe devours weighty role in ‘Body’ - Boston Herald
New YorkerCrowe devours weighty role in ‘Body’Boston Herald, United States - 21 hours agoBy Stephen Schaefer Oscar winner Russell Crowe, who stars in Ridley Scott’s “Body of Lies,” recalls the director’s pitch: “The first thing that I got was a ...Video: DiCaprio Crowes About 'Body' AssociatedPressPeople and personalities at the multiplex this week: Chicago Sun-TimesReview: 'Body of Lies' Christian Science MonitorLos Angeles Times - Seattle Timesall 1,030 news articles
read moreCrowe, DiCaprio spy weekend box office victory - Reuters
Calgary HeraldCrowe, DiCaprio spy weekend box office victoryReuters - Oct 9, 2008By Carl DiOrio LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Body of Lies," a terrorism thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, will likely take the No ...'Body of Lies' should top 'Express' Hollywood Reporterall 28 news articles
read moreMundine a hit with De La Hoya - The Age
Mundine a hit with De La HoyaThe Age, Australia - 2 hours agoANTHONY Mundine is a step closer to breaking into the US boxing market after a meeting in Los Angeles with South Sydney co-owner Russell Crowe and ...
read moreThe Russell Crowe Gimmick: A History - New York Magazine
New York MagazineThe Russell Crowe Gimmick: A HistoryNew York Magazine, USA - 20 hours agoIn Body of Lies, Russell Crowe once again pulls out his oldest gimmick: The Contrarian Detail. Again and again, Crowe plays tough guys — and tries to ...
read moreSimple life of Ryan - Melbourne Herald Sun
Simple life of RyanMelbourne Herald Sun, Australia - 1 hour agoDuring the 2000 filming of Proof of Life, she fell for the considerable charms of Australian Russell Crowe. Ryan recently revealed the romance with Crowe ...
read moreAT THE MOVIES: 'Body of Lies' with DiCaprio and Cro...
AT THE MOVIES: 'Body of Lies' with DiCaprio and Crowe ... 'City of ...Grand Forks Herald, ND - Oct 9, 2008With Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe. GF, EGF. Two hours, eight minutes. (R) n “City of Ember”: For generations, the people of the city of Ember have ...
read moreLoving and hating Russell Crowe - MSNBC
MSNBCLoving and hating Russell CroweMSNBC - Oct 7, 2008It also marked the last time for a while that I would enjoy a Russell Crowe film. First came “Gladiator,” a shiny toy of a movie that I personally fell ...
read moreRussell Crowe wants to have 17 kids - Oneindia
Russell Crowe wants to have 17 kidsOneindia, India - 4 hours agoNew Delhi (ANI): Russell Crowe, who is married to Danielle Spencer and has two sons, wants to have 17 kids. The Gladiator star, who loves spending time with ...
read moreCrowe's dual role spells double trouble - guardian.co.uk
stv.tvCrowe's dual role spells double troubleguardian.co.uk, UK - Oct 1, 2008So it shouldn't really come as a surprise that the man whom every script wants to read, Russell Crowe, is to play both the Sheriff of Nottingham and his ...Russell Crowe, Ridley Scott Offer More Details About Robin Hood ... MTV.comCrowe Rumored to Play Both Leads in Nottingham Wired NewsRussell Crowe to play Sheriff of Nottingham AND Robin Hood Melbourne Herald SunSydney Morning Herald - CanMagall 108 news articles
read moreGuns N' Roses' 'Chinese Democracy' ...
Entertainment WeeklyGuns N' Roses' 'Chinese Democracy' is coming out next month (Axl ...Entertainment Weekly - 16 hours ago... Band 2 uses "Shackler's Revenge," and "If the World" plays during the closing credits of the new Russell Crowe/Leonardo DiCaprio movie Body of Lies. ...Guns N’ Roses Sets Release Date for “Chinese Democracy” TransWorldNews (press release)Chinese Democracy release date named TourDates.Co.UkGuns N' Roses' 'Chinese Democracy' Set for November Release AceShowbizLiveDaily.com - 411mania.comall 97 news articles
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