Before he became famous: Fresh-faced Russell Crowe as a thin twenty-something on stage for the first time

By Sara Nathan

Rise to fame: Russell Crowe's humble beginning performing in his big break musical Bad Boy Johnny in Australia, aged just 22


The fresh-faced actor hardly looked like a burly Gladiator as he made his stage debut after a string of odd jobs, including a failed attempt as a bingo caller.

Believe or not, this is the first glimpse of the Russell Crowe years before he collected an Oscar for his role as Maximus Decimus Meridius.

For the first time, composer Daniel Abineri has revealed how he gave a 22-year-old Crowe his big break just weeks after the notoriously fiery star was sacked as a bingo caller for being rude.

Detailing the truth behind Crowe’s rise to fame, Mr Abineri told how he gave the wannabe a starring role in his musical Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom - a show that later got banned from the British stage - until he was forced to axe him because the actor could not sing.

Mr Abineri, 51, first met Crowe, who is about to make his return to the big screen as Robin Hood, while he was looking for performers to join him in a New Zealand touring version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Crowe, now 45, was born in New Zealand, but spent part of his childhood in Australia before returning with his family to Auckland aged 14.


Steamy: But although Crowe was charismatic, he couldn't sing

And in a revealing interview with the Daily Mail, the former actor reminisced about his six-month stint on the road with Crowe, saying: ‘We held an open call in Auckland to find people to join the Rocky Horror Show.

‘There was this guy standing there dressed head to toe in black leather, with a big quiff. He was very surly and I asked him ‘what’s your name’ and he told me ‘Russ Le Roq’ – that was his stage name.


Not good enough: He was fired after six weeks because he could not sing well


‘He had just been sacked from his job as a bingo caller in Rotorua - apparently he was rude to the crowd when he was calling out the numbers, and he was quite proud of that!

‘The most experience he had before that was appearing in his school production of Grease. He was in a band called Roman Antix and had released a single called I Just Want To Be Like Marlon Brando, who was his hero.’

He added: ‘There was definitely something about Russell, so I gave him the part of Eddie/Dr Scott.

'He was extremely determined and really into his character. At one point during the tour, I told him his character had been based on Doctor Strangelove – so we then discover Russell has painted his face white and turned his hair grey for the role.

‘He was so ambitious. He would watch everything the actors did and soaked it in. I had to tell him to change his name – he called himself Russ Le Roq because he was worried that his famous cousins, the Australian cricket stars Martin and Jeff Crowe would overshadow his attempts to make it as an actor.

‘But I told him Russell Crowe was a great name for an actor.’

Following the tour, Mr Abineri returned home to Sydney in Australia, only for Crowe to move in with him.

He laughed: ‘Russell had no flat, no where to live, no where to sleep, barely any money, so we allowed him to stay until he got his own place.’

At the same time, Mr Abineri was writing his musical, Bad Boy Johnny, which follows the fortune of Johnny, who is born to single mother and part-time prostitute Mary.

Johnny goes on to steal his first guitar and form a band which is then discovered by evil parish priest Father MacLean.

The show then takes a darker turn as Johnny is voted as the person the world would like to see as the new Pontiff on an X Factor-style show – before discovering MacLean raped his mother and is in fact his father.

Mr Abineri said: ‘Russell was around the whole time I was writing Bad Boy Johnny and when finally we got the backing to stage it he kind of sidled up to me and said ‘Hey, could I play Johnny?’

‘He sang for me, but he just sounded like an Elvis impersonator, the voice wasn’t great, but he had a lot of charisma.


Starting out: Composer Daniel Abineri gave a 22-year-old Crowe his big break just weeks after the notoriously fiery star was sacked as a bingo caller for being rude


‘Russell was obsessed with Elvis and John Lennon and even had their posters up on his wall.’

With Crowe in the lead role, the production launched in Australia in 1989. However, just six weeks later, a concert promoter agreed to a bigger tour.

But there was just one problem – the promoter told Mr Abineri he had to sack Crowe.
The composer said: ‘I was really given no choice.

‘After the initial run, the promoter said I had to get rid of him, that was the deal. It was with great regret, because Russell had become a friend.’

He added: ‘I had to call Russell up, he was really upset. But it worked out for the best because a couple of days later he got a role in his first film, The Crossing, where he met his wife Danielle Spencer, so things definitely worked out for the best.’

British-born Mr Abineri then moved back to London, where he hit the headlines – and earned the wrath of the Church Council of Great Britain alongside death threats from Opus Dei - when Bad Boy Johnny was forced off the stage.

The composer mounted the show as a five week limited showcase run at The Union Chapel in January 1994, but it was deemed as ‘offensive and blasphemous’, not least because the chapel was deconsecrated.

After the intervention of the Church Council the production closed down after nine performances.

However, this Spring the show is being revived for a nationwide tour.

Speaking about his various jobs, which included bartending and waiting to bingo-calling and horse-wrangling, Crowe has admitted: ‘I enjoyed all those jobs, You have to. If you're a waiter, the worst thing you can do is go to work resenting your job.


Oscar winning: Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius in 2000 film Gladiator

‘This will sound trite - but it's the reality, and part of my personality - yet when I was a waiter I tried to be the best waiter and when I was a bingo-caller I tried to be the best bingo-caller.’

While his sister-in-law admitted: ‘Russell used ruder versions of the bingo calls. His bosses failed to see the funny side and booted him out.’

The last time Mr Abineri saw Crowe was at the Brit Awards in 2000 and he said: ‘We talked about our touring days, he was friendly - I’m sure he didn’t hold anything against me!

‘I always thought it was something he kept buried in his past – but I was stunned when someone sent me a clip of Russell talking about Bad Boy Johnny last year on the Craig Ferguson show in America. Craig had been the priest in the UK show. I couldn’t believe it.

Crowe will return to the big screen in May as Robin Hood, directed by Ridley Scott, who also helmed Gladiator in 2000, for which the actor was awarded an Oscar for Best Actor.


source: dailymail