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Trivia
Birth name: Russell Ira Crowe
Date of birth: 7 April 1964
Place of birth: Wellington, North Island, New Zealand
Nickname: Rusty Height: 5' 11½" (1.82 m)
Spouse: Danielle Spencer (7 April 2003 - present) 1 child
Cousin of former New Zealand international
cricketers Jeff and 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 as a rockabilly singer
sporting a large pompadour hairdo, playing under the name Russ Le Roq.
Titled his first single "I Want to Be Like Marlon Brando."
Later admitted that he had never even seen a Brando movie when he wrote
and recorded the song.
After filming Gladiator (2000), 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 Show".
Russell's rock group is named 30 Odd Foot of
Grunts. They played their first US concert following Russell's success
in Gladiator (2000) in Austin, Texas in August 2000. The tickets for the
concert were selling for over $500 on e-bay.com.
Suffered a shoulder injury, which will
require surgery, while filming Jodie Foster's Flora Plum (2004) .
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. The Insider (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 "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (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.
Met spouse, Danielle Spencer in 1989 when
they co-starred in the 1990 film, The Crossing (1990). Their co-star of
the film, Robert Mammone (The Matrix Reloaded (2003), _Matrix
Revolutions, The (2003)_ ), 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 (2003) 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
(2005)_ . The injury delayed filming for two months.
Supports the NRL team, South Sydney
Rabbitohs
Was accepted to The National Institute of
Dramatic Arts (NIDA), in Sydney, Australia.
Ranked #97 on VH1's 100 Hottest Hotties
Good friends with Nicole
Kidman. She also mentioned him in her oscar acceptance speech when
she won 'Best Actress in a Leading Role' for The Hours (2002).
He was voted the 49th Greatest Movie Star of
all time by Premiere Magazine.
Shares a birthday with Jackie Chan.
Once he was cast as Bud White in 'L.A.
Confidential' (1998), he read in the book that his character was the
largest cop on the police force, off-putting for him due to his
medium-sized frame (just under 6 feet). To capture a "big guy"
presence, Crowe lived in a tiny flat in which he could barely fit
through any of the doors. This experience, he said, made him come to the
set feeling like a giant.
Is an avid supporter of the AFL team
Richmond Tigers.
His former band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, used
to cover a song by Newfoundland band Great Big Sea. While filming
Cinderella Man in Toronto, Russell Crowe met the Alan Doyle, lead singer
of Great Big Sea. The two ended up composing several songs together,
working in Toronto and Australia, and Doyle produced Crowe's 2005 album
My Hand, My Heart.
When his wife was pregnant with his child,
he gave up drinking alcohol with her.
Is friends with Richard Tognetti, who gave
him violin lessons for _Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
(2003)
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