San Diego ComicCon 2004, with Lana (at the time called Larry) on the left and Andy on the right.

Lana Wachowski (born Laurence Wachowski on June 21, 1965; formerly nicknamed "Larry") and Andrew Paul "Andy" Wachowski (born December 29, 1967), siblings collectively known as The Wachowskis (formerly The Wachowski Brothers), are American film directors, writers and producers, most famous for creating The Matrix series. They are currently co-directing Cloud Atlas, based on the book by David Mitchell.

Life and career[link]

Lana Wachowski (formerly known as "Larry") was born Laurence Wachowski in Chicago in 1965. Andy Wachowski followed in 1967. Their mother, Lynne (née Luckinbill), was a nurse and painter whose brother is actor Laurence Luckinbill. Their father, Ron Wachowski, was a businessman of Polish descent.^[1][2] They went to Kellogg Elementary School, in Chicago's Beverly area, and graduated from Whitney Young High School, known for its performing arts and science curriculum, in 1983 and '86. Former students recall them playing Dungeons & Dragons and working in the school's theater and TV program. Andy then attended Emerson College in Boston, while Lana went to Bard College in New York. Both dropped out before graduating, and they ran a carpentry business in Chicago while creating comic books.^[3]

Style[link]

The siblings admit to a love for telling multipart stories. "Because we grew up on comic books and the Tolkien trilogy, one of the things we're interested in is bringing serial fiction to cinema," Lana has said. Andy puts his desire to shake up viewers a bit more bluntly, "We think movies are fairly boring and predictable. We want to screw with audiences' expectations."^[4]

Comic books[link]

Prior to working in the film industry, the Wachowskis wrote comic books for Marvel Comics' Razorline imprint, namely Ectokid (created by horror novelist Clive Barker) in 1993 as well as writing for EPIC Comics "Clive Barker's Hellraiser" and "Clive Barker's Nightbreed" comic series.

In 2003, they created Burlyman Entertainment and have released comic books based on The Matrix as well as two original bi-monthly series:

• Shaolin Cowboy – created, written, and art by Geof Darrow (with the Wachowskis contributing an opening dialogue to each issue)
• Doc Frankenstein – created by Geof Darrow and Steve Skroce, written by the Wachowskis, with art by Skroce.

Personal life[link]

Rumors that Lana was a cross-dresser or transitioning gender spread in the early 2000s, though neither sibling has spoken directly on the subject.^[5] The Hollywood Reporter and the New York Times have referred to the Wachowskis as "Andy and Lana (formerly Larry) Wachowski",^[6][7] and Deadline.com has referred to the duo as "Andy and Lana Wachowski."^[8] On some documents she appears as Laurenca Wachowski.^[5][9][10] In the 2012 documentary Side by Side, she is interviewed and credited as Lana Wachowski.^[11]

Andy has been married to Alisa Blasingame since 1991.^[12]

Filmography[link]

Future films[link]

The Wachowskis are collaborating with Tom Tykwer on Cloud Atlas, an adaptation of David Mitchell's novel of the same name, for Warner Bros. Pictures. Tykwer and The Wachowskis collaborated on the screenplay and are co-directing the film, leading their own crews that are working in parallel.^[14] The film is set for release in late 2012.

Warner Bros. have expressed interest in Hood, a modern adaptation of the Robin Hood legend, which the Wachowskis wrote and plan to direct. They also wrote an Iraq war-set gay romance conspiracy thriller titled CN-9, however the project failed to find financing.^[6] Jupiter Ascending, an original science fiction screenplay by the Wachowskis, is set to be made into a film by Warner Bros. The studio is looking for a major star to lead the cast, ahead of a planned spring 2012 start date.^[15]

Games[link]

• Enter the Matrix (2003)
• The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005)
• The Matrix Online (2005–2009) (provided the theme for the first year^[16][17])

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Wachowskis

• Lana Wachowski at the Internet Movie Database
• Andy Wachowski at the Internet Movie Database
• Die Wachowski-Geschwister, biography. (German)
• Matrix Revelations, Wired article about the Wachowski brothers.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

"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]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Russell Crowe

• Russell Crowe at the Internet Movie Database
• Russell Crowe & TOFOG on Myspace
• Russell Crowe: American Gangster video interview with stv.tv, November 2007
• A Very Special Person video on YouTube
• "Russell's Priestly Past" from the Internet Movie Database Movie/TV News for 22 March 2001
• Russell Crowe is ‘A Very Special Person…’ Scroll down to section

Jamie Chung
Chung at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Knife Fight
Born	Jamie Jilynn Chung (1983-04-10) April 10, 1983 (age 29) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2004–present

Jamie Jilynn Chung^[1] (born April 10, 1983)^[2][3][4] is an American actress known to reality television audiences as a cast member on the MTV reality television series, The Real World: San Diego and its spin-off show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II, and for her appearances in TV and films, such as I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Sorority Row, The Hangover Part II, and Sucker Punch. She is regarded by the Bleacher Report as the most successful Real World alum.^[5]

Early life[link]

Jamie Chung was born and raised in San Francisco, California.^[6][7] According to MTV's 2004 biography page for her, she is a second-generation Korean-American raised by "traditional" parents, and was known to "tell it like it is."^[6][8] Chung attended the University of California, Riverside, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.^[9]

Reality TV work[link]

Chung was a cast member on The Real World: San Diego, the fourteenth season of MTV's long-running reality TV show, The Real World, which first aired in 2004. At the time she was selected to be on The Real World: San Diego, she was described by MTV as a hard-working student who worked two jobs to pay her tuition, but who also enjoyed partying. She was also described by her friends as not having the best taste in men.^[6]

Six months after Chung and her castmates left the Real World house, they appeared to discuss their experiences both during and since their time on the show on 2 Punk Rock 4 This: The Real World San Diego Reunion, which premiered on July 9, 2004, and was hosted by Vanessa Minnillo.

After appearing on The Real World, Chung appeared on its spin-off game show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge, as a cast member in that show's 2005 season, during which she was a member of the "Good Guys" team, which squared off against the "Bad Asses". By the end of the season, after several cast members had been eliminated during the competition, Chung remained, along with her fellow Good Guys teammates Darrell Taylor, Landon Lueck, and Mike Mizanin. Chung and her teammates were victorious against the remaining members of the Bad Asses in the final event, and won the competition.

Acting career[link]

On the cover of KoreAm, April 2009, with Park Joon Hyung

Since her stint on The Real World, she has appeared in various television and film roles, including as Cordy Han in ten episodes of Days of our Lives, as a Hooters girl in the 2007 comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and in episodes of CSI: NY and Veronica Mars. She starred in the 2008 ABC Family show Samurai Girl in September 2008.^[10] She also had a role in the 2009 feature films Sorority Row and Dragonball Evolution, in the latter as Goku's love interest, Chi Chi, as well as Burning Palms. Chung also stars as Chelsea Barnes in Disney Channel's 2009 TV movie, Princess Protection Program which also stars Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, and as Amber Hilliard in the 2010 film Grown Ups. Chung will appear in the upcoming film Premium Rush, directed by David Koepp.^[11]

Awards and recognition[link]

Chung won the Female Stars of Tomorrow Award at the 2009 ShoWest industry trade show along with her Sorority Row castmates.^[12]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Biography portal
	Film portal
	Asian American portal
	Korea portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jamie Chung

• Jamie Chung at the Internet Movie Database
• Chung on the set of Dragonball (Spanish)

Dustin Hoffman
Hoffman at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Dustin Lee Hoffman (1937-08-08) August 8, 1937 (age 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Sam Etic
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1960–present
Spouse	Anne Byrne (1969–80) Lisa Gottsegen (1980–present)
Children	6

Dustin Lee Hoffman^[1] (born August 8, 1937)^[1] is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters.^[2]

He first drew critical praise for the play Eh?, for which he won a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award. This was soon followed by his breakthrough movie role as the good-looking but troubled Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate (1967). Since then Hoffman's career has largely been focused on cinema, with only sporadic returns to television and the stage. Some of his most notable films are Papillon, Marathon Man, Midnight Cowboy, Little Big Man, Lenny, All the President's Men, Kramer vs. Kramer, Tootsie, Rain Man, Wag the Dog, and Meet the Fockers.

Hoffman has won two Academy Awards (for his performances in Kramer vs. Kramer and Rain Man), five Golden Globes, four BAFTAs, three Drama Desk Awards, a Genie Award, and an Emmy Award. Dustin Hoffman received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1999.

Early life[link]

Hoffman was born in Los Angeles,^[1] the second son of Lillian (née Gold) and Harry Hoffman. His father worked as a prop supervisor/set decorator at Columbia Pictures before becoming a furniture salesman.^[3][4] Hoffman was named after stage and silent screen actor Dustin Farnum. His older brother, Ronald, is a lawyer and economist. Hoffman is from an Ashkenazi Jewish family of immigrants from Ukraine^[5] and Romania.^[6][7] His upbringing was not religious or observant.^[8][9] He graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1955 and enrolled at Santa Monica College with the intention of studying medicine, leaving after a year to join the Pasadena Playhouse.^[10]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Hoffman began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse, alongside future Academy Award-winner Gene Hackman.^[11] After two years there, Hackman headed for New York City, with Hoffman soon following. Having considerable difficulty getting roles, he took a series of odd jobs, including working as a restaurant coat checker, working in the typing department of the city Yellow Pages directory, and stringing Hawaiian leis.^{[citation needed]} During this time period he got an occasional bit television role, but left acting briefly to teach in order to support himself. Hoffman also occasionally performed television commercials; an oft-replayed segment on programs that explore actors' early work is a clip showing Hoffman touting the Volkswagen Fastback.

In 1960, Hoffman was cast in a role in an Off-Broadway production and followed with a walk-on role in a Broadway production in 1961. Hoffman then studied at the famed Actors Studio and became a dedicated method actor. Sidney W. Pink, a producer and 3D-movie pioneer, discovered him in one of his Off-Broadway roles and cast him in Madigan's Millions. His first critical success was in Eh? by Henry Livings, which had its US premiere off-Broadway at the Circle in the Square Downtown on October 16, 1966.

Through the early and mid-1960s, Hoffman made appearances in television shows and movies, including Naked City, The Defenders and Hallmark Hall of Fame. Hoffman made his theatrical film debut in The Tiger Makes Out in 1967, alongside Eli Wallach.

In 1967, immediately after wrapping up principal filming on The Tiger Makes Out, Hoffman flew from New York City to Fargo, North Dakota, where he directed a production of William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life for the Emma Herbst Community Theatre. The $1,000 he received for the eight-week contract was all he had to hold him over until the funds from the movie materialized.

Major roles[link]

Hoffman talks to extras on the set of Lenny in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (1974)