Russell Crowe: Click Here For Russell's Biography |
Russell Crowe: Click Here For Russell's Filmography
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Russell Crowe loves to play it straight, whether he is bashing the press or quietly signing autographs for fans he is always being honest with you, as long as you are straight with him.
Remember, this is a man that can play a vicious skin head nazi in Romper Stomper, a charming gay son in Sum Of Us, or an out of his depth whistle blower in The Insider and not once ever lean towards being unconvincing in any of his roles. |
Born Russell Ira Crowe in New Zealand on April 1964 though his family moved to Australia when he was four. His parents had a wide variety of jobs over his formative years but seemed to favour the service industry working mainly as Innkeepers and TV/Film set caterers. Obviously Russell's first exposure to the industry came through their jobs.
Amazingly Crowe made his first screen appearance at age of 6. An Australian TV show called Spyforce cast him opposite Jack Thompson, a pairing that would re-occur years later in The Sum of Us, with Jack playing Crowe's father.
There was a time that Crowe seemed to have other aspirations than acting. He picked up a microphone, called himself Russ Le Roc and began hitting the music scene. To keep some spending money around he also worked as a bartender and a waiter. Time wore on and he (wisely) ditched the 'Le Roc' moniker and formed a new band. Originally the band was called Roman Antix, they have since changed names and evolved into the 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts. A little trivial note, but a telling one was one of the first single 'Le Roc' made, a song called 'I wanna Be Marlon Brando.'
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Bastard Life or Clarity (30 Odd Foot Of Grunt CD)
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After several years as a struggling musician Crowe returned to the acting industry. In 1990 things really began to gel for the actor. He snagged his first Best Actor AFI award (Australian Film Institute) with The Crossing, earned a best supporting actor AFI the following year with Proof and nabbed a second Best Actor AFI award for his role in Romper Stomper.
He had conquered his homeland the world would be the next (and much more difficult) step. Sharon Stone was working on a movie called The Quick and the Dead, which is exactly how the film performed at the box-office. Something about it stands out though...Stone's male casting within this film is now insanely ahead of its time. She had Russell Crowe cast as the quiet and enigmatic Cort and she had 'Kid' played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Say what you want about her acting, her eye for 'the next big thing' was on target at that time.
Crowe followed up with another odd choice...the sci-fi action flick Virtuosity with Denzel Washington. While turning in fascinating performances in each he was still in weak films that failed to tap into his talents.
Then came the big one. L.A. Confidential. This was the one that showed Crowe's talent to the world and exposed him to a whole new level of stardom. He followed these up with some less than memorable films like Mystery, Alaska, a nice light film but a walk in the park for Crowe as an actor. Then came the steady blow-you-away roles/performances of the last few years. As Jeffrey Wigand in Michael Mann's The Insider he stunned fans with an eerie chameleon like talent to get into the mind of Wigand. In his Best Actor Oscar winning role of General Maximus Decimus Meridus in Gladiator he showed that an action hero could be much more than a guy with an oiled down torso.
Following Gladiator came a rather large media blitz. Crowe was on top so it was now time to take a swing. After all, he had been seen cozying up to Meg Ryan during the filming of Proof Of Life and soon the stories began hitting the gossip entertainment circuit. Soon, Ryan and her then husband Dennis Quaid were on the outs, the reason was Crowe claimed the writers, as if Ryan was not conscious of her own actions. Though Proof Of Life performed well, supported by fans on both sides, the negative publicity let the fans down who were expecting a very steamy film featuring the duo.
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It was the day after he picked up the Best Actor Oscar for Gladiator (beating out Ed Harris for Pollock) that Crowe went on the set of Ron Howards A Beautiful Mind, co-starring...Ed Harris. Another critically acclaimed performance for Crowe as he once again tries to bring the honesty out in a real life figure...this time mathematician, John Forbes Nash Jr. a man who was diagnosed as paranoid-schizophrenic and then went on to win a Nobel Prize for his work on game theory.
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Don't be surprised when you see Crowe with more Best Actor nominations attached to his credit.
NOTE: Word to the wise: Videoflicks.com has the best selection of Russell Crowe DVD's and VHS as they carry titles of his that others do not. However I also received a note from a reader saying that the DVD For the Moment is an edited version, a fact that Videoflicks now lists on their site. Unfortunately it seems that this is the only format it has been released in, and may remain this way for a long while.
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Russell Crowe Filmography
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