Russell Crowe
☼ Born on 7 December 1964, in Wellington, New Zealand
Biography
Russell Ira Crowe was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to Jocelyn Yvonne (Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe, both of whom catered movie sets. His maternal grandfather, Stanley Wemyss, was a cinematographer. Crowe's recent ancestry includes Welsh (where his paternal grandfather was born, in Wrexham), English, Irish, Scottish, Norwegian, Swedish, Italian, and Maori (one of Crowe's maternal great-grandmothers, Erana Putiputi Hayes Heihi, was Maori).
Crowe's family moved to Australia when he was a small child, settling in Sydney, and Russell got the acting bug early in life. Beginning as a child star on a local Australian TV show, Russell's first big break came with two films ... the first, Romper Stomper (1992), gained him a name throughout the film community in Australia and the neighboring countries. The second, The Sum of Us (1994), helped put him on the American map, so to speak. Sharon Stone heard of him from Romper Stomper (1992) and wanted him for her film, The Quick and the Dead (1995). But filming on The Sum of Us (1994) had already begun. Sharon is reported to have held up shooting until she had her gunslinger-Crowe, for her film. With The Quick and the Dead (1995) under his belt as his first American film, the second was offered to him soon after. Virtuosity (1995), starring Denzel Washington, put Russell in the body of a Virtual Serial Killer, Sid6.7 ... a role unlike any he had played so far. Virtuosity (1995), a Sci-Fi extravaganza, was a fun film and, again, opened
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the door to even more American offers. L.A. Confidential (1997), Russell's third American film, brought him the US fame and attention that his fans have felt he deserved all along. Missing the Oscar nod this time around, he didn't seem deterred and signed to do his first film with The Walt Disney Company, Mystery, Alaska (1999). He achieved even more success and awards for his performances in Gladiator (2000), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and A Beautiful Mind (2001).
In the role of actor
The Exorcism (21/06/2024)
An actor recovering from his addictions experiences disruptive behaviour as he shoots a demonic possession film in The Exorcism. Anthony Miller (Russell Crowe) is a down-on-his-luck actor recovering from a drug and alcohol addiction that has left him in an estranged relationship with his daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins). Anthony is hired by director Peter (Adam […]
The Greatest Beer Run Ever – TIFF 2022 (30/09/2022)
A New Yorker sneaks into the Vietnam War to deliver beers to his friends in The Greatest Beer Run Ever. John “Chickie” Donohue (Zac Efron) is a Marine Corps veteran and merchant seaman in 1967 Inwood, New York. While Chickie’s out drinking with friends, barkeep The Colonel (Bill Murray) expresses disgust at anti-Vietnam demonstrations in […]
Thor: Love and Thunder (11/07/2022)
The God of Thunder is reunited with his ex-girlfriend to face off against a new threat in Thor: Love and Thunder. After spending some time travelling with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to Earth to protect New Asgard from an attack by Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who ends up […]
Unhinged (16/08/2020)
A single mother finds herself pursued and tormented by a road raging madman in Unhinged. Rachel Hunter (Caren Pistorius) is a young woman currently going through a divorce, who finds herself stuck in traffic while driving her son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman) to school. Along the way, Rachel has an altercation with a man (Russell Crowe), […]
Boy Erased (08/11/2018)
The homosexual son of a Baptist preacher is forced to participate in conversion therapy program in Boy Erased. Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges) is the teenage son of Baptist preacher Marshall Eamons (Russell Crowe) and his wife Nancy (Nicole Kidman). After Jared is unwittingly outed as homosexual to his parents, he is sent by a father is gay conversion […]
The Nice Guys (24/05/2016)
A private investigator and enforcer reluctantly team up to locate a missing woman in The Nice Guys. Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is a private investigator in 1977 Los Angeles, who is currently looking for a missing girl named Amelia Kutner (Margaret Qualley). However, Amelia doesn’t want to be found and hires Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) to tell […]
Noah (30/03/2014)
From director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) comes this epic, based on the biblical story of Noah‘s Ark. Noah (Russell Crowe) is a descendant of Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, who lives a simple life with his family, while the descendants of Cain, lead by Tubal-Cain (Ray Winstone) sends the world into ruin. […]
Man of Steel (15/06/2013)
Seven years after he last graced the big screen, Superman returns with a new film, produced by Christopher Nolan (the Dark Knight trilogy) and directed by Zack Snyder (Watchmen), that reboots DC comic’s’ signature hero. The overall story remains the same: With the planet Krypton on the verge of destruction, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) sends his […]
Broken City (18/01/2013)
In Broken City, Mark Wahlberg plays Billy Taggart, an ex-New York cop, who is now working as a private investigator. He is called in by mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Russell Crowe) to investigate his wife Cathleen (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who Hostetler suspects is having an affair. However, it turns out that this investigation might be part of […]
Les Misérables (30/12/2012)
Les Misérables is notable for being the first of the few musicals I’ve seen on stage. As such, I was somewhat curious in seeing this new film adaptation directed by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech). The film stars Hugh Jackman as ex-convict Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as the determined Inspector Javert, Anne Hathaway as the […]
Robin Hood (16/05/2010)
Ridley Scott’s new film version of Robin Hood received fairly poor reviews from most critics. However, I feel that it might have fared better if it didn’t have the stigma of being attached to the classic story. Let it be said that this is not the traditional Robin Hood story that has been told in […]
State of Play (26/04/2009)
I almost thought I wasn’t going to write this tonight. I went to see the film and due to a blackout, the film cut out with 45 minutes left to screen. I waited at the theatre for over an hour, but it never reopened and I thought the day was lost. I then made the […]
American Gangster (03/11/2007)
Celebrity sighting aside, what did I actually think of the film? I can definitely say that it is NOT this year’s Departed. It’s not bad film, but I thought it was a very formulaic film. The entire plot goes back and forth between Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe‘s stories. The stories don’t even begin to […]