Russell Crowe

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Russell Crowe (2017)

Russell Ira Crowe (born April 7, 1964 in Wellington ) is a New Zealand film actor , film director , film producer and musician living in Australia . The portrayal of the Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius in the movie Gladiator , for which he received an Oscar in 2001 , made him known worldwide.

life and work

Youth and beginnings of the career

Russell Ira Crowe was born the younger of two brothers in Wellington, on the north of the two New Zealand islands. His father, John Alexander, is from Christchurch, his mother, Jocelyn, b. Wemyss, from Wellington. When Crowe was four years old, the family, who have Welsh, Māori , and Norwegian, Scottish and Italian ancestors, emigrated to Australia . There the family ran a catering service that supplied film companies. Contact with the film industry was established early on. At the age of eight, Crowe got his first small role on the television show Spyforce , directed by his godfather. The family returned to New Zealand when Russell was 14 years old. He attended the Auckland Grammar School there , which he did not finish.

After high school, the then 16-year-old tried his hand at singing in the band he founded, Roman Antix . Up to the early nineties, according to his own statement, musical and theatrical appearances were on an equal footing, and he continued his career as a singer with his band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts . In 2005, Crowe changed the band name from 30 Odd Foot of Grunts (TOFOG) to The Ordinary Fear of God (TOFOG) ...

In the 1980s, Crowe a. a. as a waiter, bingo caller and busker. He gained his first stage experience when he toured Australia and New Zealand in the musicals Grease and The Rocky Horror Show (roles: Dr. Scott, Eddie, Frank'N'Furter) after moving from New Zealand to Sydney, Australia at the age of 21 .

In the early 1990s, he again took on roles in episodes of Australian television series such as Police Rescue - Dangerous Use , Neighbors and Living with the Law . Finally, in 1989, at the age of 25, he appeared in a movie for the first time: in the supporting role as Lt. Corbett in the Australian anti-war drama Prisoners Of The Sun / Blood Oath ( Bloody oath Japanese), an explosive theming war crimes. For his role in Proof (1991) he received the AFI Award from the Australian Film Institute for Best Supporting Actor.

Crowe first received international attention for the role of the skinhead Hando in Romper Stomper (1992). The film gained wide coverage in Australia, and Crowe received the AFI Award from the Australian Film Institute for Best Actor for this role. His performance recommended him for the role of Detective Officer Bud White in LA Confidential .

In 1994, Crowe made his breakthrough in Australia with the film The Sum of Us (dt. The Sum of Us ), a silent film about family ties and a coming out. Jeff, Harry's openly gay son, is faced with a trade-off between sons' love - the father becomes a nursing case after a stroke - and the love for his friend, who is struggling to make it difficult to come out in a conservative, middle-class atmosphere.

Door opener in Hollywood was for Crowe Western Quick and the Dead (The Quick And The Dead , who is forced to the amusement of those in power in a series of gun duels to the death) (1995), in which he played a prisoner. Leading actress Sharon Stone personally campaigned for Crowe to be signed. With the role of the childishly innocent, but programmed for destruction avatar SID 6.7 in the science fiction thriller Virtuosity (1995), he broadened his previously achieved role portfolio in drama, comedy and action film by another strikingly striking character.

Crowe became known to a wide international audience through the nine-time Oscar-nominated gangster epic LA Confidential (1997); in it he embodied the justice-seeking police officer Wendell "Bud" White. His portrayal as a silent cop in Los Angeles in the 1950s, who mostly investigates with his fists and the revolver, also drew the director Ridley Scott's attention to him.

Main work

Films from 1999

Russell Crowe was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for three consecutive years (1999-2001). He is surpassed in this respect only by Marlon Brando , who received four consecutive Oscar nominations in the same category from 1952 to 1955.

Crowe received his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor in 1999 for Insider . He played alongside Al Pacino the department head of a tobacco company who was fired by his employer and then terrorized. In 2006, the US film magazine Premiere listed its portrayal of the chemist Dr. Jeffrey Wigand ranked 23rd of the 100 best acting performances in film history.

A year later he received an Oscar for Best Actor for the embodiment of the Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius in Ridley Scott's historical film Gladiator . His third Oscar nomination was for A Beautiful Mind , again just a year later. Directed by Ron Howard , he played the schizophrenic mathematician and Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash Jr. In 2002 he received a Golden Globe and a British Academy Film Award for Best Actor for the role .

With the success of Gladiator , Crowe received many offers for action-heavy roles. One of them - as a negotiator for an insurance company in cases of extortion in signs of life - Proof of Life (2000) - he accepted; in addition, he wanted to follow his acting claim to versatility and not allow himself to be squeezed into a certain scheme.

In 2003, directed by Peter Weir , Russell Crowe embodied the British naval hero Captain "Lucky Jack" in the double Oscar-winning seafaring adventure Master & Commander - To the End of the World , an adaptation of two novels by Patrick O'Brian Aubrey. For this role, he received his fourth Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

The boxing film Das Comeback (2005), in which Crowe, again directed by Ron Howard, plays boxing world champion Jim Braddock in the USA during the great economic crisis of the 1930s, was not a commercial success. Nevertheless, Crowe's performance resulted in three nominations for best leading actor: for a Golden Globe, an award from the Broadcast Film Association and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Russell Crowe as Max Skinner from the movie A Good Year (2005)

In 2006, Crowe collaborated with Sir Ridley Scott for the second time on the film adaptation of Peter Mayle's novel A Good Year , a light work-life balance summer comedy that initially failed to hit the box office and received mixed reviews. The success of the film, however, turned out to be a long-time seller in the secondary exploitation on DVD.

Films from 2007

Russell Crowe at the
State of Play premiere in London in April 2009

In 2007 the result of the third collaboration with Ridley Scott hit theaters. Crowe played the historical figure of Detective Richie Roberts in the commercially very successful film American Gangster . Roberts tracked down and convicted the legendary heroin dealer Frank Lucas , portrayed in the film by Denzel Washington .

Also in 2007 the Western Death Train to Yuma (3:10 to Yuma) was released in cinemas. Crowe played alongside Christian Bale as his opponent in this modern western, which in addition to genre-typical action mainly focused on psychological deepening, the outlaw and gang leader Ben Wade.

In 2008, Crowe played the overweight, self-arrogant CIA official Ed Hofmann in the agent film The Man Who Never Lived (Body of Lies) , a character who symbolically paraphrased the American intelligence activities in the Middle East at the time.

In the film State of Play , 2009, Russell Crowe was seen alongside Ben Affleck , Helen Mirren and Jeff Daniels as investigative journalist Cal McAffrey for the second time after Insider in a role that addressed the socio-political significance of committed journalism. Crowe received an AFI Award for Best International Actor for this role .

Another collaboration between Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe as a director, actor and co-producer came about in 2009 with the historical adventure film Robin Hood . Crowe played the title role alongside Cate Blanchett as Lady Marian Loxley, Max von Sydow as her blind father-in-law Sir Walter Loxley and Mark Strong in the antagonist role of the corrupt Chancellor of the Exchequer Godfrey. The production was selected as the opening film of the 63rd Cannes Film Festival in 2010 and grossed over 321 million US dollars worldwide.

Directed by Oscar winner Paul Haggis , 72 Hours - The Next Three Days was created in Pittsburgh, USA in 2009 . The film, a remake of the French suspense thriller Without Guilt (Pour Elle / Anything For Her) , tells the story of a university lecturer who tries to free his suicidal wife from prison. The film grossed over $ 67 million worldwide by December 2011.

In the martial arts film The Man with the Iron Fists , directed by RZA ( Robert Diggs ) and filmed in China in December 2010, Crowe took on the role of the warrior and royal envoy Jackknife, who did a friendship service to his friend, the blacksmith achieves by making his hands available as cast models for the two iron fists, the blacksmith's "iron fists". The film opened in theaters in the USA on November 2, 2012.

Films from 2011

From September to November 2011, the filming of the remake of Man of Steel , directed by Zack Snyder, took place. Crowe took over the role of the biological father of Superman, Jor-El. The film opened in Germany on June 20, 2013.

On January 11, 2012, the third season of the Canadian detective television series Doyle's Republic opened with guest roles for Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle, Kevin Durand and Scott Grimes, the "Merry Men" cast of the 2009 movie Robin Hood, which began shooting in August 2011 during Crowe's stay in St. John's, Newfoundland, where he gave two concerts with Alan Doyle, Scott Grimes , Kevin Durand , Danielle Spencer and the Irish group Size2Shoes , which introduced the Crowe / Doyle Songbook Vol. III.

That same month, it was revealed that Crowe had played the role of fictional corrupt New York City Mayor Hostetler in the neo-noir drama Broken City, alongside Mark Wahlberg . Shooting began on November 14, 2011, and production ended on January 26, 2012. The film started in Germany on April 18, 2013.

From February to June 2012, the filming of the remake of the musical Les Misérables , directed by Tom Hooper , in which Russell Crowe played the antagonist Inspector Javert alongside Hugh Jackman as protagonist Jean Valjean, Anne Hathaway as Fantine and Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thénardier took over. The film opened in theaters in Germany on February 21, 2013. For Crowe this was the first return to the musical genre since 1986–1988, where he toured Australia with the stage version of the Rocky Horror Show under Daniel Abineri .

In the debut direction of screenwriter and producer Akiva Goldsman , with whom he had previously worked on A Beautiful Mind and Das Comeback , Crowe took on the role of gang leader and henchman of the devil Pearly Soames in the film adaptation of Mark Helprin's fantasy novel in the style of the magical realism of Winter’s Tale alongside Colin Farrell , Jessica Brown Findlay , William Hurt and Will Smith . Shooting started on October 27, 2012. The film was released in cinemas worldwide on Valentine's Day 2014.

In the $ 150 million budgeted feature film Noah by Darren Aronofsky , Crowe took on the title role of Noah alongside Jennifer Connelly as Noah's wife Naama . The shooting of the film took place from July 28th to November 1st 2012 a. a. in Iceland and New York and were interrupted by Hurricane Sandy , which flooded parts of Manhattan, causing parts of the crew to leave their hotel and the location of the Ark, Planting Fields Arboretrum in Upper Brookville, Oyster Bay, Long Island.

From March 14th to May 10th 2014 the filming of the psychodrama Fathers and Daughters took place in Pittsburgh . Crowe plays the father alongside Amanda Seyfried in the role of the daughter, directed by Gabriele Muccino based on a script by Brad Desch . The film tells the story of a father - a mentally ill writer - and his daughter, who have been separated in New York for 25 years. Flashbacks tell the girl's childhood, a second narrative thread follows the lifeline of the grown daughter, who is still struggling with the aftermath of her traumatic childhood.

From December 2013 to February 2014, the filming of the film The Promise of a Life took place in Australia and Turkey , in which Crowe plays the role of the Australian farmer Josuah Connor, who travels to Turkey in 1919 to find the footsteps of his three in battle to seek sons fallen from Gallipoli . Crowe also directed a feature film for the first time in this film . Andrew Anastasios and Andrew Knight wrote the script .

In 2020, Crowe won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie for his role in The Loudest Voice . However, because of the bushfires in Australia , he was unable to receive the award in person. Instead, Jennifer Aniston read the following message: “The tragedy in Australia is based on climate change . We have to act on the basis of scientific knowledge, switch our workforce worldwide to renewable energies and learn to respect our planet as the unique and wonderful place it is. Then we all have a future. "

film producer

In 2007 Russell Crowe founded his own production company Fear of God Films with his assistant Keith Rodger , whose first feature film project was the co-production of the movie Robin Hood (2010). In 2012, the company produced the television project Damage Control for Channel 5 of Australian TV.

Fear of God Films produced Crowe's directorial debut The Promise of a Life in 2014 and co-produced the feature film project Fathers and Daughters , directed by Gabriele Muccino.

family

Russell Crowe and then wife Danielle Spencer at the Star Opening Party in Sydney on September 14, 2011

On April 7, 2003, Crowe married Australian singer / songwriter and actress Danielle Spencer , whom he met in 1989 while filming The Crossing . They have two sons (* December 2003 and * July 2006). In 2003 they moved in together. Since October 2012, Spencer and Crowe have been living in two different districts of Sydney, Australia, after mutual separation, Crowe in the Wooloomooloo district and Spencer in the Rose Bay district - and together with Crowe's family of origin on his cattle ranch (700 Black Angus cattle) in Nana Glen near Coffs Harbor on the east coast of Australia.

German dubbing voices

His German voices changed in his earlier films. Thomas Fritsch , e.g. B. in Gladiator , and Tom Vogt , z. B. in A Beautiful Mind , dubbed the actor in his mid to late thirties. Since a good year from 2006, Martin Umbach had established himself as the standard dubbing voice for the actor, with the exception of the 2007 death train to Yuma , where Thomas Fritsch was again the dubbing actor . In The Man With The Iron Fists , 2012, and Man of Steel , 2013, Martin Umbach can be heard again as speaker.

Others

Russell Crowe and fans at the 2013 Man of Steel film premiere in St Helier, Jersey
  • On 12 April 2010 Crowe was a star of the film category on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honored. The star is right in front of the Dolby Theater (6801 Hollywood Boulevard ), the current venue for the annual Oscar awards.
  • Since April 2010, Crowe has been continuously active on its own Twitter account with a follower base of around 1.4 million people.
  • Crowe was said to have a quick temper because of several physical and verbal arguments in the years 1999-2005. His behavior became in the episode The Russell Crowe Show: A Whipping Around The World! ( Season 6 , Episode 5) satirized the American television series South Park in 2002.
  • The change in hairstyle, accent, intonation and silhouette are for Russell Crowe integral components for the individual characterization of his respective film characters. He gained 63 pounds (29 kilograms) for his role in Insider , 1999, and The Man Who Never Lived , 2008, as well. For the role of boxer Jim Braddock in The Comeback , Crowe underwent intense boxing training in the style of the 1930s and lost 23 kilos. So that the thinning hair of the mid-fifties Dr. Wigand could be depicted realistically in Insider by means of a hair piece, the thirty-four year old had his thick hair completely removed. From June to December 2011, in preparation for several film roles in 2012, Crowe underwent a gluten-free and alcohol-free diet and fitness program that consisted of walking, mountain biking, weight lifting and training in the gym. During this period he lost 42 kg (from an initial 130 kg to 88 kg).
  • The Australian postal forms series stamps in their Australian Legends alongside Nicole Kidman , Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush also Russell Crowe, both as an individual and in his role as a gladiator from.
  • Crowe, who first had riding lessons at the age of ten, has been a horse lover since his youth. In an interview on Death Train to Yuma , he said, “They are like people. With some horses you instantly have a closer relationship that you can develop over time. ”Sometimes he finds it difficult to separate from his respective film horse when the filming is finished.
  • Rugby fanatic Russell Crowe, a fan of his home team South Sydney Rabbitohs since he was five , has been a co-owner of this Australian rugby league club since 2006 . On November 18, 2012, it was announced that Crowe intends to sell its ownership interests, which add up to an investment of 11 million Australian dollars, at the end of the 2013 season. However, he put this decision on hold after separating from his wife, as it became known in August 2013.

Filmography (selection)

As a narrator

  • 2007: Bra Boys - Director: Sunny Abberton, Macario De Souza (documentary)
  • 2013: Red Obsession - Directed by David Roach, Warwick Ross (documentary)
  • 2013: Slammin 'Sam: The Sam Burgess Story (documentary)

Awards / nominations (extract)

Oscar

  • 2000: Nomination for Best Actor for Insider
  • 2001: Best Actor for Gladiator
  • 2002: Nomination for Best Actor for A Beautiful Mind

Golden Globe

  • 1999: Nomination for Best Actor in the Drama Category for Insider
  • 2000: Nomination for Best Actor in the Drama Category for Gladiator
  • 2001: Best Actor in the Drama Category for A Beautiful Mind
  • 2003: Nomination for Best Actor in the Drama Category for Master & Commander
  • 2005: Nomination for Best Actor in the Drama Category for The Comeback
  • 2020: Best Actor in the Mini-Series or TV Movie category for The Loudest Voice

Golden Raspberry

  • 2018: Nomination for Worst Supporting Actor for The Mummy

Chlotrudis Award

  • 1998: Best Actor for LA Confidential

Broadcast Film Critics Association

  • 1999: Best Actor for Insider
  • 2000: Best Actor for Gladiator
  • 2001: Best Actor for A Beautiful Mind
  • 2004: Nomination for Best Actor for Master and Commander
  • 2006: Nomination for Best Actor for The Comeback

Screen Actors Guild Award

  • 1999: Nomination for Best Actor for Insider
  • 2000: Nomination for Best Actor for Gladiator
  • 2001: Best Actor for A Beautiful Mind
  • 2006: Nomination for Best Actor for The Comeback

British Academy Film Award

  • 1999: Nomination for Best Actor for Insider
  • 2000: Nomination for Best Actor for Gladiator
  • 2001: Best Actor for A Beautiful Mind

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

  • 1999: Best Actor for Insider

National Society of Film Critics

  • 1999: Best Actor for Insider

National Board of Review

  • 1999: Best Actor for Insider

MTV Movie Award

  • 2001: Nomination for Best Fight for Gladiator
  • 2002: Nomination for Best Actor for A Beautiful Mind

Saturn Award

  • 2001: Nomination for Best Actor for Gladiator

Online Film Critics Society Award

  • 2001: Best Actor for A Beautiful Mind

Empire Award

  • 2001: Best Actor for Gladiator
  • 2009: Actor Of Our Lifetime for lifetime achievement

Web links

Commons : Russell Crowe  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. couriermail.com.au Oscar winner Russell Crowe denied Australian citizenship
  2. Birthplace of parents Russell Crowe self-disclosure on Twitter from October 12, 2011 “ My parents are New Zealanders. Dad born in Christchurch, Mum in Wellington.
  3. Source Welsh ancestors Specification of paternal grandfather: Self-assessment on Twitter from October 15, 2011: “Paternal Grandfather”
  4. Inside the Actor's Studio Part 1 on Mediathek youtube.de Moderator: James Lipton 2002. Min 5:52
  5. Self-assessment by Russell Crowe on Twitter on October 15, 2011: “Scottish, Welsh, Maori, Norwegian, English & Italian… you?”
  6. Source: Music and Acting Interview with Molly Meldrum Part 1 on youtube.de, Min .: 5:24; 2000 Austin, Texas.
  7. Source filmreporter.de
  8. ^ Ewbank / Stafford: Russell Crowe - The Biography, 2001, p. 34
  9. Relocation at the age of 21 to media library Youtube Part 1 Russell Crowe - What it takes part 2
  10. Inside the Actor's Studio Part 1 on Mediathek youtube.de Moderator: James Lipton 2002, Min 03:26.
  11. 100 Greatest Movie Performances of All Time by Premiere Magazine - # 23 out of 100 best acting performances in film history on premiere.com.
  12. A Good Year Amazon Sales Rank in 2010: 1,635 in Movies & TV
  13. 2009 Samsung Mobile AFI Awards Nominees & Winners . Australian Film Institute , archived from the original on June 27, 2014 ; accessed on November 29, 2015 (English, original website no longer available).
  14. cf. Film Festival: Ridley Scott's “Robin Hood” opens Cannes on Spiegel Online , March 26, 2010 (accessed April 4, 2010)
  15. Robin Hood box office: boxofficemojo.com.
  16. Source Jor-El took on the role in Superman man Of Steel
  17. ^ Announcement Crowe / Doyle Songbook Vol III
  18. ^ Announcement of the new movie Broken City Role Mayor from August 10, 2011, accessed on August 10, 2011
  19. Broken City started on April 18, 2013
  20. ↑ Cinema release IMDB .
  21. Announcement of Akiva Goldsman's directorial debut, film adaptation by Marc Helprin: Winter's Tale , accessed on November 24, 2011
  22. ^ Message role in Goldsman's Winter Tale
  23. ↑ Start of shooting Winter's Tale October 27, 2012 directed by Akiva Goldsman. Filming ends January 30, 2013
  24. Darren Aronofsky's feature film Noah with Russell Crowe in the lead role , accessed April 14, 2012
  25. ^ Casting Call - Project: "Noah" . A-List Auditions , archived from the original on January 16, 2013 ; accessed on May 12, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
  26. ^ Film Fathers and Daughters
  27. Russell Crowe speaks to The Advertiser on the Burra set of his Gallipoli film The Water Diviner at heraldsun.com.au, accessed February 21, 2015
  28. Award of the Golden Globes: Australian Russell Crowe uses acceptance speech for climate appeal. In: Spiegel Online. January 6, 2020, accessed January 6, 2020 .
  29. Keith Rodger, producer of Fear of God Films , accessed May 22, 2014
  30. ^ Russell Crowe Goes Into Damage Control . Throng Ltd , October 8, 2010, accessed November 29, 2015 .
  31. ^ "Fathers and Daughters" filming on Pitt's campus . The Pitt news , March 27, 2014, accessed November 29, 2015 .
  32. Twitter account Gabriele Muccino 1st day of shooting Fathers and Daughters.
  33. Source beginning of relationship with Danielle Spencer Interview Tokyo Dec. 2010 min 01:36
  34. Report on abc News Australia
  35. ^ Spencer - Crowe Sydney Morning Herald separation from October 14, 2012
  36. Source cattle breeding interview with Craig Ferguson on the Late Late Show on May 10, 2010 min 01
  37. ^ German dubbing index list entry speaker for Russell Crowe , accessed on February 28, 2014
  38. Video awarding of the Star Walk of Fame on Gala.de
  39. PR report Stern Walk of Fame on fan-lexikon.de
  40. ^ Address Russell Crowe Twitter account
  41. www.cinderellamanmovie.com Subpage Production Notes: Turning into the legend
  42. first photo illustration part row one left on croweitalia.altervista.org
  43. Weight February 2012: 88 kg “@russellcrowe Great work! What is your current weight? Russell Crowe @GregK_Schmidt Around 88 kg, but I'm not really focused on loss.maintaining at the moment, mainly looking at breath control, fitness, strength. “Twitter entry from February 29, 2012.
  44. ^ Announcement Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe honored on Australia stamps
  45. 3:10 to Yuma: Christian Bale vs Russell Crowe
  46. Self-disclosure via Twitter from September 9, 2011
  47. ^ Wikinews: takeover of Rabbitohs
  48. Crowe sells ownership of the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2013
  49. Crowe no longer plans to part with SSR , accessed August 20, 2013
  50. Episode Police Rescue - The Right Stuff on youtube.de
  51. Documentation about the rugby player Sam Burgess, Crowe as the narrator of the story , Tender side of Sam Burgess and his family revealed in new documentary Slammin 'Sam
  52. Complete list of all awards on imdb.com , accessed June 26, 2011

literature