Russell Crowe seemingly came out of nowhere in the early 1990s to take the world by storm with his acting ability. However, the reality is he had his first acting role in 1972 as an 8 year old. He had several additional parts as a teenager in the late 1977s but it was his work in the 1990s that really started to set him apart. During a 4 year stretch from 1997 to 2001, Russell Crowe gave us outstanding roles in 4 Award Winning films; L.A. Confidential, The Insider, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. That is just an amazing run and really served notice to the world that Russell Crowe was a major player in Hollywood. He was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar in three of those films and won the Oscar for Gladiator. Surprisingly, I actually think his role as John Nash in A Beautiful Mind but he lost the Oscar that year to Denzel Washington in Training Day. While Denzel was good in that film, I believe he won that Oscar as a make-up for the Oscar he should have won for Malcolm X. Over the last several years, Russell Crowe has starred in a few films but he has been distracted by his musical career. He has played in several bands and also has a solo career. I think it is a shame that his focus has been diverted because he is such an incredible actor when focused. I hope he will refocus on acting so we can get some more Award Winning performances in the future. All rights reserved. Copyright 2012 Rankography