New Zealand actor Russell Crowe has appeared in several high-profile historical films, but has now revealed that he is related to a very real historical figure: Simon Fraser, the 11th Lord Lovat and the last person to be executed by beheading in England, according to CNN and News.ro .

Russell CrowePhoto: Evan Agostini / Associated Press / Profimedia Images

“I have been searching for my Italian ancestors for some time. Family folklore and spelling mistakes led me down a series of false trails,” Crowe wrote on his X page, formerly known as Twitter.

“It appears that my great great grandfather on my mother’s side who traveled to New Zealand in 1864 was Luigi Goezzi. Born in 1829 in Ascoli Piceno, Marche, son of Augustine and Annunziata, born in Parma. Luigi worked in Argentina, got on a ship to India, suffered a shipwreck and ended up in Cape Town. There he met and married Mary Ann Curtain and they emigrated to New Zealand. Fascinating.”

Crowe, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in the film Gladiator explained in 2001 that he was related to Fraser through his paternal grandmother, and that his husband’s death – a beheading in the Tower of London in 1747 – “even gave rise to the expression”.

Russell Crowe says his great-great-great-grandfather inspired the phrase “laugh yourself to death.”

“Apparently they set up temporary stands for the nobility to watch his death,” Crowe wrote in a follow-up post, adding that “one of these stands collapsed, killing 9 spectators. The fact that he was told this before he was sentenced to death made him laugh. He was still laughing when the blade hit his neck, “dying laughing.” Fascinating.”

Look for it. He is a special character. Old Fox, as he was called,” wrote Crowe. “His Machiavellian methods seem to have caught up with him in his 80s, and he deserves the infamy of being the last man to be beheaded in the Tower of London.”

After the huge success recorded GladiatorThe film marks Crowe’s return to filming in Italy after more than two decades Papal Exorcist (The Pope’s Exorcist), based on a real-life character, was released in theaters last year and is now also available to stream on HBO Max.