The Iron Giant is a 1999 animated science fiction fantasy action film produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Brad Bird directed the film and starring Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., Vin Diesel, Eli Marienthal, Christopher McDonald and John Mahoney. The film is about a lonely boy named Hogarth raised by his widowed mother, discovers an iron giant who fell from space. With the help of a beatnik named Dean, they had to stop the U.S. military and a federal agent from finding and destroying the Giant. The Iron Giant takes place in the October 1957 American state of Maine during the Cold War height. The film's development phase began around 1994, though the project finally started taking root once Bird signed on as director, and his hiring of Tim McCanlies to write the screenplay in 1996. The script was given approval by Ted Hughes, author of the original novel, and production struggled through difficulties (Bird even enlisted the aid of a group of students from CalArts). The Iron Giant was released with high critical praise (scoring a 97 percent approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes), when released by Warner Bros. in the summer of 1999. It was nominated for awards that most notably included the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the Nebula Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Plot[link]

In 1957, a large alien robot (Vin Diesel) crashes from orbit near the coast of Rockwell, having crashed, his original purpose being the destruction of humanity, his memories were erased. Maine. shortly after, the Iron Giant wanders off into the mainland. Child Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal) follows a trail of the forest's destruction and frees the robot, who is stuck in the power cables of an electrical substation, after being rescued by and befriended by Hogarth the Giant follows him back to his house where he lives with his mother Annie (Jennifer Aniston). upon their return, the robot attempts to eat the iron off the nearby railroad tracks, alarmed at the sound of an incoming train, Hogarth tells the giant to repair the tracks, the robot attempts this, but takes too long, causing the train to collide with his head. Hograth hides the damaged robot in their barn where he discovers the robot is self repairing. Later that night, Hogarth returns to the barn with a stack of comic books to read to the Giant. The robot is impressed with Superman, but distressed when he discovers a comic about an evil robot; Hogarth tells the robot that it can [who he chooses to be]. Investigating the destroyed substation, US government agent Kent Mansley (Christopher McDonald) discovers evidence of the robot and decides to continue his inquiries in nearby Rockwell. Finding a BB gun Hogarth left near the substation the night he found the Giant, Mansley takes up a room for rent at Hogarth's home and trails the boy to learn more. He is paranoid about an alien invasion and alerts the U.S. Army to the possible presence of the robot. Worried that they will get caught, Hogarth evades Mansley and takes the robot to beatnik artist Dean McCoppin (Harry Connick, Jr.) who passes off the robot as one of his works of art when Mansley and Lieutenant General Rogard (John Mahoney) investigate. Hogarth inadvertently activates a self-defense mechanism in the giant with a toy gun, but Dean saves Hogarth commanding the robot to leave, but they soon realize that the robot cannot control the SDM, and they chase after it before reaching town. In Rockwell, the robot saves two boys, but Mansley having seen it, orders an attack to stop it. The robot flees with Hogarth until he is shot down by a ballistic missile, after crash landing the robot believes Hogarth to be dead, causing the enraged robot to attack the Army, who are no match for the advanced firepower. Mansley wants Rogard to lure the robot out to sea so they can destroy it with a nuclear missile from the USS Nautilus. Hogarth (alive the whole time) wakes up and calms the robot down, causing it to deactivate its weapons. Dean tells Rogard and his men to stand down, before Mansley calls the Nautilus to launch the missile anyway. Realizing the deadly mistake, Rogard argues Mansley for doing this at the robot who is standing in the middle of the town. The robot stops Mansley who is then arrested by the Army. When Hogarth tells the robot about Rockwell's fate, the robot flies off to intercept the missile, as a hero, not a weapon. It all collides causing a massive explosion high up in the atmosphere. The people of the town recognize the giant as a hero. Some time later, Annie and Dean had a romantic relationship and Dean created a statue honoring the robot. Hogarth receives a package from Rogard, containing only one piece they found of the robot, a small bolt. That night, Hogarth awakens to a familiar beeping coming from it which is trying to get out his window and knew the robot is repairing itself somewhere and he opens it to let the bolt out. On the Langjökull glacier in Iceland various parts of the robot travel across there where his head rests, eyes glowing, as the robot wakes up and smiles.

Cast[link]

• Eli Marienthal as Hogarth Hughes: an energetic, young, curious boy with an active imagination. He is the main hero of the film.
• Jennifer Aniston as Annie Hughes: Hogarth's single mother who is in her early 30s and works hard as a waitress in the local diner.
• Harry Connick, Jr. as Dean McCoppin: a beatnik artist and junk yard owner who "sees art where others see junk". He becomes Hogarth's new stepfather at the end of the film.
• Vin Diesel as The Iron Giant: a fifty-foot, metal-eating robot. The Giant reacts defensively if it recognizes anything as a weapon, immediately attempting to destroy it, but can stop himself. The specific creator of the giant is never revealed. In a deleted scene, he has a brief vision of robots similar to him destroying a different planet. Sean Connery, Frank Welker and James Earl Jones were also considered to do the voice.
• Christopher McDonald as Kent Mansley: an arrogant, ambitious and paranoid N.S.A. agent sent to investigate the Iron Giant. He is the primary villain of the film.
• John Mahoney as General Rogard: military leader in Washington, D.C. who strongly dislikes Mansley and his strange attitude.
• M. Emmet Walsh as Earl Stutz: a sailor and the first man to see the robot.
• James Gammon as Marv Loach: a foreman who follows the robot's trail after it destroys the power station.
• Cloris Leachman as Mrs. Tensedge: Hogarth's no-nonsense schoolteacher.

Production[link]

Development[link]

In 1986, rock musician Pete Townshend became interested in writing "a modern song-cycle in the manner of Tommy",^[1] and chose Ted Hughes' The Iron Man as his subject. Three years later, The Iron Man: A Musical album was released. The same year Pete Townshend produced a short film set to the album single "A Friend is a Friend" featuring The Iron Man in a mix of stop frame animation and live action directed by Matt Forrest. In 1993, a stage version was mounted at London’s Old Vic. Des McAnuff, who had adapted Tommy with Townshend for the stage, believed that The Iron Man could translate to the screen, and the project was ultimately acquired by Warner Bros.^[1] In late 1996, while developing the project on its way through , the studio saw the film as a perfect vehicle for Brad Bird, who at the time was working for Turner Feature Animation.^[1] Turner Entertainment had recently merged with Warner Bros. parent company Time Warner, and Bird was allowed to transfer to the Warner Bros. Animation studio to direct The Iron Giant.^[1] After reading the original Iron Man book by Hughes, Bird was impressed with the mythology of the story and in addition, was given an unusual amount of creative control by Warner Bros.^[1] This creative control involved introducing two new characters not present in the original book: Dean and Kent. Bird's pitch to Warner Bros. was based around the idea "What if a gun had a soul?"^[2] Bird decided to have the story set to take place in the 1950s as he felt the time period "presented a wholesome surface, yet beneath the wholesome surface was this incredible paranoia. We were all going to die in a freak-out."^[3] The financial failure of Warner Bros.' previous animated effort, Quest for Camelot, whose cost overruns and production nightmares made the company reconsider their commitment to feature animation, helped shape The Iron Giant's production considerably.^[4] In a 2003 interview, writer Tim McCanlies recalled "Quest for Camelot did so badly that everybody backed away from animation and fired people. Suddenly we had no executive anymore on Iron Giant, which was great because Brad got to make his movie. Because nobody was watching."^[5] Bird, who regarded Camelot as "trying to emulate the Disney style," attributed the creative freedom on The Iron Giant to the bad experience of Quest for Camelot, stating: "I caught them at a very strange time, and in many ways a fortuitous time."^[2] By the time The Iron Giant entered production, Warner Bros. informed the staff that there would be a smaller budget as well as time-frame to get the film completed. However, although the production was watched closely, Bird commented "They did leave us alone if we kept it in control and showed them we were producing the film responsibly and getting it done on time and doing stuff that was good." Bird regarded the tradeoff as having "one-third of the money of a Disney or DreamWorks film, and half of the production schedule," but the payoff as having more creative freedom, describing the film as "fully-made by the animation team; I don't think any other studio can say that to the level that we can."^[4]

Writing[link]

Tim McCanlies was hired to write the script, though Bird was somewhat displeased with having another writer on board, as he himself wanted to write the screenplay.^[5] He later changed his mind after reading McCanlies' unproduced screenplay for Secondhand Lions.^[1] In Bird's original story treatment, America and the USSR were at war at the end, with the Giant dying. McCanlies decided to have a brief scene displaying his survival, quoting "You can't kill E.T. and then not bring him back." McCanlies finished the script within two months, and was surprised once Bird convinced the studio not to use Townshend's songs. Townshend did not care either way, quoting "Well, whatever, I got paid."^[5] McCanlies was given a three month schedule to complete a script, and it was by way of the film's tight schedule that Warner Bros. "didn't have time to mess with us" as McCanlies said.^[6] Hughes himself was sent a copy of McCanlies' script and sent a letter back, saying how pleased he was with the version. In the letter, Hughes stated, "I want to tell you how much I like what Brad Bird has done. He’s made something all of a piece, with terrific sinister gathering momentum and the ending came to me as a glorious piece of amazement. He’s made a terrific dramatic situation out of the way he’s developed The Iron Giant. I can’t stop thinking about it."^[1]

Animation[link]

Bird opted to produce The Iron Giant entirely in the widescreen CinemaScope format, but was warned against doing so by his advisors. Bird felt it was appropriate to use the format, as many films from the late 1950s were produced in such widescreen formats, and was eventually allowed to produce the feature in the wide 2.39:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio ^[3] It was decided to animate the Giant using computer-generated imagery as the various animators working on the film found it hard "drawing a metal object in a fluid-like manner."^[1] A new computer program was created for this task, while the art of Norman Rockwell, Edward Hopper and N.C. Wyeth inspired the design. Bird brought in students from CalArts to assist in minor animation work due to the film's busy schedule. The Giant's voice was originally to be electronically modulated but the filmmakers decided they "needed a deep, resonant and expressive voice to start with", and were about to hire Peter Cullen, due to his recent history with voice acting robot characters, but, due to Cullen's unavailability at the time, Vin Diesel was hired instead.^[1] Cullen, however, did some voice-over work for the movie's official theatrical trailer. Teddy Newton, a storyboard artist, played an important role in shaping the film's story. Newton's first assignment on staff involved being asked by Bird to create a film within a film to reflect the "hygiene-type movies that everyone saw when the bomb scare was happening."^[7] Newton came to the conclusion that a musical number would be the catchiest alternative, and the "Duck and Cover sequence" came to become one of the crew members' favorites of the film.^[8] Nicknamed "The X-Factor" by story department head Jeffery Lynch, the producers gave him artistic freedom on various pieces of the film's script.^[9]

Music[link]

The score for the film was composed and conducted by Michael Kamen. Bird's original temp score, "a collection of Bernard Hermann cues from 50's and 60's sci-fi films," initially scared Kamen.^[10] Believing the sound of the orchestra is important to the feeling of the film, Kamen "decided to comb eastern Europe for an "old-fashioned" sounding orchestra and went to Prague to hear Vladimir Ashkenazy conduct the Czech Philharmonic in Strauss's An Alpine Symphony." Eventually, the Czech Philharmonic was the orchestra used for the film's score, with Bird describing the symphony orchestra as "an amazing collection of musicians."^[11] The score for The Iron Giant was recorded in a rather unconventional manner, compared to most films: recorded over one week at the Rudolfinum in Prague, the music was recorded without conventional uses of syncing the music, in a method Kamen described in a 1999 interview as "[being able to] play the music as if it were a piece of classical repertoire."^[10] Kamen's score for the feature was nominated and won an Annie Award for Music in an Animated Feature Production on November 6, 1999.^[12]

Themes[link]

The film is set in 1957 during a period of the Cold War characterized by escalation in tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1957, Sputnik was launched, raising the possibility of nuclear attack from space. Anti-communism and the potential threat of nuclear destruction cultivated an atmosphere of fear and paranoia which also led to a proliferation of films about alien invasion. In one scene, Hogarth's class is seen watching an animated film named Atomic Holocaust, based on Duck and Cover, an actual film that offered advice on how to survive if the USSR bombed the USA. The film also has an anti-gun message in it. When the Iron Giant sees a deer get killed by hunters, the Iron Giant notices two rifles discarded by the deer's body. The Iron Giant's eyes turn red showing hostility to any gun. It is repeated throughout the film, "Guns kill." and "You're not a gun." Despite the anti-war and anti-gun themes, the film avoids demonizing the military, and presents General Rogard as an essentially rational and sympathetic figure, in contrast to the power-hungry civilian Mansley. Hogarth's message to the giant, "You are who you choose to be", played a pivotal role in the film. Writer Tim McCanlies commented that "At a certain point, there are deciding moments when we pick who we want to be. And that plays out for the rest of your life." McCanlies said that movies can provide viewers with a sense of right and wrong, and expressed a wish that the movie would "make us feel like we're all part of humanity [which] is something we need to feel." ^[6]

Reception[link]

Box office[link]

The Iron Giant opened on August 6, 1999 in the United States in 2,179 theaters, accumulating $5,732,614 over its opening weekend. The film went on to gross $23,159,305 domestically, making it a failure at first,^[13] but became a success later. In an interview with Brad Bird, IGN stated that it was "a mis-marketing campaign of epic proportions at the hands of Warner Bros., they simply didn't realize what they had on their hands."^[14] Tim McCanlies said, "I wish that Warner had known how to release it."^[5]

Lorenzo di Bonaventura, president of Warner Bros. at the time, explained, "People always say to me, 'Why don't you make smarter family movies?' The lesson is, Every time you do, you get slaughtered."^[15] Stung by criticism that it mounted an ineffective marketing campaign for its theatrical release, Warner Bros. revamped its ad strategy for the video release of the film, including tie-ins with Honey Nut Cheerios, AOL and General Motors and secured the backing of three U.S. congressmen (Ed Markey, Mark Foley and Howard Berman).^[16]

Critical response[link]

The Iron Giant earned universal critical acclaim. Based on 111 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, The Iron Giant received an overall 97% "Certified Fresh" approval rating.^[17] With the 31 critics on Rotten Tomatoes' "Cream of the Crop", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs,^[18] still averaging a 97% "Certified Fresh" approval rating.^[19] By comparison, Metacritic calculated an average score of 85 (out of 100) from the 27 reviews it collected, which indicates "Universal Acclaim".^[20] The film has since then gathered a cult following,^[14] due in part to the cable television network Cartoon Network showing the film annually on Thanksgiving for 24 hours straight in the early 2000s (decade).^[21][22]

Roger Ebert very much liked the Cold War setting, feeling "that's the decade when science fiction seemed most preoccupied with nuclear holocaust and invaders from outer space." In addition he was impressed with parallels seen in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and quoted, "[The Iron Giant] is not just a cute romp but an involving story that has something to say."^[23] In response to the E.T. parallels, Bird quoted, "E.T. doesn't go kicking ass. He doesn't make the Army pay. Certainly you risk having your hip credentials taken away if you want to evoke anything sad or genuinely heartfelt."^[3] IGN extolled the film in a 2004 review as "the best non-Disney animated film".^[22]

Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle agreed that the storytelling was far superior to other animated films, and cited the characters as plausible and noted the richness of moral themes.^[24] Jeff Millar of the Houston Chronicle agreed with the basic techniques as well, and concluded the voice cast being excelled with a great script by Tim McCanlies.^[25]

Accolades[link]

The Hugo Awards nominated The Iron Giant for Best Dramatic Presentation,^[26] while the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America honored Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies with the Nebula Award nomination.^[27] The British Academy of Film and Television Arts gave the film a Children's Award as Best Feature Film.^[28] In addition The Iron Giant won nine Annie Awards and was nominated for another six categories,^[29] with another nomination for Best Home Video Release at The Saturn Awards.^[30] IGN ranked The Iron Giant as the fifth favorite animated film of all time in a list published in 2010.^[31]

The American Film Institute nominated The Iron Giant for its Top 10 Animated Films list.^[32]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Hughes, Ted (3 March 2005) (Paperback). The Iron Man. Reprinting of novel on which this film is based. Faber Children's Books. ISBN 0571226124. 
• Hughes, Ted; Moser, Barry (31 August 1995) (Hardcover). The Iron Woman. Sequel to The Iron Man. Amazon Remainders Account. ISBN 0803717962. 

External links[link]

Film portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Iron Giant

• The Iron Giant at AllRovi
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"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2012)

Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe at Piccadilly Circus in London during filming of A Good Year, October 2005
Born	Russell Ira Crowe (1964-04-07) 7 April 1964 (age 48) Wellington, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Citizenship	Australian
Occupation	Actor and musician
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Danielle Spencer (2003–present)[1][2]
Children	Charles Spencer Crowe Tennyson Spencer Crowe
Parents	John Alexander Crowe Jocelyn Yvonne Wemyss

Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is a New Zealand born Australian actor, film producer and musician.^[3][4][5][6] He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, an Empire Award for Best Actor and a London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and ten further nominations for Best Actor. Crowe appeared as the tobacco firm whistle blower Jeffrey Wigand in the 1999 film The Insider, for which he received five awards as Best Actor and seven nominations in the same category. In 2001, Crowe's portrayal of mathematician and Nobel Prize winner John F. Nash in the biopic A Beautiful Mind brought him numerous awards, including an BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor category Motion Picture Drama and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.

Crowe's other films include L.A. Confidential (1997), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) Cinderella Man (2005), American Gangster (2007), 3:10 to Yuma (2007) and Robin Hood (2010). Crowe's work has earned him several accolades, including a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, three Academy Award nominations in a row (1999–2001), one Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, one BAFTA, and an Academy Award. Due to his success and character variety, critics have often called him a "virtuoso" actor. He is also co-owner of South Sydney Rabbitohs, an Australian National Rugby League team.

Early life[link]

Crowe was born on 7 April 1964 in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Jocelyn Yvonne (née Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe,^[7] both of whom were movie set caterers; his father also managed a hotel.^[8] Crowe's maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who was named an MBE for filming footage of World War II. Crowe's maternal great-great-grandmother was Māori,^[7] and his paternal grandfather was from Wrexham, Wales;^[9] Crowe also has Scottish, Norwegian, English, and German ancestry.^{[7][10][11][12]} His cousins, Martin and Jeff Crowe, are former New Zealand cricket captains.^{[citation needed]}

When Crowe was four years old, his family moved to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, where his parents pursued a career in film set catering.^[7] The producer of the Australian TV series Spyforce was his mother's godfather, and Crowe at age five or six was hired for a line of dialogue in one episode, opposite series star Jack Thompson (in 1994 Thompson played Crowe's father in The Sum of Us).^{[citation needed]} Crowe also appeared briefly in serial The Young Doctors.

He was educated at the Sydney Boys High School.^[7] When he was fourteen, Crowe's family moved back to New Zealand, where he (along with his brother Terry) attended Auckland Grammar School with cousins Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe. He then continued his secondary education at Mount Roskill Grammar School, which he left at the age sixteen to pursue his ambitions and childhood dreams of becoming a successful actor.^[13]

Career[link]

Australia[link]

Crowe began his performing career as a musician in the mid-1980s, under guidance from his good friend Tom Sharplin, when he performed as a rock 'n roll revivalist, under the stage name Russ Le Roq. He had a New Zealand single with I Just Want To Be Like Marlon Brando.^[14] He managed an Auckland music venue called "The Venue" in the mid '80s.^[15]

Crowe returned to Australia at age 21, intending to apply to the National Institute of Dramatic Art. "I was working in a theatre show, and talked to a guy who was then the head of technical support at NIDA," Crowe has recalled. "I asked him what he thought about me spending three years at NIDA. He told me it'd be a waste of time. He said, 'You already do the things you go there to learn, and you've been doing it for most of your life, so there's nothing to teach you but bad habits.'"^[16] From 1986 to 1988, he was given his first professional role by director Daniel Abineri, in a production of The Rocky Horror Show.^[7] He played the role of Eddie/Dr Scott.^[7] He repeated this performance in a further Australian production of the show. In 1987, Crowe spent six months busking when he could not find other work. In the 1988 Australian production of Blood Brothers, Crowe played the role of Mickey.^[17] He was also cast again by Daniel Abineri in the role of Johnny, in the stage musical Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom in 1989.

After appearing in the TV series Neighbours and Living with the Law, Crowe was cast in his first film, The Crossing (1990), a small-town love triangle directed by George Ogilvie. Before production started, a film-student protégé of Ogilvie, Steve Wallace, hired Crowe for the film Blood Oath (1990) (aka Prisoners of the Sun), which was released a month earlier than The Crossing, although actually filmed later. In 1992, Crowe starred in the first episode of the second series of Police Rescue. Also in 1992, Crowe starred in Romper Stomper, an Australian film which followed the exploits and downfall of a racist skinhead group in blue-collar suburban Melbourne, directed by Geoffrey Wright. For the role, Crowe won an Australian Film Institute (AFI) award for Best Actor, following up from his Best Supporting Actor award for Proof in 1991.^[7]

USA[link]

Crowe at London film premiere for State of Play, 21 April 2009

After initial success in Australia, Crowe began acting in American films. He co-starred with Denzel Washington in Virtuosity and with Sharon Stone in The Quick and the Dead in 1995.^[7] He went on to become a three-time Oscar nominee, winning the Academy Award as Best Actor in 2001 for Gladiator.^[7] Crowe was awarded the (Australian) Centenary Medal in 2001 for "service to Australian society and Australian film production."^[18]

Crowe received three consecutive best actor Oscar nominations, for The Insider, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind.^[7] Crowe won the best actor award for A Beautiful Mind at the 2002 BAFTA award ceremony, as well as the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for the same performance. However, he failed to win the Oscar that year, losing to Denzel Washington. It has been suggested by the Guardian and Entertainment Weekly that his attack on television producer Malcolm Gerrie for cutting short his acceptance speech^[19] may have turned voters against him.^[20]

All three films were also nominated for best picture, and both Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind won the award. Within the six year stretch from 1997–2003, he also starred in two other best picture nominees, L.A. Confidential and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. In 2005, he re-teamed with A Beautiful Mind director Ron Howard for Cinderella Man. In 2006 he re-teamed with Gladiator director Ridley Scott for A Good Year, the first of two consecutive collaborations (the second being American Gangster co-starring again with Denzel Washington, released in late 2007). While the light romantic comedy of A Good Year was not greatly received, Crowe seemed pleased with the film, telling STV in an interview that he thought it would be enjoyed by fans of his other films.^[21]

In recent years, Crowe's box office standing has declined.^[22] The Hollywood stock market (HSX) share Russell Crowe (RCROW), issued in 1997, however maintains constant accretion.^[23] Crowe appeared in Robin Hood, a film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and released on 14 May 2010.^[24]

Crowe starred in the 2010 Paul Haggis film The Next Three Days, an adaptation of the 2008 French film Pour Elle.^[25]

Crowe will be taking on the role of Inspector Javert in the musical film of Les Misérables.^[26]

It was announced that Crowe will be the lead in the Darren Arnofsky film "Noah," set to release in March of 2014. ^[27]

Music[link]

Crowe singing on open mic at O'Reilly's Pub in St. John's, Canada. 13 June 2005

In the 1980s, Crowe, going under the name of "Russ le Roq", recorded a song titled "I Want To Be Like Marlon Brando".^[28]

In the 1980s, Crowe and friend Billy Dean Cochran formed a band, "Roman Antix", which later evolved into the Australian rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts (abbreviated to TOFOG). Crowe performed lead vocals and guitar for the band, which formed in 1992. The band released The Photograph Kills EP in 1995 as well as three full length records, Gaslight (1998),Bastard Life or Clarity (2001) and Other Ways of Speaking (2003). In 2000 TOFOG performed shows in London, Los Angeles and the now famous run of shows at Stubbs in Austin, TX which became a live DVD that was released in 2001 called Texas. In 2001 the band came to the US for major press, radio and TV appearances for the Bastard Life or Clarity release and returned Stubbs in Austin, Texas to kick off a sold out US tour with dates in Austin, Boulder, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York City and the last show at the famous Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

In early 2005, 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts as a group has "dissolved/evolved" with Crowe feeling his future music would take a new direction and he began a collaboration with Alan Doyle of the Canadian band Great Big Sea, and with it a new band: The Ordinary Fear of God which also involved some members of the previous TOFOG line-up. A new single, Raewyn, was released in April 2005 and an album entitled My Hand, My Heart which was released and is available for download on iTunes. The album includes a tribute song to actor Richard Harris, who became Crowe's friend during the making of Gladiator.

Russell Crowe & The Ordinary Fear of God set out to break the new band in by performing a successful sold out series of dates of Australia in 2005 and then in 2006 returned to the US to promote their new release My Hand, My Heart with another sold-out US Tour and major press, radio and television appearances.

In March 2010, Russell Crowe & The Ordinary Fear of God's version of the John Williamson song "Winter Green" was included on a new compilation album The Absolute Best of John Williamson: 40 Years True Blue, commemorating the singer-songwriter's milestone of 40 years in the Australian music industry.

As of May 2011, there are plans to release a new Russell Crowe & The Ordinary Fear of God recording (co-written with Alan Doyle) and for a US tour which would be the first live dates in the US since 2006.

On 2 August 2011, the third collaboration between Crowe and Doyle was released on iTunes as The Crowe/Doyle Songbook Vol III, featuring nine original songs followed by their acoustic demo counterparts (for a total of 18 tracks). Danielle Spencer does guest vocals on most tracks. The release coincided with a pair of live performances at the LSPU Hall in St. John's, Newfoundland.^[29] The digital album was released as download versions only on Amazon.com, iTunes, spotify. The album has since charted at No. 72 on the Canadian Albums Chart.^[30]

On 26 September 2011, Crowe appeared on-stage at Rogers Arena in Vancouver in the middle of Keith Urban's concert. He sang a cover of Folsom Prison Blues, before joining the rest of the band in a rendition of "The Joker".^[31]

Philanthropy[link]

Moreton Bay Fig donated by The Crowe Family in Centennial Park, New South Wales

During location filming of Cinderella Man, Crowe made a donation to a Jewish elementary school whose library had been damaged as a result of arson.^[32] A note with an anti-Semitic message had been left at the scene.^[33] Crowe called school officials to express his concern and wanted his message relayed to the students.^[34] The school’s building fund received donations from throughout Canada and the amount of Crowe’s donation was not disclosed.^[35]

On another occasion, Crowe donated a large sum of money ($200,000) to a struggling primary school near his home in rural Australia. Crowe's sympathies were sparked when a pupil drowned at the nearby Coffs Harbour beach in 2001, and he believes the pool will help students become better swimmers and improve their knowledge of water safety. At the opening ceremony he dove into the pool fully clothed as soon as the venue was declared open. Nana Glen principal Laurie Renshall says, "The many things he does up here, people just don't know about. We've been trying to get a pool for 10 years."^[36]

Personal life[link]

From his youth to the present, Crowe has had a special love of horses. "They're just like people," he told CraveOnline, "there are some horses that you have a deeper connection with immediately, and you can work on that over time."^[37] He has also noted that he sometimes finds it difficult to part with his equine co-stars when a film wraps.

Most of the year, Crowe resides in Australia. He has an apartment in Sydney at the end of the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo and a 320 ha (791 acres) rural property in Nana Glen near Coffs Harbour. In 2011 the family moved to a house with a garden in Sydney´s Rose Bay.^[38] The Nana Glen property, a cattle farm (700 Black Angus), includes a chapel that Crowe built for his wedding to Spencer.^[39]

Russell Crowe and his wife Danielle Spencer, Sept 14, 2011

Crowe also owns a house in the North Queensland city of Townsville: he purchased the $450,000 home in the suburb of Douglas on 3 May 2008.^[40] It is believed the home is for his niece, who is studying at James Cook University.^[41]

Crowe stated in November 2007 that he would like to be baptised a Christian, and feels that he has put it off for too long. "I do believe there are more important things than what is in the mind of a man," he says. "There is something much bigger that drives us all. I'm willing to take that leap of faith."^[42]

In July 2010 Crowe, who had started smoking cigarettes on a regular basis during his elementary schooldays, announced he had quit for the sake of his two sons.^[43] On 10 November 2010 he told David Letterman that he had been smoking more than 60 cigarettes a day.^[44] By April 2011, it was officially confirmed that his attempt to quit nicotine consumption after 36 years of smoking was not a success and that he has taken up smoking again.^[45][46]

In preparation for several film roles in 2012, from June to November 2011 Crowe underwent a gluten-free and non-alcoholic diet and fitness program that consisted of walking, mountain biking and workout in the gym. During this period he lost 24 kg (53 lb) reducing his weight from 114 kg (251 lb) to 90 kg (198 lb).^[47]

Al-Qaeda threats[link]

On 9 March 2005, Crowe revealed to GQ magazine that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents had approached him prior to the 73rd Academy Awards on 25 March 2001 and told him that the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda wanted to kidnap him. Crowe told the magazine that it was the first time he had ever heard of al-Qaeda and was quoted as saying:^[48]

You get this late-night call from the FBI when you arrive in Los Angeles, and they're, like, absolutely full-on. 'We’ve got to talk to you now before you do anything. We have to have a discussion with you, Mr. Crowe.'

Crowe recalled that:^[49]

it was something to do with some recording picked up by a French policewoman, I think, in either Libya or Algiers...it was about taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as a sort of cultural destabilisation plan.

Crowe was guarded by United States Secret Service agents for the next few months, both while shooting films and at award ceremonies. Scotland Yard also guarded Crowe while he was promoting Proof of Life in London in February 2001.

Stamps series Australian Legends Of The Screen[link]

In the beginning of 2009, Crowe appeared in a series of special edition postage stamps called "Legends of the Screen", featuring Australian actors. He, Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett, and Nicole Kidman each appear twice in the series: once as themselves and once as their Academy Award-winning character.^[50]

Sport[link]

Rugby league[link]

Crowe is a known sports fan and has been a supporter of the rugby league football team the South Sydney Rabbitohs since childhood. Since his rise to fame as an actor, he has continued appearing at home games, and supported the financially troubled club. Following the Super League war of the 1990s Crowe made an attempt to use his Hollywood connections to convince Ted Turner, rival of Super League's Rupert Murdoch, to save the Rabbitohs before they were forced from the National Rugby League competition for two years.^[51] In 1999 Crowe paid A$42,000 at auction for the brass bell used to open the inaugural rugby league match in Australia in 1908 at a fund-raiser to assist Souths' legal battle for re-inclusion in the League.^[52] In 2005, he made the Rabbitohs the first club team in Australia to be sponsored by a film, when he negotiated a deal to advertise his film Cinderella Man on their jerseys.^[53]

Crowe is friends with many current and former players of the club, and currently employs former South Sydney forward Mark Carroll as a bodyguard and personal trainer. He has encouraged other actors to support the club, such as Tom Cruise and Burt Reynolds.^{[citation needed]}

On 19 March 2006, the voting members of the South Sydney club voted (in a 75.8% majority) to allow Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court to purchase 75% of the organisation, leaving 25% ownership with the members. It cost them A$3 million, and they received four of eight seats on the board of directors. A six part television miniseries entitled "South Side Story" depicting the takeover aired in Australia in 2007.^[54]

On 5 November 2006, Crowe appeared on Tonight Show with Jay Leno to announce that Firepower International was sponsoring the South Sydney Rabbitohs for $3 million over three years.^[55] During a Tonight Show with Jay Leno appearance, watched by over 11 million viewers, Crowe showed viewers a Rabbitoh playing jersey with Firepower's name emblazoned on it.^[56]

Crowe helped to organise a rugby league game that took place in Jacksonville, Florida between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the English Super League champions Leeds Rhinos on 26 January 2008 (Australia Day). The game was played at the University of North Florida.^[57] Crowe told ITV Local Yorkshire the game was not a marketing exercise.^[58]

Crowe wrote a letter of apology to a Sydney newspaper following the sacking of South Sydney's coach Jason Taylor and one of their players David Fa'alogo after a drunken altercation between the two at the end of the 2009 NRL season.^[59]

Also in 2009 Crowe persuaded young England international forward Sam Burgess to sign with the Rabbitohs over other clubs that were competing for his signature, after inviting Burgess and his mother to the set of Robin Hood, which he was filming in England at the time.^[60]

In the 2010 post-season it was reported that Crowe's influence was critical in persuading Greg Inglis, one of the world's best players, to renege on his deal to join the Brisbane Broncos and sign for the Rabbitohs for 2011.^[61]

On 5 December 2010 the Sunday Telegraph reported that the NRL was investigating the business relationships Russell Crowe has with a number of media and entertainment companies in relation to the South Sydney Rabbitohs' salary cap. Salary cap auditor Ian Schubert was reported to be delving into Crowe's recent dealings with Channel Nine, Channel Seven, ANZ Stadium and V8 Supercars.^[62]

On 26 January 2011 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Rabbitohs were about to embark on a five year multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with the giant Star City Casino. Souths also announced a corporate partnership with the bookmaking conglomerate Luxbet.^[63]

Previously Crowe had been prominent in trying to prevent gambling being associated with the Rabbitohs. Reuters, on 3 January 2008, reported that Crowe was "fighting a new gladiatorial combat to wean his countrymen off their addiction to gambling machines."^[64]

In May 2011 Crowe was credited for an arrangement with Fox to have the 2011 State of Origin series broadcast live for the first time in the United States, in addition to the NRL Grand Final.^[65]

Other sporting interests[link]

In football (soccer), Crowe said he followed Bristol City^[66] and Leeds United.^[67][68]

Crowe watches and plays cricket. He played in school, and his cousins Martin Crowe and Jeff Crowe are former Black Caps Captains. Russell Crowe captained the 'Australian' Team containing Steve Waugh against an English side in the 'Hollywood Ashes' Cricket Match.^[69] On 17 July 2009 Crowe took to the commentary box for the British sports channel, Sky Sports, as the 'third man' during the second test of the 2009 Ashes series, between England and Australia.^[70]

Russell Crowe supports the Leeds Rhinos^{[citation needed]} in the Super League and Richmond Tigers in the Australian Football League^[71]

Crowe supports the University of Michigan Wolverines American football team, an interest that stems from his friendship with former Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr. Carr used Crowe's movie Cinderella Man to motivate his team in 2006 following a disappointing 7–5 season the previous year. Upon hearing of this, Crowe called Carr and invited him to Australia to address his Rugby league team the South Sydney Rabbitohs, an offer Carr took Crowe up on the following summer. In September 2007, after Carr came under fire following the Wolverines' 0–2 start, Crowe travelled to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Wolverines' 15 September game against Notre Dame to show his support for Carr. He addressed the team before the game and watched from the sidelines as the Wolverines defeated the Irish 38–0.^{[citation needed]}

Crowe is also a fan of the National Football League, and on 22 October 2007 appeared in the booth of a Monday Night game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars.^[72] He is also a devout fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs which stems from his shooting of Cinderella Man at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Altercations and controversies[link]

Russell Crowe escorted from NYPD in handcuffs on a perp walk to his arraignment for the phone throwing incident. 6 June 2005

Between 1999 and 2005 Crowe was involved in three altercations which gave him a reputation for having a bad temper.^[73]

In 1999, Crowe was involved in a scuffle at the Plantation Hotel in Coffs Harbour, Australia, which was caught on security video.^[74] Two men were acquitted of using the video in an attempt to blackmail Crowe.^[75]

Four years later, when part of Crowe's appearance at the 2002 BAFTA awards was cut out to fit into the BBC's tape-delayed broadcast, Crowe used strong language during an argument with producer Malcolm Gerrie. The part cut was a poem in tribute to actor Richard Harris who was then terminally ill, and was cut for copyright reasons. Crowe later apologised, saying "What I said to him may have been a little bit more passionate than now, in the cold light of day, I would have liked it to have been."^[76] Later that year, Crowe was alleged to have been involved in a "brawl" with businessman Eric Watson^[77] inside a trendy Japanese restaurant in London.^[78] The fight was broken up by British actor Ross Kemp.

In June 2005, Crowe was arrested and charged with second-degree assault by New York City police, after he threw a telephone at an employee of the Mercer Hotel who refused to help him place a call when the system did not work from his room, and was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (the telephone).^[79] The employee, a concierge, was treated for a facial laceration.^[80] After his arrest Crowe underwent a perp walk, a procedure customary especially in New York exposing the enchained suspect to the news media to take pictures. This procedure was under discussion as potentially violating Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Crowe later described the incident as "possibly the most shameful situation that I've ever gotten myself in... and I've done some pretty dumb things in my life".^[81] Crowe pleaded guilty and was conditionally discharged. Before the trial he settled a lawsuit filed by the concierge, Nestor Estrada.^[82][83] Terms of the settlement were not disclosed but amounts in the six-figure range have been suggested.^[84]

Crowe's altercations were lampooned in the South Park episode, "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer"; between 2005 and 2011 the telephone incident caused DPR mass media perpetuation, leading to the long-term petrification of Crowe´s personal public image, – aside from his professional public image as "The Gladiator" – as of "the telephone throwing actor". Crowe commented the ongoing media perpetuation in November 2010, five years into the process, during an interview with American television talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose: "it affected me psychologically" (...) "it indelibly changed me".^[85] A new drive to the topic brought the actor's participation in the microblogging service Twitter from April 2010.^[86]

In June 2011, Crowe expressed in the course of a friendly^[87] Twitter conversation with his colleague, Jewish screenwriter Eli Roth, his views against infant circumcision, calling the practice "barbaric" and asking, "Who are you to correct nature? Is it real that [God] requires a donation of foreskin? Babies are [born] perfect."^[88][89][90] The comments coincided with a debate to ban the procedure on infants in California, USA.^[91] Crowe, living in New South Wales, Australia, and not being a member of any church,^[92] removed the comments the following day and tweeted an apology: "My personal beliefs aside I realise that some will interpret this debate as me mocking the rituals and traditions of others. I am very sorry."^[93]

Since 15 November 2011 Crowe supports the first globally networked protest movement OWS – Occupy Wall Street movement via Twitter, asking his 310.000 followers to listen to Keith Olbermann Reading Occupy Wall Street Declaration^[94] and stating on 15 November 2011 via his Twitter account

Filmography[link]

References[link]