Russell Ira Crowe (born April 7, 1964 in Wellington, New Zealand) is an Oscar-winning New Zealand-Australian film actor.

Early life and career
Crowe was born in Wellington, New Zealand, of British, and Norwegian and distant Maori descent. When he was four years old, his family moved to Australia, where his parents pursued a career in filmset catering. His maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who, according to Crowe, produced the first film by New Zealander, Geoff Murphy. 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, 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. This was Sydney Boys High School.

When he was 14, however, Crowe's family moved back to New Zealand, where he attended Auckland Grammar School. He did not complete secondary school, leaving early to help his family financially. In the mid-1980's Russell, under guidance from his good mate 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".

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 busker when he couldn't find other work.

After appearing in the TV series Neighbours, Living with the Law and The Late Show (Australian TV series) as 'Shirty' - The Slightly Aggressive Bear, Crowe was cast in his first film, The Crossing (1990), a small-town love triangle directed by George Ogilvie. Before production started, a film-student protege of Ogilvie's, Steve Wallace, hired Crowe for the film "Blood Oath," a.k.a. "Prisoners of the Sun" (1990), which was released a month earlier, although actually filmed later.

Hollywood
After initial success in Australia, Crowe began acting in American films. He went on to become a three-time Oscar nominee, winning the Academy Award as Best Actor in 2001 for Gladiator. 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, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. All three films were also nominated for best picture. Within the six year stretch from 1997-2003, he also starred in two other best picture nominees, LA Confidential and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, though he was nominated for neither.

On March 9, 2005, Crowe revealed to GQ magazine that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had approached him prior to the 73rd Academy Awards on March 25, 2001 and told him that the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda wanted to kidnap him. Crowe told the magazine that it was the first time he had ever heard of al-Qaeda (the September 11 attacks took place later that year) and was quoted as saying:

"You get this late-night call from the FBI when you arrive in Los Angeles, and they're, like, absolutely full-on. 'We’ve got to talk to you now before you do anything. We have to have a discussion with you, Mr. Crowe.'" Crowe recalled that "it was something to do with some recording picked up by a French policewoman, I think, in either Libya or Algiers...it was about taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as a sort of cultural-destabilization plan."
Crowe was guarded by 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." The FBI confirmed Crowe's statement (which is uncharacteristic of the agency in that it usually does not comment to the media).

Temperament
Crowe has been involved in a number of altercations in recent years which have given him a reputation for having a bad temper. When part of Crowe's appearance at the 2002 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards was cut out to fit into the BBC's tape-delayed broadcast, Crowe accosted producer Malcolm Gerrie. During the filming of A Beautiful Mind on the campus of Princeton University, Crowe made an obscene gesture to Princeton student Meredith Moroney whom he spotted photographing him, which raised a media stir. In 1999, Crowe was involved in a scuffle at the Saloon Bar in Coffs Harbour, Australia, which was caught by a security video.

In June 2005, Crowe was arrested and charged with second degree assault by New York Police, in connection with an incident at the Mercer Hotel, SoHo, New York. Crowe threw a broken telephone at a hotel employee, and was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (the telephone). Crowe, who was sentenced to conditional release, paid about US$100,000 to settle the civil lawsuit to the concierge, who was treated for a facial laceration. 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: Russell Crowe: Fightin' Around The World, and he travels the globe in his tug boat to fight people of different nationalities. Crowe's temperament was also parodied on the Australian Seven Network skit show "Big Bite" in 2003. The Network Ten show The Secret Life of Us was parodied on the show as The Secret Life of Russ. The "phone incident" was parodied in Scary Movie 4 when Brenda is dreaming, one of her lines is "Look out, Russell Crowe's got a phone!"

On other occasions, however, he has been known to show compassion. Following the death of his friend, naturalist and television personality Steve Irwin, Russell remarked that Irwin was "the Australian we all aspire to be." He also recently slammed a report claiming he was hoping to portray Irwin in a biopic about his life, stating, "It's appalling to me and offends me very deeply. It's so awful that I have to deal with millions of people thinking I would dance on my friend's grave. Yes, I do think there should be a movie made about Steve but I'm not the sort of person who will be doing commerce on my friend's grave."

Family and general interests
On April 7, 2003, his 39th birthday, Crowe married Australian singer and actress Danielle Spencer. Crowe met Spencer while filming "The Crossing" (1990). Crowe also dated American actress Meg Ryan after they had an admitted affair while filming Proof of Life (2000) and in the past, he was been linked to Erica Baxter, Peta Wilson and Courtney Love.

Crowe and Spencer's first son, Charles Spencer Crowe, was born on December 21, 2003. In January 2006, Crowe announced they were expecting their second child, and in March, Crowe announced on The Tonight Show that they were expecting a boy. Their second son, Tennyson Spencer Crowe, was born on July 7, 2006. Two of Russell Crowe's cousins, Martin and Jeff Crowe are former New Zealand national cricket captains.

Most of the year, Crowe resides in Australia at both his Sydney home in Woolloomooloo and his 320 hectare rural property in Nana Glen near Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, but he is renting a house for Summer 2006 in Nyack, New York while he works on a movie being shot in New York City.

South Sydney Rabbitohs
On 19 March, 2006, the voting members of the South Sydney Rabbitohs National Rugby League 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 will cost them (AUD) $3 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 team 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 first rugby league competition 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 Caroll 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.

Musical Activities
Crowe's early stage name as a musician was "Rus Le Roq" and he was billed as such while performing with the New Zealand production of Rocky Horror. Crowe performed lead vocals and guitar for an Australian pub rock band, 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts 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, who became Crowe's friend during the making of Gladiator. In 2002, he directed the music video clip (which starred former child actor Duy Nguyen) for his wife Danielle Spencer's single 'Tickle Me' from her 'White Monkey' album. On March 10, 2006, Russell Crowe performed with his new band The Ordinary Fear of God on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Filmography

Neighbours (TV Show) (1987)
The Crossing (1990)
Prisoners of the Sun (1990)
Hammers Over the Anvil (1991)
Proof (1991)
The Efficiency Expert (1992)
Romper Stomper (1992)
For the Moment (1993)
Love in Limbo (1993)
The Silver Stallion: King of the Wild Brumbies (1993)
The Sum of Us (1994)
The Quick and the Dead (1995)
No Way Back (1995)
Virtuosity (1995)
Rough Magic (1995)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Heaven's Burning (1997)
Breaking Up (1997)
Mystery, Alaska (1999)
The Insider (1999)
Gladiator (2000)
Proof of Life (2000)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Texas (2002) (documentary) (also director and producer)
60 Odd Hours in Italy (2002) (short subject) (also director)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Cinderella Man (2005)
A Good Year (2006)
Tenderness (2007)
American Gangster (2007)
3:10 To Yuma (2007)

In The News:

New 'Man Of Steel' Character Posters Show Russell Crowe As Jor-El, Michael ... Geeks of Doom The posters show off star Henry Cavill as Superman, which we've seen plenty of; Michael Shannon as General Zod, which we've seen some of; and a nice close look at Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Superman's father, who we haven't seen much of?including his ... and more »   Tue, 21 May 2013 21:16:40 GMT Hypable New 'Man of Steel' character posters feature Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe ... Hypable Promotion for director Zack Snyder's Superman reboot, Man of Steel, has started to ramp up in the last few weeks and now we have some new character posters featuring Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, and Michael Shannon. Check out the posters in HD below: ... and more »   Tue, 21 May 2013 15:41:17 GMT Flix 66 Man of Steel gets new character posters starring Henry Cavill, Michael Shannon ... Flix 66 Henry Cavill as Kal-El, Russell Crowe as Superman's father, and my favorite Michael Shannon as General Zod are all front and center look strong and mystical. We've had so many pictures and posters featuring the Man of Steel, it is nice to get a good shot of ... and more »   Tue, 21 May 2013 13:44:45 GMT New 'Man of Steel' Poster Unveils Russell Crowe's Jor-El Chicago Tribune New 'Man of Steel' Poster Unveils Russell Crowe's Jor-El. May 20, 2013|Justin Kroll | Variety. Though Russell Crow's role is considered small in the film, Warner Bros. seems to be trying to capitalize on his star power in the marketing for the upcoming ... and more »   Tue, 21 May 2013 13:06:21 GMT Big Gay Picture Show (blog) Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe & Michael Shannon Get Man Of Steel Character ... Big Gay Picture Show (blog) It's less than a month now until Man Of Steel hits cinemas on June 14th, and so to get us familiar with the main characters in the movie, character posters of the film's main Kryptonians ? Superman (Henry Cavill), his dad Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Zod ... and more »   Tue, 21 May 2013 09:52:21 GMT Russell Crowe Gets a 'Man of Steel' Poster And An Awesome Gun Get The Big Picture (blog) Case in point: Russell Crowe as Jor-El. Jor-El, for the uninitiated, is Superman's biological father, and he perished along with the rest of the Kryptonians when Krypton exploded. There may not seem to be much room for him in the story, but he was given a ... and more »   Tue, 21 May 2013 00:18:29 GMT GotchaMovies First Man of Steel Character Poster Features Russell Crowe GotchaMovies As Man of Steel looms ever close over the blockbuster season, the first of many character posters are hitting the web. Russell Crowe is the first to be honored with an official poster from the Man of Steel production. Apparently, lens flares and blurred focus ... and more »   Mon, 20 May 2013 23:17:16 GMT New 'Man Of Steel' Images Featuring Russell Crowe, Laurence Fishburne ... Flicks and bits ?Keep testing your limits.? ? Jor-El. Not long after the release of this new character poster, the official 'Man of Steel' Twitter account has just debuted this still of Russell Crowe's Jor-El in the film. You can check out the above image in higher resolution here. and more »   Mon, 20 May 2013 23:03:33 GMT A New Man of Steel Still Offers a Good Look at Russell Crowe's Jor-El Superherohype.com Following the debut of his character poster earlier today, Russell Crowe's Jor-El is the focus of a new still from Zack Snyder's upcoming Man of Steel. You can also check out quite a few new scans from the film's tie-in media at the SuperHeroHype Forums. and more »   Mon, 20 May 2013 22:42:21 GMT Comic Book Resources First Man of Steel Character Poster Spotlights Russell Crowe as Jor-El Comic Book Resources Warner Bros. has debuted the first in what's presumably a series of character posters for Man of Steel, this one showcasing Russell Crowe as a gun-toting J0r-El from director Zack Snyder's franchise reboot. A young boy learns that he has extraordinary ... and more »   Mon, 20 May 2013 22:00:59 GMT Page:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

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