Russell Crowe: Maverick with a Heart

Tamara Jones is a former production operations supervisor in the
Entertainment Department of Paramount Canada’s Wonderland.

Russell Crowe’s career is the sum total of talent, determination, and
arrogance. He grew up in New Zealand and Australia in a household
already familiar with the showbiz life. He started out as a musician,
working in various bands and opening a nightclub (he continues to be a
working musician, albeit with no critical success). After making the
transition to acting, he found work in television and appeared in his
first film in 1990.

Crowe’s performances in The Crossing and Romper Stomper were
critically acclaimed, and in 1992 he won the Australian Film
Institute’s Best Actor award. His performance in L.A. Confidential
(1997) brought him to the attention of North American moviegoers, while
his roles in The Insider (1999) and A Beautiful Mind (2001) earned him
Oscar nominations; he received the Best Actor award for his performance
in Gladiator (2000).

Crowe’s explosive temper has resulted in some very public (and
potentially career-damaging) altercations. Wallace Stone and Nicholle
Carriиre duly chronicle Crowe’s path to stardom, but their analysis
of the Hollywood bad boy is, sadly, as trite as their book’s title
suggests.