Generic Biography of Russell Crowe
A Brief Summary
On the seventh of April, 1964, in a far away place called Auckland, New Zealand, we were blessed when Russell Ira Crowe decided to make his grand entrance into this island earth. The son of set caterers, Alex and Jocelyn, Russell grew up surrounded by the industry, spending his school holidays on film and television sets. He made his first appearance at the age of six on the Australian t.v series, Spyforce, opposite Jack Thompson(who he will work with again many years later in The Sum of Us). After school, he was a disc jockey for a while, and played in various rock bands before winning the role of Eddie/Dr.Scott in The Rocky Horror Show. While there, he also logged in a few weeks as Frank himself(yah, he was in full drag, bare bum and all). He toured with the show through New Zealand and Australia from 1986-88, before settling in Australia to pursue acting. After Russell finished touring with The Rocky Horror Show he did a short stint in the workshop production of Bad Boy Johnny And The Prophets Of Doom in the title role of Johnny, and according to one who saw it, was much better than the original person. After some more theatre work, he received his first film role as Lt. Corbett in Blood Oath, and the rest as they say, is history. --with deepest thanks to Leanne for contributing the Rocky Horror and the theatre information.
Some of the awards he has won:
1990--AFI nomination Best Actor for The Crossing
1991--AFI award Best Supporting Actor for Proof
1992--AFI award Best Actor for Romper Stomper
1993--Seattle Film Festival Golden Needle Award for Romper Stomper
Other interesting stuff:
He's in a rock group called 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. They released a single called, "The Photograph Kills," and "What's Her Name." When he was younger, he worked under the name of Rus LeRoc, and released a few records in New Zealand, all of which according to him, 'went rocketing straight to the bottom of the charts'. One single was called, "I Want to be Like Marlon Brando".
He's also a humanitarian. While doing some press in Australia to promote Virtuosity, he refused a bottle of champagne a woman tried to give him, in protest of French nuclear testing.
Two of his cousins played/used to play on the New Zealand cricket team. Yes, WE all know he's a New Zealander, but he's so often mistakenly referred to as an Aussie that in many cases, he doesn't bother to correct them.courtesy Geraldine
Russell's maternal great-grandmother was Maori. In an article for Juice magazine(March, 1993), he states:
J:Have you personally experienced Racism?RC I've seen racism from both sides of the fence. My dad was a hotel manager for a while, back in New Zealand: the nickname for the hotel was "The Flying Jug" - this place was famous for fights. So I've seen racism from Maori to Samoan, Tongan to Maori, not just white to black. My maternal grandfather's mother was Maori. I have an option to vote on the Maori roll. And I've been bashed in New Zealand for being white. You can't stop and say, "Excuse me, my grandfather's mother was a Maori". Biff! courtesy Sunni
He did some charity work for Amnesty International. You can read more about it at it's official site. But essentially, prominent Australian artists and celebrities each created a face for human rights, and they were auctioned by Sotheby's. You can take a look at it here.. courtesy Thmobile
Russell in a nutshell
Countdown to Russell's birthday
last updated March 30, 1998
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