Russell Crowe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Russell Crowe
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Crowe in 2017
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| Born |
Russell Ira Crowe
7 April 1964 Wellington, New Zealand
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| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1972–present |
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Works
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Full list |
| Spouse(s) |
Danielle Spencer
(m. 2003; div. 2018) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives |
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| Awards | Full list |
Russell Ira Crowe (born April 7, 1964) is a famous actor. He was born in New Zealand. He spent ten years of his childhood in Australia. By age 21, he moved there permanently. His acting work has won him many awards. These include an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a British Academy Film Award.
Crowe started acting in Australia. He became well-known with his role in Romper Stomper (1992). He gained international fame in the late 1990s. This was for his main roles in L.A. Confidential (1997) and The Insider (1999). Crowe became even more famous playing the main character in Gladiator (2000). This role earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received more praise for playing the real-life mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. in A Beautiful Mind (2001). Crowe then starred in many films in the 2000s. These include Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), Cinderella Man (2005), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), and American Gangster (2007). Other films were State of Play (2009) and Robin Hood (2010).
Since then, Crowe has appeared in films like Les Misérables (2012). He was also in Man of Steel (2013), Noah (2014), and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). In 2014, he directed his first movie, the drama The Water Diviner. He also starred in this film. Besides acting, Crowe has been a co-owner of the National Rugby League (NRL) team South Sydney Rabbitohs since 2006.
Contents
Early Life and Childhood
Russell Crowe was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on April 7, 1964. His parents, Jocelyn and John, worked as caterers for film sets. His father also managed a hotel. His grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer (someone who films movies). He was honored for filming during World War II.
Crowe is partly Māori, who are the native people of New Zealand. He connects to the Ngāti Porou tribe through his family. His family also has roots from Wales, Scotland, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, and Sweden. He is a cousin to famous New Zealand cricket players Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe. His uncle, Dave Crowe, was also a cricketer.
When Russell was four, his family moved to Sydney, Australia. His parents continued their film catering jobs there. His mother's godfather was a TV producer. He hired young Russell for a small part in the TV series Spyforce when he was five or six. Later, in 1994, the same actor, Jack Thompson, played his father in another movie. Crowe also had a brief role in the show The Young Doctors. He went to school in Sydney. In 1978, when he was 14, his family moved back to New Zealand. He continued high school there. At age 16, he left school to focus on becoming an actor.
Acting Career Highlights
Starting in New Zealand
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In the early 1980s, Russell Crowe began his career as a musician. He used the stage name "Russ Le Roq." He released some songs in New Zealand, but they did not become hits. In 1984, he managed a music club in Auckland. When he was 18, he appeared in a video for a Christian university in Australia.
Moving to Australia
Crowe returned to Australia when he was 21. He wanted to join a famous acting school, but someone told him he already had the skills. From 1986 to 1988, he got his first professional acting job. He played a role in a New Zealand play called The Rocky Horror Show. He also performed this role in Australia. In 1987, he spent six months performing music on the street because he could not find other work. He also acted in other plays, like Blood Brothers and Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom.
After appearing in TV shows like Neighbours, Crowe got his first film role in The Crossing (1990). He also filmed Blood Oath (1990) around the same time. In 1992, Crowe starred in Romper Stomper. This Australian film was about a racist group in Melbourne. For this role, Crowe won an Australian Film Institute (AFI) award for Best Actor. He had also won a Best Supporting Actor award in 1991 for Proof.
Success in North America
After becoming successful in Australia, Crowe started working on films in North America. In 1995, he starred with Denzel Washington in Virtuosity. He also appeared with Sharon Stone in The Quick and the Dead. He later became a three-time Oscar nominee. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2000 for his role in Gladiator. In 2001, he received the (Australian) Centenary Medal for his contributions to Australian society and film.
Crowe received three Oscar nominations in a row for Best Actor. These were for The Insider, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind. He won the Best Actor award for A Beautiful Mind in 2002. He also won Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for the same performance. All three films were also nominated for Best Picture. Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind both won this award.
Between 1997 and 2003, Crowe also starred in two other films nominated for Best Picture. These were L.A. Confidential and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. In 2005, he worked again with A Beautiful Mind director Ron Howard on the boxing drama Cinderella Man. In 2006, he teamed up with Gladiator director Ridley Scott for A Good Year. They worked together again on American Gangster in 2007. In 2007, he also starred in the Western film 3:10 to Yuma.
In 2009, he starred in the political thriller State of Play. Crowe also appeared in Robin Hood, directed by Ridley Scott, released in 2010. During the filming of Robin Hood, Crowe broke both his legs. He kept working and did not tell the production team. Crowe also starred in the 2010 film The Next Three Days.
After a break from acting, Crowe played Jackknife in The Man with the Iron Fists (2012). He took on the role of Javert in the musical film Les Misérables (2012). He also played Superman's biological father, Jor-El, in Man of Steel (2013). In 2014, he played a gangster in Winter's Tale. He also played the main role in the film Noah. Crowe had a big role in The Mummy (2017). He starred as an angry driver in Unhinged (2020). He played the Greek god Zeus in the Marvel film Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). He also played the famous exorcist Fr. Gabriele Amorth in The Pope's Exorcist (2023).
In June 2013, Crowe decided to direct his first film, The Water Diviner. It is a historical drama set in 1919. He also starred in the film.
Music Career
In the 1980s, Russell Crowe recorded a song called "I Just Wanna Be Like Marlon Brando." He used the name "Russ le Roq" then.
In the 1980s, Crowe and his friend Billy Dean Cochran started a band called Roman Antix. This band later became the Australian rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts (TOFOG). Crowe was the lead singer and played guitar for the band, which formed in 1992. The band released an EP and three full-length albums. In 2000 and 2001, TOFOG performed shows in London and toured the U.S.
In 2005, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts changed. Crowe started a new band called the Ordinary Fear of God. He worked with Alan Doyle from the Canadian band Great Big Sea. They released a new song, "Raewyn," and an album called My Hand, My Heart. This album included a song honoring actor Richard Harris, who was Crowe's friend.
Crowe and his new band toured Australia and the U.S. in 2005 and 2006. In 2010, their version of the song "Winter Green" was on a compilation album. On August 2, 2011, Crowe and Doyle released another album together. It was called The Crowe/Doyle Songbook Vol III. Crowe's former wife, Danielle Spencer, sang on many of the songs.
Crowe has also made guest appearances at concerts. In 2011, he sang with Keith Urban in Vancouver. In 2012, he performed with Alan Doyle in Iceland. In 2017, Crowe and Doyle formed a new group called Indoor Garden Party. They released an album called The Musical. On June 27, 2023, Indoor Garden Party performed in Bologna, Italy. All the money from the sold-out concert went to help flood victims.
Giving Back (Philanthropy)
While filming Cinderella Man, Russell Crowe made a donation to a Jewish elementary school. Its library had been damaged by fire. Crowe called the school to show his support. The amount of his donation was not shared.
Another time, Crowe gave $200,000 to a small school near his home in Australia. This money helped build a swimming pool at the school. Crowe wanted to help after a student drowned at a nearby beach in 2001. He felt the pool would help students learn to swim better and be safer in the water. At the opening, he jumped into the pool fully dressed. The school principal said that Crowe does many good things that people do not know about.
In August 2020, Crowe donated $5,000 to a fundraiser. This fundraiser was to help rebuild a restaurant in Beirut, Lebanon, that was destroyed in an explosion. Crowe tweeted that he made the donation "On behalf of Anthony Bourdain." He wished them well and hoped things could be rebuilt soon.
Sports Interests
Rugby League
Russell Crowe has been a co-owner of the National Rugby League (NRL) team South Sydney Rabbitohs since 2006. He has supported the team since he was a child. After he became famous, he kept going to their games. He also helped the team when they had money problems. In 1999, Crowe paid A$42,000 for a brass bell. This bell was used to start the first rugby league match in Australia in 1908. He bought it at a fundraiser to help the Rabbitohs stay in the league. In 2005, he made the Rabbitohs the first team in Australia to be sponsored by a film. He arranged a deal to advertise his movie Cinderella Man on their jerseys.
On March 19, 2006, the South Sydney club members voted to let Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court buy 75% of the team. This cost them A$3 million. A TV show called South Side Story was made about this takeover. In 2006, Crowe announced on a TV show that a company was sponsoring the Rabbitohs for US$3 million.
Crowe helped arrange a rugby league game in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2008. The South Sydney Rabbitohs played against the Leeds Rhinos. Crowe also wrote a letter of apology to a newspaper after the team's coach and a player had an argument. In 2009, Crowe convinced young English player Sam Burgess to join the Rabbitohs. He invited Burgess and his mother to the set of his movie Robin Hood. Crowe's influence also helped player Greg Inglis sign with the Rabbitohs in 2011.
In 2011, Crowe helped arrange for a major rugby league series to be broadcast live in the United States for the first time. In 2012, it was reported that Crowe might sell his share in the club. However, in 2013, the chairman said Crowe had no plans to sell. Crowe was at the 2014 NRL Grand Final when the Rabbitohs won the championship for the first time in 43 years.
Other Sports
Two of Russell Crowe's cousins, Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe, were captains of the New Zealand national cricket team.
Crowe enjoys watching and playing cricket. He has even captained an 'Australian' team in a 'Hollywood Ashes' Cricket Match. In 2009, he was a guest commentator for a cricket match between England and Australia.
Crowe is a fan of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team. He is also friends with Lloyd Carr, a former American football coach. Carr used Crowe's movie Cinderella Man to inspire his team. Crowe then invited Carr to Australia to speak to his rugby league team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Crowe also supports the National Football League. He is a fan of Leeds United football club and narrated a documentary about them.
Personal Life
In 1989, Russell Crowe met Australian singer Danielle Spencer while working on a film. They had an on-again, off-again relationship. In 2000, he was involved with American actress Meg Ryan. In 2001, Crowe and Spencer got back together. They married two years later in April 2003, on Crowe's 39th birthday. The wedding was at Crowe's farm in Nana Glen, New South Wales. They have two sons: Charles (born 2003) and Tennyson (born 2006). In October 2012, it was reported that they had separated. They divorced in April 2018.
Crowe lives in Nana Glen and is well-known in his community. He often attends local rugby games. During the Australian bushfires in 2019 and 2020, he raised over A$400,000 for the fire service. He did this by selling his South Sydney Rabbitohs hat in an online auction.
In 2009, Crowe appeared on special Australian postage stamps called "Legends of the Screen." He was featured twice, once as himself and once as his Oscar-nominated character. He is the only non-Australian actor to appear on these stamps.
In December 2022, the mayor of Rome appointed Crowe as an ambassador for Rome around the world. In July 2023, while visiting an ancient site in Italy, Crowe joked with fans about a sequel to Gladiator. He pretended to talk on the phone, saying his character Maximus was "dead."
Russell Crowe has supported the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He endorsed former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard in 2013. He also narrated an advertisement for the Labor Party's election campaign in 2022. In 2017, Crowe offered to help refugees who were held in an offshore detention center.
Filmography and Awards
Some of Russell Crowe's most famous and successful films include L.A. Confidential (1997), The Insider (1999), and Gladiator (2000). Other popular movies are A Beautiful Mind (2001), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), and State of Play (2009). He also starred in Robin Hood (2010), Les Misérables (2012), Man of Steel (2013), and Noah (2014). More recent films include The Nice Guys (2016), The Mummy (2017), and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).
Crowe won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Gladiator. He was also nominated two more times for Best Actor for The Insider and A Beautiful Mind. This made him one of only a few actors to receive three Oscar nominations in a row. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for A Beautiful Mind. He also won a Golden Globe for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for The Loudest Voice (2019). He was nominated four other times for Golden Globes.
Images for kids
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Crowe being escorted by police in 2005.
See also
In Spanish: Russell Crowe para niños
- List of NRL club owners
- Russell Crowe's jockstrap
