On This Day

Birthday of Russell Crowe

April 7th 1964

13:08 7 April 2024

New Zealand-born Australian actor Russell Crowe was born on this day in 1964. After spending a number of years working in Australian TV and theater, Crowe appeared in the movies 'Blood Oath' (1990) and 'The Crossing' (1990). His breakout role came two years later when he starred as the leader of a racist skinhead gang in 'Romper Stomper' (1992). The role brought him an Australian Film Institute award for Best Actor and to the attention of Hollywood where he went on to star in the movies 'The Quick and the Dead' (1995) with Sharon Stone and 'Virtuosity' (1995) alongside Denzel Washington.

Crowe's profile continued to rise following his impressive performances in Curtis Hanson's 'L.A. Confidential' (1997). For his role in Michael Mann's 'The Insider' (1999) he received the first of three consecutive Academy Award nominations, the others being for his portrayal of Maximus in Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator' (2000) and for playing John Nash in Ron Howard's 'A Beautiful Mind' (2001) for which he won the Best Actor Oscar. Other notable film credits include 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World' (2003), 'Cinderella Man' (2005), 'A Good Year' (2006), '3:10 to Yuma' (2007), 'American Gangster (2007), 'Body of Lies' (2008), 'State of Play' (2009), 'Robin Hood' (2010), 'The Next Three Days' (2010), 'Les Misérables' (2012), 'Man of Steel' (2013), 'Noah' (2014), 'The Water Diviner' (2014), 'The Nice Guys' (2016), 'The Mummy' (2017), 'Boy Erased' (2018), 'Unhinged' (2020), 'Thor: Love and Thunder' (2022) and 'The Pope's Exorcist' (2023).

Winner of an Academy Award, a BAFTA and two Golden Globes, few actors could claim to have a filmography as impressive as that of Russell Crowe over the last three decades. Happy Birthday Russell.