The steel cable of a colliery winding tower

Steel is an alloy made by combining iron and another element, usually carbon. When carbon is used, its content in the steel is between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Other alloying elements sometimes used are manganese, chromium, vanadium and tungsten.^[1] Carbon and other elements act as a hardening agent, preventing dislocations in the iron atom crystal lattice from sliding past one another. Varying the amount of alloying elements and the form of their presence in the steel (solute elements, precipitated phase) controls qualities such as the hardness, ductility, and tensile strength of the resulting steel. Steel with increased carbon content can be made harder and stronger than iron, but such steel is also less ductile than iron.

Alloys with a higher than 2.1% carbon content are known as cast iron because of their lower melting point and good castability.^[1] Steel is also distinguishable from wrought iron, which can contain a small amount of carbon, but it is included in the form of slag inclusions. Two distinguishing factors are steel's increased rust resistance and better weldability.

Though steel had been produced by various inefficient methods long before the Renaissance, its use became more common after more efficient production methods were devised in the 17th century. With the invention of the Bessemer process in the mid-19th century, steel became an inexpensive mass-produced material. Further refinements in the process, such as basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), lowered the cost of production while increasing the quality of the metal. Today, steel is one of the most common materials in the world, with more than 1.3 billion tons produced annually. It is a major component in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, automobiles, machines, appliances, and weapons. Modern steel is generally identified by various grades defined by assorted standards organizations.

Material properties[link]

Iron-carbon phase diagram, showing the conditions necessary to form different phases

Iron is found in the Earth's crust only in the form of an ore, usually an iron oxide, such as magnetite, hematite etc. Iron is extracted from iron ore by removing the oxygen and combining the ore with a preferred chemical partner such as carbon. This process, known as smelting, was first applied to metals with lower melting points, such as tin, which melts at approximately 250 °C (482 °F) and copper, which melts at approximately 1,100 °C (2,010 °F). In comparison, cast iron melts at approximately 1,375 °C (2,507 °F). All of these temperatures could be reached with ancient methods that have been used since the Bronze Age. Since the oxidation rate itself increases rapidly beyond 800 °C (1,470 °F), it is important that smelting take place in a low-oxygen environment. Unlike copper and tin, liquid iron dissolves carbon quite readily. Smelting results in an alloy (pig iron) containing too much carbon to be called steel.^[2] The excess carbon and other impurities are removed in a subsequent step.

Other materials are often added to the iron/carbon mixture to produce steel with desired properties. Nickel and manganese in steel add to its tensile strength and make austenite more chemically stable, chromium increases hardness and melting temperature, and vanadium also increases hardness while reducing the effects of metal fatigue. To prevent corrosion, at least 11% chromium is added to steel so that a hard oxide forms on the metal surface; this is known as stainless steel. Tungsten interferes with the formation of cementite, allowing martensite to form with slower quench rates, resulting in high speed steel. On the other hand, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorus make steel more brittle, so these commonly found elements must be removed from the ore during processing.^[3]

The density of steel varies based on the alloying constituents but usually ranges between 7,750 and 8,050 kg/m³ (484 and 503 lb/cu ft), or 7.75 and 8.05 g/cm³ (4.48 and 4.65 oz/cu in).^[4]

Even in the narrow range of concentrations which make up steel, mixtures of carbon and iron can form a number of different structures, with very different properties. Understanding such properties is essential to making quality steel. At room temperature, the most stable form of iron is the body-centered cubic (BCC) structure α-ferrite. It is a fairly soft metallic material that can dissolve only a small concentration of carbon, no more than 0.021 wt% at 723 °C (1,333 °F), and only 0.005% at 0 °C (32 °F). If steel contains more than 0.021% carbon at steelmaking temperatures then it transforms into a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure, called austenite or γ-iron. It is also soft and metallic but can dissolve considerably more carbon, as much as 2.1%^[5] carbon at 1,148 °C (2,098 °F), which reflects the upper carbon content of steel.^[6]

When steels with less than 0.8% carbon, known as a hypoeutectoid steel, are cooled from an austenitic phase the mixture attempts to revert to the ferrite phase, resulting in an excess of carbon. One way for carbon to leave the austenite is for cementite to precipitate out of the mix, leaving behind iron that is pure enough to take the form of ferrite, resulting in a cementite-ferrite mixture. Cementite is a hard and brittle intermetallic compound with the chemical formula of Fe₃C. At the eutectoid, 0.8% carbon, the cooled structure takes the form of pearlite, named after its resemblance to mother of pearl. For steels that have more than 0.8% carbon the cooled structure takes the form of pearlite and cementite.^[7]

Perhaps the most important polymorphic form is martensite, a metastable phase which is significantly stronger than other steel phases. When the steel is in an austenitic phase and then quenched it forms into martensite, because the atoms "freeze" in place when the cell structure changes from FCC to BCC. Depending on the carbon content the martensitic phase takes different forms. Below approximately 0.2% carbon it takes an α ferrite BCC crystal form, but higher carbon contents take a body-centered tetragonal (BCT) structure. There is no thermal activation energy for the transformation from austenite to martensite. Moreover, there is no compositional change so the atoms generally retain their same neighbors.^[8]

Martensite has a lower density than austenite does, so that transformation between them results in a change of volume. In this case, expansion occurs. Internal stresses from this expansion generally take the form of compression on the crystals of martensite and tension on the remaining ferrite, with a fair amount of shear on both constituents. If quenching is done improperly, the internal stresses can cause a part to shatter as it cools. At the very least, they cause internal work hardening and other microscopic imperfections. It is common for quench cracks to form when water quenched, although they may not always be visible.^[9]

Heat treatment[link]

There are many types of heat treating processes available to steel. The most common are annealing and quenching and tempering. Annealing is the process of heating the steel to a sufficiently high temperature to soften it. This process occurs through three phases: recovery, recrystallization, and grain growth. The temperature required to anneal steel depends on the type of annealing and the constituents of the alloy.^[10]

Quenching and tempering first involves heating the steel to the austenite phase, then quenching it in water or oil. This rapid cooling results in a hard and brittle martensitic structure.^[8] The steel is then tempered, which is just a specialized type of annealing. In this application the annealing (tempering) process transforms some of the martensite into cementite, or spheroidite to reduce internal stresses and defects, which ultimately results in a more ductile and fracture-resistant metal.^[11]

Steel production[link]

Iron ore pellets for the production of steel

When iron is smelted from its ore by commercial processes, it contains more carbon than is desirable. To become steel, it must be melted and reprocessed to reduce the carbon to the correct amount, at which point other elements can be added. This liquid is then continuously cast into long slabs or cast into ingots. Approximately 96% of steel is continuously cast, while only 4% is produced as cast steel ingots.^[12] The ingots are then heated in a soaking pit and hot rolled into slabs, blooms, or billets. Slabs are hot or cold rolled into sheet metal or plates. Billets are hot or cold rolled into bars, rods, and wire. Blooms are hot or cold rolled into structural steel, such as I-beams and rails. In modern foundries these processes often occur in one assembly line, with ore coming in and finished steel coming out.^[13] Sometimes after a steel's final rolling it is heat treated for strength, however this is relatively rare.^[14]

History of steelmaking[link]

Bloomery smelting during the Middle Ages

Ancient steel[link]

Steel was known in antiquity, and may have been produced by managing bloomeries, or iron-smelting facilities, in which the bloom contained carbon.^[15]

The earliest known production of steel is a piece of ironware excavated from an archaeological site in Anatolia (Kaman-Kalehoyuk) and is about 4,000 years old.^[16] Other ancient steel comes from East Africa, dating back to 1400 BC.^[17] In the 4th century BC steel weapons like the Falcata were produced in the Iberian Peninsula, while Noric steel was used by the Roman military.^[18] The Chinese of the Warring States (403–221 BC) had quench-hardened steel,^[19] while Chinese of the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) created steel by melting together wrought iron with cast iron, gaining an ultimate product of a carbon-intermediate steel by the 1st century AD.^[20][21] The Haya people of East Africa invented a type of high-heat blast furnace which allowed them to forge carbon steel at 1,802 °C (3,276 °F) nearly 2,000 years ago.^[22]

Wootz steel and Damascus steel[link]

Evidence of the earliest production of high carbon steel in the Indian Subcontinent was found in Samanalawewa area in Sri Lanka.^[23] Wootz steel was produced in India by about 300 BC.^[24] Along with their original methods of forging steel, the Chinese had also adopted the production methods of creating Wootz steel, an idea imported into China from India by the 5th century AD.^[25] In Sri Lanka, this early steel-making method employed the unique use of a wind furnace, blown by the monsoon winds, that was capable of producing high-carbon steel.^[26] Also known as Damascus steel, wootz is famous for its durability and ability to hold an edge. It was originally created from a number of different materials including various trace elements. It was essentially a complicated alloy with iron as its main component. Recent studies have suggested that carbon nanotubes were included in its structure, which might explain some of its legendary qualities, though given the technology available at that time, they were produced by chance rather than by design.^[27] Natural wind was used where the soil containing iron was heated up with the use of wood. The ancient Sinhalese managed to extract a ton of steel for every 2 tons of soil^{[citation needed]}, a remarkable feat at the time. One such furnace was found in Samanalawewa and archaeologists were able to produce steel as the ancients did long ago.^[26][28]

Crucible steel, formed by slowly heating and cooling pure iron and carbon (typically in the form of charcoal) in a crucible, was produced in Merv by the 9th to 10th century AD.^[24] In the 11th century, there is evidence of the production of steel in Song China using two techniques: a "berganesque" method that produced inferior, inhomogeneous steel and a precursor to the modern Bessemer process that used partial decarbonization via repeated forging under a cold blast.^[29]

Modern steelmaking[link]

A Bessemer converter in Sheffield, England

Since the 17th century the first step in European steel production has been the smelting of iron ore into pig iron in a blast furnace.^[30] Originally using charcoal, modern methods use coke, which has proven to be a great deal cheaper.^[31][32][33]

Processes starting from bar iron[link]

In these processes pig iron was "fined" in a finery forge to produce bar iron (wrought iron), which was then used in steel-making.^[30]

The production of steel by the cementation process was described in a treatise published in Prague in 1574 and was in use in Nuremberg from 1601. A similar process for case hardening armour and files was described in a book published in Naples in 1589. The process was introduced to England in about 1614.^[34] It was produced by Sir Basil Brooke at Coalbrookdale during the 1610s. The raw material for this were bars of wrought iron. During the 17th century it was realised that the best steel came from oregrounds iron from a region of Sweden, north of Stockholm. This was still the usual raw material in the 19th century, almost as long as the process was used.^[35][36]

Crucible steel is steel that has been melted in a crucible rather than being forged, with the result that it is more homogeneous. Most previous furnaces could not reach high enough temperatures to melt the steel. The early modern crucible steel industry resulted from the invention of Benjamin Huntsman in the 1740s. Blister steel (made as above) was melted in a crucible or in a furnace, and cast (usually) into ingots.^[36][37]

Processes starting from pig iron[link]

A Siemens-Martin steel oven from the Brandenburg Museum of Industry

White-hot steel pouring out of an electric arc furnace

The modern era in steelmaking began with the introduction of Henry Bessemer's Bessemer process in 1858. His raw material was pig iron.^[38] This enabled steel to be produced in large quantities cheaply, thus mild steel is now used for most purposes for which wrought iron was formerly used.^[39] The Gilchrist-Thomas process (or basic Bessemer process) was an improvement to the Bessemer process, lining the converter with a basic material to remove phosphorus. Another improvement in steelmaking was the Siemens-Martin process, which complemented the Bessemer process.^[36]

These were rendered obsolete by the Linz-Donawitz process of basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), developed in the 1950s, and other oxygen steelmaking processes. Basic oxygen steelmaking is superior to previous steelmaking methods because the oxygen pumped into the furnace limits impurities.^[40] Now, electric arc furnaces (EAF) are a common method of reprocessing scrap metal to create new steel. They can also be used for converting pig iron to steel, but they use a lot of electricity (about 440 kWh per metric ton), and are thus generally only economical when there is a plentiful supply of cheap electricity.^[41]

Steel industry[link]

Steel production by country in 2007

It is common today to talk about "the iron and steel industry" as if it were a single entity, but historically they were separate products. The steel industry is often considered to be an indicator of economic progress, because of the critical role played by steel in infrastructural and overall economic development.^[42]

In 1980, there were more than 500,000 U.S. steelworkers. By 2000, the number of steelworkers fell to 224,000.^[43]

The economic boom in China and India has caused a massive increase in the demand for steel in recent years. Between 2000 and 2005, world steel demand increased by 6%. Since 2000, several Indian ^[44] and Chinese steel firms have risen to prominence like Tata Steel (which bought Corus Group in 2007), Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation and Shagang Group. ArcelorMittal is however the world's largest steel producer.

In 2005, the British Geological Survey stated China was the top steel producer with about one-third of the world share; Japan, Russia, and the US followed respectively.^[45]

In 2008, steel began trading as a commodity on the London Metal Exchange. At the end of 2008, the steel industry faced a sharp downturn that led to many cut-backs.^[46]

Recycling[link]

Contemporary steel[link]

Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was one of the world's largest manufacturers of steel before its 2003 closure.

Modern steels are made with varying combinations of alloy metals to fulfill many purposes.^[3] Carbon steel, composed simply of iron and carbon, accounts for 90% of steel production.^[1] High strength low alloy steel has small additions (usually < 2% by weight) of other elements, typically 1.5% manganese, to provide additional strength for a modest price increase.^[47] Low alloy steel is alloyed with other elements, usually molybdenum, manganese, chromium, or nickel, in amounts of up to 10% by weight to improve the hardenability of thick sections.^[1] Stainless steels and surgical stainless steels contain a minimum of 11% chromium, often combined with nickel, to resist corrosion (rust). Some stainless steels, such as the ferritic stainless steels are magnetic, while others, such as the austenitic, are nonmagnetic.^[48]

Some more modern steels include tool steels, which are alloyed with large amounts of tungsten and cobalt or other elements to maximize solution hardening. This also allows the use of precipitation hardening and improves the alloy's temperature resistance.^[1] Tool steel is generally used in axes, drills, and other devices that need a sharp, long-lasting cutting edge. Other special-purpose alloys include weathering steels such as Cor-ten, which weather by acquiring a stable, rusted surface, and so can be used un-painted.^[49]

Many other high-strength alloys exist, such as dual-phase steel, which is heat treated to contain both a ferritic and martensitic microstructure for extra strength.^[50] Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steel involves special alloying and heat treatments to stabilize amounts of austentite at room temperature in normally austentite-free low-alloy ferritic steels. By applying strain to the metal, the austentite undergoes a phase transition to martensite without the addition of heat.^[51] Maraging steel is alloyed with nickel and other elements, but unlike most steel contains almost no carbon at all. This creates a very strong but still malleable metal.^[52] Twinning Induced Plasticity (TWIP) steel uses a specific type of strain to increase the effectiveness of work hardening on the alloy.^[53] Eglin Steel uses a combination of over a dozen different elements in varying amounts to create a relatively low-cost metal for use in bunker buster weapons. Hadfield steel (after Sir Robert Hadfield) or manganese steel contains 12–14% manganese which when abraded forms an incredibly hard skin which resists wearing. Examples include tank tracks, bulldozer blade edges and cutting blades on the jaws of life.^[54]

Most of the more commonly used steel alloys are categorized into various grades by standards organizations. For example, the Society of Automotive Engineers has a series of grades defining many types of steel.^[55] The American Society for Testing and Materials has a separate set of standards, which define alloys such as A36 steel, the most commonly used structural steel in the United States.^[56]

Though not an alloy, galvanized steel is a commonly used variety of steel which has been hot-dipped or electroplated in zinc for protection against rust.^[57]

Uses[link]

A roll of steel wool

Iron and steel are used widely in the construction of roads, railways, other infrastructure, appliances, and buildings. Most large modern structures, such as stadiums and skyscrapers, bridges, and airports, are supported by a steel skeleton. Even those with a concrete structure will employ steel for reinforcing. In addition, it sees widespread use in major appliances and cars. Despite growth in usage of aluminium, it is still the main material for car bodies. Steel is used in a variety of other construction materials, such as bolts, nails, and screws.^[58] Other common applications include shipbuilding, pipeline transport, mining, offshore construction, aerospace, white goods (e.g. washing machines), heavy equipment such as bulldozers, office furniture, steel wool, tools, and armour in the form of personal vests or vehicle armour (better known as rolled homogeneous armour in this role). Steel was the metal of choice for sculptor Jim Gary and a frequent choice for sculpture by many other modern sculptors.

Historical[link]

A carbon steel knife

Before the introduction of the Bessemer process and other modern production techniques, steel was expensive and was only used where no cheaper alternative existed, particularly for the cutting edge of knives, razors, swords, and other items where a hard, sharp edge was needed. It was also used for springs, including those used in clocks and watches.^[36] With the advent of speedier and thriftier production methods, steel has been easier to obtain and much cheaper. It has replaced wrought iron for a multitude of purposes. However, the availability of plastics in the latter part of the 20th century allowed these materials to replace steel in some applications due to their lower cost and weight.^[59]

Long steel[link]

A steel pylon suspending overhead powerlines

• As reinforcing bars and mesh in reinforced concrete
• Railroad tracks
• Structural steel in modern buildings and bridges
• Wires
• Input to reforging applications

Flat carbon steel[link]

• Major appliances
• Magnetic cores
• The inside and outside body of automobiles, trains, and ships.

Stainless steel[link]

A stainless steel gravy boat

• Cutlery
• Rulers
• Surgical equipment
• Wrist watches

Low-background steel[link]

Steel manufactured after World War II became contaminated with radionuclides due to nuclear weapons testing. Low-background steel, steel manufactured prior to 1945, is used for certain radiation-sensitive applications such as Geiger counters and radiation shielding.

See also[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Ashby, Michael F.; Jones, David Rayner Hunkin (1992). An introduction to microstructures, processing and design. Butterworth-Heinemann. 
• Bugayev, K.; Konovalov, Y.; Bychkov, Y.; Tretyakov, E.; Savin, Ivan V. (2001). Iron and Steel Production. The Minerva Group, Inc.. ISBN 978-0-89499-109-7. http://books.google.com/?id=MJdIVtmwuUsC. Retrieved 2009-07-19. .
• Degarmo, E. Paul; Black, J T.; Kohser, Ronald A. (2003). Materials and Processes in Manufacturing (9th ed.). Wiley. ISBN 0-471-65653-4. 
• Gernet, Jacques (1982). A History of Chinese Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Smith, William F.; Hashemi, Javad (2006). Foundations of Materials Science and Engineering (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-295358-6. 

Further reading[link]

• Duncan Burn; The Economic History of Steelmaking, 1867–1939: A Study in Competition. Cambridge University Press, 1961.
• Harukiyu Hasegawa, The Steel Industry in Japan: A Comparison with Britain. 1996.
• J. C. Carr and W. Taplin, History of the British Steel Industry. Harvard University Press, 1962.
• H. Lee Scamehorn, Mill & Mine: The Cf&I in the Twentieth Century. University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 1 & Part 3. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
• Warren, Kenneth, Big Steel: The First Century of the United States Steel Corporation, 1901–2001. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Steel

Look up steel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• World Steel Association (worldsteel)
• steeluniversity.org: Online steel education resources from worldsteel and the University of Liverpool
• Extensive picture gallery of iron and steel production methods in North America and Europe
• Interactive knife steel composition chart and comparison graph builder
• Huge archive on steels, Cambridge University
• Steel classification chart

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]