Mini Biography

Born in New Zealand, Russell has made his home in Australia since he was a small child. The son of movie set caterers, 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, Sum of Us, The (1994) helped put him on the American map, so to speak. 'Sharon Stone' heard of him from Romper Stomper and wanted him for her film, Quick and the Dead, The (1995). But filming on The Sum of Us 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 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, a Sci-Fi extravaganza, was a fun film and, again, opened 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 has recently achieved even more success and awards for his performances in Gladiator (2000) and Beautiful Mind, A (2001).

Trivia

• Cousin of former New Zealand cricketer Martin Crowe.
• Lost his front tooth playing rugby when he was ten. Never got it fixed until, at the insistence of the director for "The Crossing", who paid for it out of his own pocket. First lead role when he was 25.
• Tried a music career, playing under the name Rus Le Roc, and titled his first single "I Want to Be Like Marlon Brando".
• After filming Gladiator, he and some friends took a 4,000 mile motorcycle trip around Australia.
• Owns a 560-acre farm in 7.5 hours North-West from Sydney, Australia Dropped out of high school. Performed on stage in "Grease" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
• Russell's rock group is named 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. They played their first US concert following Russell's success in "Gladiator" in Austin, Texas in August 2000. The tickets for the concert were selling for over $500 on e-bay.com.
• Russell suffered a shoulder injury, which will require surgery, while filming on the set of Jodie Foster's "Flora Plum". It is uncertain if the film will have to be recast. [5 September 2000] Has starred in two films based on articles from Vanity Fair magazine. Insider, The (1999) was based on a story by Marie Brenner named "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Proof of Life (2000) is based on the article "Adventures in the Ransom Trade" by William Prochnau.
• Dated Meg Ryan. [2001] Turned down the role of Logan/Wolverine in X-Men (2000).
• He and his band, 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts, performed on "Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The" (1992). [16 August 2001] Proudly displayed his grandfather's British Honours medal (MBE) while making his Oscar Winner speech in 2001.
• Has indicated an interest in taking out Australian citizenship due to the amount of time and energy he spends Down Under (keeping his New Zealand citizenship as well).
• Although his surname is of Irish extraction, he lists his background as "Norwegian and Maori". When Crowe's acceptance speach for his Best Actor award during the British Film Awards was edited, Crowe shoved the producer of the show, Malcolm Gerrie, against a wall and cursed at him, telling him: "Who on Earth had the ... audacity to take out the best actor's poem? I'll make sure you never work in Hollywood." He later issued a full apology.
• His grandfather was from Wrexham, Wales Ranked #28 in Premiere's 2002 annual Power 100 List.
• At The Orange British Academy Film Awards on Monday January 28th 2002 was nominated for the Performance by an actor in a leading role Award for his role in A Beautiful Mind.
• Following his involvement in a brawl in a London restaurant, Russell stated that he was under a lot of stress and announced that he was going back to Australia to relax and spend more time with his father and his long-time girlfriend singer Danielle Spencer. [November 2002] Discovered by British actor and musical director/writer Daniel Abineri, who gave Crowe his first professional acting role in a New Zealand tour of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'.
• Abineri later awarded Crowe the title role in his first stage musical, 'Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom', which premiered in Melbourne in 1989.
• Ranked #30 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List.
• Has known spouse, Danielle Spencer since 1989 when they co-starred in the 1990 film, Crossing, The (1990). Their co-star of the film, Robert Mammone (The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions), was one of Crowe's groomsmen at their wedding.
• Son-in-law of actor Don Spencer.
• Took violin lessons in preparing for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World because his character, Jack Aubrey, played the violin several times during the movie.
• Favorite toy growing up was Action Man.
• First child with Danielle, a boy named Charles Spencer Crowe, born in Sydney (21 December 2003)
• He wrote a song about Jodie Foster called "Other Ways of Speaking" with his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.
• Jodie Foster considers him a very good friend. Plans to donate his brain to medical science when he dies.
• 29 January 2004 - Dislocated his shoulder while training for his upcoming boxing
• movie, "Cinderella Man". The injury delayed filming for two months. Supports the NRL team, South Sydney Rabbitohs

Personal Quotes

"One of the most painful things of the LA Confidential character I played was that the author, James Ellroy, kept telling me that Bud White wasn't a drinker. I said, 'come on, this is 1953. He's a blue-collar bloke, a cop. You're telling me he doesn't sit around with the boys after his shift and have a beer?' And Ellroy says, 'absolutely not.' So for five months and seven days I didn't have a drink. It's probably the most painful period of my life."

[on winning the Best Actor Oscar] "If you grow up in the suburbs of anywhere, a dream like this seems kind of vaguely ludicrous and completely unattainable. But this moment is directly connected to those imaginings. And for anybody who's on the downside of advantage, and relying purely on courage, it's possible."

"It's not really what I'd call a movie. I was stunned that Miramax wanted to buy it. I mean it's really rude. It showed me in a really bad light. It's also shoddily made. It's cobbled together." -- expressing surprise that a low-budget documentary of his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, has been picked up for worldwide distribution.

"I'd move to Los Angeles if Australia and New Zealand were swallowed up by a huge tidal wave, if there was a bubonic plague in Europe, and if the continent of Africa disappeared from some Martian attack."

"I felt this tap on my shoulder and I turned around and, you know that De Niro fellow? Well, he didn't say a word. He didn't say 'Hello', 'Good evening' or anything or 'Hi, I'm Robert'.

He just looked at me and he nodded his head and he smiled. And he walked off." - About meeting Robert De Niro.

"You don't have to like an actor to do a scene with him. You don't have to like a director. But it's just better if you do. And I think, you know, you've got to begin that with respect."

"All that stuff, this public persona of me - let's call him 'the wild man' - that is not helpful. It doesn't make me more of a box office draw. It's the quality of my work that makes people want to go to my films."

"I always say I've given 24 insufficient performances and I'm looking forward to the time in my life when I'll do something that I think is good. There's always stuff you can do better, stuff that maybe you didn't uncover enough. But if you do something that you truly believe is perfect, then that's got to be the last movie you do."

"I'd like to play passionate women, but no one will let me."

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) $20,000,000
Beautiful Mind, A (2001) $15,000,000
Proof of Life (2000) $7,500,000
Gladiator (2000) $5,000,000