Russell Crowe

An action hero who initially dreamed of rock and roll stardom, New Zealand native Crowe played in a band as an adolescent and toured in the musicals Grease, The Rocky Horror Show  and Blood Brothers  before switching to TV and film projects in Australia. After a succession of diverse, critically acclaimed turns (a Nazi skinhead in Romper Stomper, a gay man looking for a mate in The Sum of Us ), Crowe was imported to Hollywood in the mid-'90s, where his turn as a brooding detective in the stylist… Show more noir L.A. Confidential  made him a star. His compelling portrayal of a tobacco-industry whistle-blower in The Insider ( 1999) earned him his first Oscar nomination, followed by two Academy Award-winning performances in Gladiator (2000) and A Beautiful Mind (2001). Post-Oscars, Crowe continued to act in high-profile films (receiving Golden Globe nods for his work in Master and Commander and Cinderella Man ) while also pursing his love of music with his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. He also wed his long-term on-again, off-again love Danielle Spencer, with whom he has two sons. In 2010, Crowe reunited with Gladiator  director Ridley Scott to star in the epic-adventure film Robin Hood . ~ Rovi

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