Russell Crowe 2006. Crowe was born on 7 April 1964 in the Wellington suburb of Strathmore Park, the son of Jocelyn Yvonne (née Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe, both of whom were film set caterers; his father also managed a hotel. Crowe's maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who was named an MBE for filming footage of World War II. Crowe's paternal grandfather, John Doubleday Crowe, was from Wrexham, Wales, while one of Crowe's maternal great-great-grandmothers was Māori. Crowe also has English, German, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Scottish, Swedish, and Welsh ancestry. He is a cousin of former New Zealand cricket captains
Russell Crowe and the Dead" in 1995. He went on to become a three-time Oscar nominee, winning the Academy Award as Best Actor in 2000 for "Gladiator". Crowe was awarded the (Australian) Centenary Medal in 2001 for "service to Australian society and Australian film production." Crowe received three consecutive best actor Oscar nominations, for "The Insider", "Gladiator" and "A Beautiful Mind". 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. Although nominated for an Academy Award, he lost to Denzel