His mother's godfather was the producer of the Australian TV series Spyforce, and Crowe was hired for a line of dialogue in one episode of the series at age five or six, opposite series star Jack Thompson. When Crowe was four years old, his family moved to Australia and settled in Sydney, where his parents pursued their career in film set catering. He is a cousin of former New Zealand cricket captains Martin and Jeff Crowe, and the nephew of cricketer Dave Crowe. His other ancestry includes English, German, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Scottish, and Swedish.
His paternal grandfather, John Doubleday Crowe, was a Welsh man from Wrexham, while one of his maternal great-great-grandmothers was a Māori woman. His maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who was appointed an MBE for filming footage of World War II as a member of the New Zealand Film Unit. Russell Ira Crowe was born in the Wellington suburb of Strathmore Park on 7 April 1964, the son of film set caterers Jocelyn Yvonne (née Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe. He has been the co-owner of the National Rugby League (NRL) team South Sydney Rabbitohs since 2006. He has earned several accolades, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, two Golden Globe Awards, one BAFTA, and one Academy Award out of three consecutive nominations (1999, 2000, and 2001). In 2014, he made his directorial debut with the drama The Water Diviner, in which he also starred. Confidential (1997), the epic war film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), the boxing drama Cinderella Man (2005), the Western 3:10 to Yuma (2007), the crime drama American Gangster (2007), the thriller-drama State of Play (2009), and Robin Hood (2010).Ĭrowe later starred in the musical drama Les Misérables (2012), as Jor-El in the superhero epic Man of Steel (2013), the biblical fantasy drama Noah (2014), and the action comedy The Nice Guys (2016). He has also starred in films such as the drama Romper Stomper (1992), the mystery-detective thriller L.A. Nash in the biopic A Beautiful Mind (2001). He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the epic historical film Gladiator (2000), for which he won an Academy Award, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, Empire Award, and London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Leading Actor, along with 10 other nominations in the same category.Ĭrowe's other award-winning performances include tobacco firm whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand in the drama film The Insider (1999) and John F. He was born in New Zealand, spent 10 years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age 21. Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor, director, musician, and singer.