"The Quick and the Dead" Movie Notes [---------] [*] Russell Crowe (Cort) [*] [-----]RUSSELL CROWE stars in "The Quick and the Dead" as Cort, outlaw-turned-holy man. [-----]The New Zealand-born, Australian-raised star, who marks his U.S. film debut with Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman, was recognized for three successive years by the Australian Film Institute. In 1990 he was nominated as best actor for "The Crossing." The following year he won as best supporting actor for "Proof," and in 1992 he was judged best actor for the controversial "Romper Stomper." He has received numerous other awards, including best actor at the Seattle International Film Festival in 1993. [-----]The child of movie caterers, he grew up on film sets all over Australia and was an actor from early childhood, "but," he has said, "it's not like I was a child star. I was more a child extra." [-----]Working as a professional musician between theater engagements, Crowe did not get a film role until the age of 25. Since that time he has starred in 14 motion pictures and recently completed shooting "Rough Magic," with Bridget Fonda, and "No Way Back," with Michael Lerner and Helen Slater. [-----]Crowe's filmography includes "Prisoners of the Sun"; "Hammers Over the Anvil," with Charlotte Rampling; "The Efficiency Expert," with Anthony Hopkins; "Love in Limbo"; the Canadian production "For the Moment"; and the film version of the classic Australian children's novel "The Silver Brumby." [-----]Principal photography on "The Quick and the Dead" was shifted three weeks to allow Crowe to complete a prior commitment playing Jack Thompson's gay son in "The Sum of Us," which had its world premiere at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. [-----]He is currently shooting "Virtuosity" with Denzel Washington. Cort's in a sticky situation," Crowe says. "He sees an awful wrong that needs to be corrected. He possesses the skill to do it. But it's something he's promised God never to do again. Does he martyr himself for his beliefs and die? Or does he do what comes naturally and live?" As for the relationship that develops between Cort and Ellen, Crowe explains, "When there are only two good souls in the entire town, they're going to find each other." http://www.hollywood.com/movies/quick/bsquick.html