Russell Ira Crowe (born April 7, 1964) is a New Zealand-Australian Oscar-winning film actor born in Wellington, New Zealand of Welsh, Norwegian and 1/16th Maori extraction. Crowe currently resides in Australia.

When he was four years old, his family moved to Australia where his parents pursued a career in filmset catering. His maternal grandfather, Stan Wyemss, was a cinematographer. After appearing in the TV series Neighbours and Living with the Law, Crowe was cast in his first film, The Crossing (1990). However, the film "Blood Oath," a.k.a. "Prisoners of the Sun" (1990), which though filmed later was released a month earlier.

After initial success in Australia, Crowe began acting in American films. A three-time Oscar nominee, he won the Academy Award as Best Actor in 2001 for Gladiator, and he was also nominated for the Best Actor award for The Insider and A Beautiful Mind. On March 9, 2005, Crowe revealed to GQ magazine that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had approached him prior to the 73rd Academy Awards on March 25, 2001 and told him that the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda wanted to kidnap him.

On April 7, 2003, his 39th birthday, Crowe married the Australian singer and actress Danielle Spencer. Their son, Charles Spencer Crowe, was born on December 21 that year. Crowe previously dated the American filmstar Meg Ryan, after they met while filming Proof of Life (2000). Two of Russell Crowe's cousins, Martin and Jeff Crowe are former New Zealand cricket captains. Crowe is a major supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league team. Crowe is also a singer and composer. He was the lead singer and guitarist of an Australian pub rock band, 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts, which formed in 1992.

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