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Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the epic historical film ''
Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
'' (2000), for which he won an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
,
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...
, Empire Award, and
London Film Critics Circle Award The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally. The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards did not convey the full context of th ...
for Best Leading Actor, along with 10 other nominations in the same category. Crowe's other award-winning performances include tobacco firm whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand in the drama film '' The Insider'' (1999) and mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. in the biopic '' A Beautiful Mind'' (2001). He has also starred in films such as the drama ''
Romper Stomper ''Romper Stomper'' is a 1992 Australian drama film written and directed by Geoffrey Wright in his feature film directorial debut. The film stars Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie, Tony Le-Nguyen and Colin Chin. The film tells ...
'' (1992), the mystery-detective thriller ''
L.A. Confidential ''L.A. Confidential'' (1990) is a neo-noir novel by James Ellroy and the third of his L.A. Quartet series. It is dedicated to Mary Doherty Ellroy. The epigraph is "A glory that costs everything and means nothing"—Steve Erickson. Plot The s ...
'' (1997), the epic war film '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' (2003), the biographical boxing drama ''
Cinderella Man ''Cinderella Man'' is a 2005 American biographical sports drama film directed by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penny ...
'' (2005), the Western '' 3:10 to Yuma'' (2007), the crime drama '' American Gangster'' (2007), the thriller-drama '' State of Play'' (2009), and '' Robin Hood'' (2010). Crowe later starred in the musical drama ''
Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...
'' (2012), as Jor-El in the superhero epic '' Man of Steel'' (2013), the biblical fantasy drama ''
Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5� ...
'' (2014), the action comedy '' The Nice Guys'' (2016), portrayed Zeus Panhellenios in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...
(MCU) film '' Thor: Love and Thunder'' (2022), and will star in the upcoming Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) film ''
Kraven the Hunter Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff; Russian: Сергей Кравинов) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in '' The Amazing Spider-Man'' issue #15 (August 1964) as an adversar ...
'' (2023). In 2014, he made his directorial debut with the drama '' The Water Diviner'', in which he also starred. He has earned various accolades, including a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
, two Golden Globe Awards, a British Academy Film Award, and an Academy Award out of three consecutive nominations (1999, 2000, and 2001). He has been the co-owner of the National Rugby League (NRL) team South Sydney Rabbitohs since 2006.


Early life

Crowe was born in the Wellington suburb of
Strathmore Park Strathmore Park is a suburb of Wellington City, New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the Miramar Peninsula to the south of the suburb of Miramar, and due east of the airport. A hill suburb, it overlooks Lyall Bay (which lies to the ...
on 7 April 1964, the son of film set caterers Jocelyn Yvonne (née Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe. His father also managed a hotel. His maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who was appointed an MBE for filming footage of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
as a member of the New Zealand Film Unit. Crowe is Māori, and identifies with
Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou is affiliated with the 28th Maori Battalion and has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zeala ...
through one of his maternal great-great-grandmothers. His paternal grandfather, John Doubleday Crowe, was a Welsh man from
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
, while another of his grandparents was Scottish. His other ancestry includes English, German, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, and Swedish. He is a cousin of former
New Zealand national cricket captains This is a complete list of all of New Zealand's national cricket captains at official international level. As such it includes details of all the men who have captain (cricket), captained at least one Test cricket, Test match or One Day Internati ...
Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...
and Jeff Crowe, and the nephew of cricketer
Dave Crowe David William Crowe (18 October 1933 – 12 May 2000) was a New Zealand cricketer who played three first class matches for Canterbury and Wellington between 1953 and 1958. He was the father of New Zealand international Test and One Day Inter ...
. When Crowe was four years old, his family moved to Australia and settled in Sydney, where his parents pursued their career in film set catering. His mother's godfather was the producer of the Australian TV series '' Spyforce'', and Crowe was hired for a line of dialogue in one episode of the series at age five or six, opposite series star
Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to: Sports *Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City *Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Bright ...
. Later, in 1994, Thompson would play the father of Crowe's character in '' The Sum of Us''. Crowe also appeared briefly in the serial '' The Young Doctors''. In Australia, he was educated at Vaucluse Public School and Sydney Boys High School, before his family moved back to New Zealand in 1978 when he was 14. He continued his secondary education at
Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...
, with his cousins and brother Terry, and
Mount Roskill Grammar School Mount Roskill Grammar School is a secondary school in the suburb of Mount Roskill, Auckland. Officially opened in 1953, the school is widely regarded as one of the most diverse schools in Auckland, having students of over 70 different nationa ...
before leaving school at the age of 16 to pursue his acting ambitions.


Acting career


New Zealand

Under guidance from his good friend Tom Sharplin, Crowe began his performing career as a musician in the early 1980s performing under the stage name "Russ Le Roq". He released several New Zealand singles including "I Just Wanna Be Like
Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
", "Pier 13", and "Shattered Glass", none of which charted. He managed an Auckland music venue called "The Venue" in 1984. When he was 18, he was featured in ''A Very Special Person...'', a promotional video for the
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...
/ ministry course at
Avondale University Avondale University is an Australian tertiary education provider affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist education system, the world’s second largest Christian school system. Avondale Uni ...
, a Seventh-day Adventist tertiary education provider in New South Wales, Australia.


Australia

Crowe left New Zealand and returned to Australia at the age of 21, intending to apply to the National Institute of Dramatic Art. He said, "I was working in a theatre show, and talked to a guy who was then the head of technical support at NIDA. 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.'" From 1986 to 1988, he was given his first professional role by director Daniel Abineri, in a New Zealand 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, which also toured New Zealand. In 1987, Crowe spent six months busking when he could not find other work. In the 1988 Australian production of ''Blood Brothers'', Crowe played the role of Mickey. He was also cast again by Daniel Abineri in the role of Johnny, in the stage musical '' Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom'' in 1989. After appearing in the TV series ''
Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...
'' and ''Living with the Law,'' Crowe was cast by Faith Martin in his first film, '' The Crossing'' (1990), a small-town love triangle directed by George Ogilvie. Before production started, a film-student protégé of Ogilvie, Steve Wallace, hired Crowe for the 1990 film '' Blood Oath'' (aka ''Prisoners of the Sun''), which was released a month earlier than ''The Crossing'', 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 ''Romper Stomper'' is a 1992 Australian drama film written and directed by Geoffrey Wright in his feature film directorial debut. The film stars Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie, Tony Le-Nguyen and Colin Chin. The film tells ...
'', an Australian film which followed the exploits and downfall of a racist skinhead group in blue-collar suburban Melbourne, directed by Geoffrey Wright and co-starring Jacqueline McKenzie. For the role, Crowe won an Australian Film Institute (AFI) award for Best Actor, following up from his Best Supporting Actor award for '' Proof'' in 1991. In 2015, it was reported that Crowe had applied for Australian citizenship in 2006 and again in 2013 but was rejected because he failed to fulfill the residency requirements. However, Australia's Immigration Department said it had no record of any such application by Crowe.


North America

After initial success in Australia, Crowe first starred in a Canadian production in 1993, '' For the Moment'', before concentrating on American films. He co-starred with
Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...
in '' Virtuosity'' (the duo later appearing together in '' American Gangster'') and with Sharon Stone in '' The Quick and the Dead'' in 1995. He went on to become a three-time Oscar nominee, winning the
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
as
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...
in 2000 for ''
Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
''. Crowe was awarded the (Australian)
Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...
in 2001 for "service to Australian society and Australian film production." Crowe received three consecutive best actor Oscar nominations, for ''The Insider'', ''Gladiator'', and '' A Beautiful Mind''. Crowe won the best actor award for ''A Beautiful Mind'' at the 2002 BAFTA award ceremony, as well as the
Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
and
Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to me ...
awards for the same performance. Although nominated for an Academy Award, he lost to Denzel Washington. All three films were also nominated for Best Picture, and both ''Gladiator'' and ''A Beautiful Mind'' won the award. Crowe became the first actor to star as the lead in back-to-back Best Picture winners since Walter Pidgeon (who starred in ''
How Green Was My Valley ''How Green Was My Valley'' is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, narrated by Huw Morgan, the main character, about his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed that he based the book on his own persona ...
'' and '' Mrs. Miniver''). Within the six-year stretch from 1997 to 2003, he also starred in two other best picture nominees, ''
L.A. Confidential ''L.A. Confidential'' (1990) is a neo-noir novel by James Ellroy and the third of his L.A. Quartet series. It is dedicated to Mary Doherty Ellroy. The epigraph is "A glory that costs everything and means nothing"—Steve Erickson. Plot The s ...
'' and '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World''. In 2005, he re-teamed with ''A Beautiful Mind'' director Ron Howard for the biographical boxing drama ''
Cinderella Man ''Cinderella Man'' is a 2005 American biographical sports drama film directed by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penny ...
''. In 2006, he re-teamed with ''Gladiator'' director Ridley Scott for '' A Good Year'', the first of two consecutive collaborations (the second being ''American Gangster'' co-starring again with Denzel Washington, released in late 2007). Although 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. In recent years, Crowe's box office standing has declined. The Hollywood stock market (HSX) share Russell Crowe (RCROW), issued in 1998, however, maintains constant accretion. Crowe appeared in '' Robin Hood'', a film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and released on 14 May 2010. Crowe starred in the 2010 Paul Haggis film '' The Next Three Days'', an adaptation of the 2008 French film ''Pour Elle''. After a year off from acting, Crowe played Jackknife in '' The Man with the Iron Fists'', opposite RZA. He took on the role of Javert in the
musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...
of ''
Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...
'' (2012), and portrayed
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...
's biological father, Jor-El, in the Christopher Nolan-produced film, '' Man of Steel'', released in the summer of 2013. In 2014, he played a gangster in the film adaptation of Mark Helprin's 1983 novel '' Winter's Tale'', and the title role in the Darren Aronofsky film ''
Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5� ...
''. In June 2013, Crowe signed to make his directorial debut with an historical drama film '' The Water Diviner'', which he also starred in alongside Jacqueline McKenzie, Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney. Set in the year 1919, the film was produced by Troy Lum, Andrew Mason and Keith Rodger. Crowe also starred in ''
The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places * Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States * Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in P ...
'' (2017). Crowe portrayed
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...
in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...
film '' Thor: Love and Thunder'', which was released on July 8, 2022. He portrays the famous exorcist Fr. Gabriele Amorth in ''The Pope's Exorcist'' (2023).


Music

In the 1980s, Crowe, under the name of "Russ le Roq", recorded a song titled "I Want to Be Like Marlon Brando". In the 1980s, Crowe and friend Billy Dean Cochran formed a band, Roman Antix, which later evolved into the Australian rock band
30 Odd Foot of Grunts 30 Odd Foot of Grunts were an Australian rock group, formed in 1992, with Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permane ...
(abbreviated to TOFOG). Crowe performed lead vocals and guitar for the band, which formed in 1992. The band released ''The Photograph Kills EP'' in 1995, as well as three full-length records, ''Gaslight'' (1998), ''Bastard Life or Clarity'' (2001) and ''Other Ways of Speaking'' (2003). In 2000, TOFOG performed shows in London, Los Angeles and in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
. In 2001, the band toured in the U.S. with dates in Austin,
Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...
, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, Hollywood, Philadelphia, New York City and the last show at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In early 2005, Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts as a group had "dissolved/evolved" with Crowe feeling his future music would take a new direction. He began a collaboration with
Alan Doyle Alan Thomas Doyle (born May 17, 1969) is a Canadian musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of the Canadian folk rock band Great Big Sea. Life and career Alan Doyle was born and raised in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, in a Roman Cat ...
of the Canadian band
Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...
, and with it a new band emerged: The Ordinary Fear of God which also involved some members of the previous TOFOG line-up. A new single, ''Raewyn'', was released in April 2005 and an album entitled ''My Hand, My Heart'' was released. The album includes a tribute song to actor Richard Harris, who became Crowe's friend during the making of ''Gladiator''. Crowe and his new band The Ordinary Fear of God (keeping the TOFOG acronym) toured Australia in 2005, and then in the U.S. in 2006, returned to the US to promote their new release ''My Hand, My Heart''. In March 2010, the group's version of the John Williamson song "Winter Green" was included on a new compilation album ''The Absolute Best of John Williamson: 40 Years True Blue'', commemorating the singer-songwriter's milestone of 40 years in the Australian music industry. On 2 August 2011, the third collaboration between Crowe and Doyle was released on iTunes as ''The Crowe/Doyle Songbook Vol III'', featuring nine original songs followed by their acoustic demo counterparts (for a total of 18 tracks). Danielle Spencer does guest vocals on most tracks. The release coincided with a pair of live performances at the LSPU Hall in
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...
, Canada. The digital album was released as download versions only on Amazon.com, iTunes, Spotify. The album has since charted at No. 72 on the
Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Oce ...
. On 26 September 2011, Crowe appeared onstage at Rogers Arena in Vancouver in the middle of Keith Urban's concert. He sang a cover of " Folsom Prison Blues", before joining the rest of the band in a rendition of " The Joker". On 18 August 2012, Crowe appeared along with Doyle at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, Iceland as part of the city's
Menningarnótt () or "cultural night" is a yearly event held in Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, since 1996. It is usually on the first Saturday after the 18th of August. It was created by the Reykjavík city council, and has now become one of the largest fe ...
program. In 2017, Crowe and Doyle had created a new act (with Samantha Barks,
Scott Grimes Scott Christopher Grimes (born July 9, 1971) is an American actor and singer. Some of his most prominent roles include appearances in the 1984 cult classic ''The Night They Saved Christmas'', '' ER'' as Dr. Archie Morris, '' Party of Five'' as Wi ...
and Carl Falk) called Indoor Garden Party who appeared on ''
The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan ...
'' to promote their album called ''The Musical''.


Philanthropy

During location filming of ''Cinderella Man'', Crowe made a donation to a Jewish elementary school whose library had been damaged as a result of arson. A note with an anti-Semitic message had been left at the scene. Crowe called school officials to express his concern and wanted his message relayed to the students. The school's building fund received donations from throughout Canada and the amount of Crowe's donation was not disclosed. On another occasion, Crowe donated $200,000 to a struggling primary school near his home in rural Australia. The money went towards an $800,000 project to construct a swimming pool at the school. Crowe's sympathies were sparked when a pupil drowned at the nearby
Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...
beach in 2001, and he felt the pool would help students become better swimmers and improve their water safety. At the opening ceremony, he dived into the pool fully clothed as soon as it was declared open. Nana Glen principal Laurie Renshall said, "The many things he does up here, people just don't know about. We've been trying to get a pool for 10 years." In August 2020, Crowe donated $5,000 to a fundraiser on GoFundMe by filmmaker Amanda Bailly and journalist Richard Hall to help rebuild Le Chef, a restaurant which was destroyed in the
2020 Beirut explosion On 4 August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in the capital city of Lebanon exploded, causing at least 218 deaths, 7,000 injuries, and US$15 billion in property damage, as well as leaving an estimated 3 ...
. The fundraiser aimed to raise $15,000, but it raised approximately $19,000 as of August 16. In response to Hall noting the donation, Crowe tweeted: "On behalf of
Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain (; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian who starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition. Bourda ...
. I thought he probably would have done so if he was still around. I wish you and Le Chef the best and hope things can be put back together soon."


Personal life

In 1989, Crowe met Australian singer Danielle Spencer while working on the film ''The Crossing'' and the two began an on-again, off-again relationship. In 2000, he became romantically involved with American actress Meg Ryan while working on their film '' Proof of Life''. In 2001, Crowe and Spencer reconciled, and they married two years later in April 2003. The wedding took place at Crowe's cattle property in
Nana Glen, New South Wales Nana Glen is a small village in New South Wales, Australia, located 25 km inland north-west of Coffs Harbour in the City of Coffs Harbour. It is located on the Orara Way and at the juncture of two main roads, one leading to Lower Bucca. ...
, with the ceremony taking place on Crowe's 39th birthday. The couple have two sons named Charles Spencer Crowe (born 21 December 2003) and Tennyson Spencer Crowe (born 7 July 2006). In October 2012, it was reported that Crowe and Spencer had separated. They divorced in April 2018. A longtime resident of Nana Glen, Crowe is well known in the community and is a frequent patron of the local rugby games. During the Australian bushfires in 2019 and 2020, he raised over $400,000 for the NSW RFS by selling his South Sydney Rabbitohs hat in an online auction. On 9 March 2005, Crowe revealed to '' GQ'' magazine that FBI agents had approached him prior to the 73rd Academy Awards and told him that the terrorist group
al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...
wanted to kidnap him. He recalled, "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 destabilisation plan."O'Riordan, Bernard
How Bin Laden put the word out: get Russell Crowe
''The Guardian'', 9 March 2005. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
At the beginning of 2009, Crowe appeared in a series of special-edition postage stamps called "Legends of the Screen", featuring Australian actors. Crowe,
Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy Award, a Primetime Emm ...
,
Cate Blanchett Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received n ...
, and Nicole Kidman each appear twice in the series, once as themselves and once as their Academy Award-nominated character. Crowe is the only non-Australian to appear in the stamps. In June 2010, Crowe, who started smoking when he was 10, announced he had quit for the sake of his two sons. In November, he told
David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...
that he had smoked more than 60 cigarettes a day for 36 years, and that he had "fallen off the wagon" the night before the interview and smoked heavily. On December 20, 2022, Crowe was appointed by the mayor of
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, ambassador of Rome in the world. On the day of the appointment, Crowe declared that it would be important to host the next
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
in Italy.


Politics

Crowe has supported the
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
(ALP). He endorsed former Australian prime minister
Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...
in June 2013, and narrated an advertisement for the Labor Party's election campaign in May 2022. Crowe has been a vocal critic of Australia's immigration detention facilities, describing them as "a nation's shame" and "fucking disgraceful". In November 2017, Crowe offered to resettle displaced refugees who were held in Australia's offshore detention facility on Manus Island.


Altercations and controversies

Between 1999 and 2005, Crowe was involved in four altercations, which gave him a reputation for having a bad temper. In 1999, Crowe was involved in a scuffle at the Plantation Hotel in
Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...
, which was caught on a security camera. Two men were acquitted of using the video in an attempt to blackmail him. In 2002, when part of Crowe's appearance at that year's BAFTA 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 Patrick Kavanagh poem in tribute to actor Richard Harris, which was cut for copyright reasons. Crowe later apologised, 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 in 2002, Crowe was alleged to have been involved in a brawl with businessman Eric Watson inside the London branch of Zuma, a Japanese restaurant chainthe fight was broken up by English actor Ross Kemp. In June 2005, Crowe was arrested and charged with second-degree assault by the NYPD after he threw a telephone at the concierge of the Mercer Hotel who had refused to help him place a call when the system did not work from Crowe's room. He was also charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (the telephone). The concierge was treated for a facial laceration. After his arrest, Crowe underwent a perp walk, a procedure customary in New York City, exposing the handcuffed suspect to the news media to take pictures. This procedure was under discussion as potentially violating Article 5 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...
. Crowe later described the incident as "possibly the most shameful situation that I've ever gotten myself in". Crowe pleaded guilty and was conditionally discharged. Before the trial, he settled a lawsuit filed by the concierge, Nestor Estrada. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but amounts in the six-figure range have been reported. The telephone incident had a generally negative impact on Crowe's public image, an example of negative public relations in the mass media, although Crowe had made a point of befriending Australian journalists in an effort to influence his image. The '' South Park'' episode " The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer" revolves around a lampooning of his aggressive tendencies. Crowe commented on the ongoing media coverage in November 2010, during an interview with American television talk show host and journalist
Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP. Rose also co- ...
: "I think it indelibly changed me. It was a very, very minor situation that was made into something outrageous. More violence perpetuated me walking between the car to the courtroom with the waiting media than anything I'd done ... it very definitely affected me ... psychologically."


Sport


Rugby league

He has been the co-owner of the National Rugby League (NRL) team South Sydney Rabbitohs since 2006. Crowe has been a supporter of the rugby league football team the South Sydney Rabbitohs since childhood. After his rise to fame as an actor, he has continued appearing at home games and supported the financially troubled club. Following the Super League war of the 1990s, he made an attempt to use his Hollywood connections to convince
Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he ...
, a rival of Super League's
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, to save the Rabbitohs before they were forced from the
NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
competition for two years. In 1999, Crowe paid $42,000 at auction for the brass bell used to open the inaugural rugby league match in Australia in 1908 at a fundraiser to assist Souths' legal battle for re-inclusion in the league. In 2005, he made the Rabbitohs the first club team in Australia to be sponsored by a film, when he negotiated a deal to advertise his film ''Cinderella Man'' on their jerseys. On 19 March 2006, the voting members of the South Sydney club voted (in a 75.8% majority) to allow Crowe and businessman
Peter Holmes à Court Peter Holmes à Court (born 1968) is an Australian businessman. He is the eldest son of the late billionaire businessman Robert Holmes à Court and Janet Holmes à Court. He was well known as a joint owner of the National Rugby League team South ...
to purchase 75% of the organisation, leaving 25% ownership with the members. It cost them A$3 million, and they received four of eight seats on the board of directors. A six-part television miniseries entitled ''South Side Story'' depicting the takeover aired in Australia in 2007. On 5 November 2006, Crowe appeared on ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...
'' to announce that
Firepower International Firepower International was a fraudulent company that advertised as a Hong Kong-based company owned and operated by Global Fuel Technologies Ltd, specializing in technology purporting to reduce the fuel consumption and environmental impact of pet ...
was sponsoring the South Sydney Rabbitohs for $3 million over three years. During a ''Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' appearance, Crowe showed viewers a Rabbitoh playing jersey with Firepower's name emblazoned on it. Crowe helped to organise a rugby league game that took place at the University of North Florida, in
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...
, between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the
2007 Super League Grand Final The 2007 Super League Grand Final was 10th official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XII season. Held on Saturday 13 October 2007, at Old Trafford in Manchester, the game was played between St. H ...
winners the Leeds Rhinos on 26 January 2008 (
Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...
). Crowe told
ITV Local ITV Local was a broadband TV service provided by UK commercial public service broadcaster ITV plc, the contractor and provider of ITV in 11 of the 15 television regions. First established in 2005, the website provided local news, weather and feat ...
Yorkshire the game was not a marketing exercise. Crowe wrote a letter of apology to a Sydney newspaper following the sacking of South Sydney's coach Jason Taylor and one of their players
David Fa'alogo David Fa'alogo (born 9 September 1980) is a former professional rugby league footballer played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Newcastle Knights in the NRL, the Huddersfield Giants in the Super Le ...
after a drunken altercation between the two at the end of the 2009 NRL season. Also in 2009, Crowe persuaded young England international forward Sam Burgess to sign with the Rabbitohs over other clubs that were competing for his signature, after inviting Burgess and his mother to the set of ''Robin Hood'', which he was filming in Britain at the time. Crowe's influence helped to persuade noted player
Greg Inglis Gregory Paul Inglis (born 15 January 1987), also known by the nickname of "G.I.", is a retired Australian professional rugby league footballer. His regular playing positions were Centre, Fullback, Five-eighth and Wing. From 2011 to 2019 he pl ...
to renege on his deal to join the Brisbane Broncos and sign for the Rabbitohs for 2011. In 2010, the NRL was investigating Crowe's business relationships with a number of media and entertainment companies including Channel Nine, Channel Seven, ANZ Stadium and V8 Supercars in relation to the South Sydney Rabbitohs' salary cap. In 2011, Souths also announced a corporate partnership with the bookmaking conglomerate Luxbet. Previously, Crowe had been prominent in trying to prevent gambling being associated with the Rabbitohs. In May 2011, Crowe helped arrange to have Fox broadcast the
2011 State of Origin series The 2011 State of Origin series was the 30th annual best-of-three series of interstate rugby league football matches between the Queensland and New South Wales representative teams contested under " State of Origin" selection rules. For the third ...
live for the first time in the United States, in addition to the NRL Grand Final. In November 2012 the South Sydney Rabbitohs confirmed that Russell Crowe was selling his 37.5 per cent stake in the club. At the Rabbitohs Annual General Meeting on 3 March 2013, Chairman
Nick Pappas Nicholas George Pappas ( el, Νικόλαος Γεώργιος Παπαναστασιου) is a solicitor from Sydney, Australia, and also the current chairman of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby league club. He was also chairman of the club fr ...
claimed Crowe "would not be selling his shareholding in the short-to-medium term and at this stage has no intention of selling at all". Crowe was a guest presenter at the 2013 Dally M Awards and presented the prestigious Dally M Medal to winner
Cooper Cronk Cooper Patrick Cronk (born 5 December 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An n international and Queensland State of Origin representative , he played most of his club career for ...
. Russell was present at the 2014 NRL Grand Final when the Rabbitohs won the NRL premiership for the first time in 43 years.


Other sporting interests

Two of his cousins, Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe, captained the
New Zealand national cricket team The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Named the Black Caps, they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 ...
. Crowe watches and plays cricket, and captained the 'Australian' Team containing Steve Waugh against an English side in the 'Hollywood Ashes' Cricket Match. On 17 July 2009, Crowe took to the commentary box for British sports channel
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
as the 'third man' during the second
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
of the 2009 Ashes series, between England and Australia. Crowe is a fan of the New Zealand
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
rugby team. He is friends with Lloyd Carr, the former coach of the University of Michigan Wolverines American football team, and Carr used Crowe's movie ''
Cinderella Man ''Cinderella Man'' is a 2005 American biographical sports drama film directed by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penny ...
'' to motivate his 2006 team following a 7–5 season the previous year. Upon hearing of this, Crowe called Carr and invited him to Australia to address his rugby league team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, which Carr did the following summer. In September 2007, after Carr came under fire following the Wolverines' 0–2 start, Crowe travelled to
Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all ...
for the Wolverines' 15 September game against Notre Dame 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 The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
. On 22 October 2007, Crowe appeared in the booth of a Monday night game between the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
and the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is also a fan of Leeds United and narrated the ''Take us Home: Leeds United'' Amazon Prime documentary.


Filmography and awards

Crowe's most acclaimed and highest-grossing films, according to the online portal
Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray be ...
and the review aggregate site
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, include ''
L.A. Confidential ''L.A. Confidential'' (1990) is a neo-noir novel by James Ellroy and the third of his L.A. Quartet series. It is dedicated to Mary Doherty Ellroy. The epigraph is "A glory that costs everything and means nothing"—Steve Erickson. Plot The s ...
'' (1997), '' The Insider'' (1999), ''
Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
'' (2000), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (2001), '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' (2003), '' 3:10 to Yuma'' (2007), '' State of Play'' (2009), '' Robin Hood'' (2010), ''
Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...
'' (2012), '' Man of Steel'' (2013), ''
Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5� ...
'' (2014), '' The Nice Guys'' (2016), ''
The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places * Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States * Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in P ...
'' (2017), and '' Thor: Love and Thunder'' (2022). Crowe won an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
in the
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...
category for his performance in ''Gladiator'', and has been nominated two more times for Best Actor for ''The Insider'' and ''A Beautiful Mind'', making him the ninth actor to have received three consecutive Academy Award nominations. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for ''A Beautiful Mind'' and Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for ''
The Loudest Voice ''The Loudest Voice'' is a 2019 American drama television miniseries depicting Roger Ailes as he creates and guides the rise of Fox News. It is based on the 2014 book ''The Loudest Voice in the Room'', by Gabriel Sherman, and premiered June 30, ...
'' (2019); He has been nominated four more times: Best Actor in a Drama for ''The Insider'', ''Gladiator'', ''Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'', and ''
Cinderella Man ''Cinderella Man'' is a 2005 American biographical sports drama film directed by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penny ...
''.


See also

*
List of NRL club owners This is a list of club owners in the National Rugby League (NRL), the top league of professional rugby league clubs in Australasia. Current clubs See also * List of Super League rugby league club owners *List of professional sports team ow ...
*
Russell Crowe's jockstrap Russell Crowe's jockstrap is a leather jockstrap that was part of a costume worn by actor Russell Crowe in the 2005 film ''Cinderella Man''. In 2018, the jockstrap was auctioned off and was bought by comedian John Oliver, who in turn donated it t ...


References


External links

* * with
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