Russell Crowe Says He’s Related To The Last Man Beheaded In Britain: “He’s Quite The Character”

Jake Kanter

4 January 2024 at 1:23 pm·2-min read

Russell Crowe has had several brushes with the law over the years — and it turns out that one of his distant ancestors was also something of a rogue.

The Gladiator actor has been delving into his family history and was surprised to discover that he is related to the last man to be beheaded in the Tower of London.

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In a series of posts on Twitter (now X), Crowe said he is “directly” connected through his father’s mother to Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat.

Crowe was born in New Zealand, where relatives on his father’s side can be traced back to John Fraser, who arrived in the country in 1841.

“He’s quite the character. The Old Fox they used to call him,” Crowe said, somewhat admiringly of Simon Fraser, a “devious” Jacobite who was executed in 1747.

Legend has it that Fraser’s death coined the phrase “laughing his head off.”

Fraser is said to have been amused to learn that members of the gentry were killed when a stand erected to view the execution collapsed.

“Being told this just before he was put to death made him laugh. He was still laughing when the blade struck his neck,” Crowe said.

As a supporter of exiled Stuart King James II, Fraser’s leanings led him to be condemned by the House of Lords and executed, aged 80. “Seems his Machiavellian ways caught up to him,” Crowe wryly noted.

Crowe said his family history had also revealed Norwegian, Scottish, and Italian connections. His great-great-great-grandfather on his mother’s side was Luigi Ghezzi, who was born in Marche, eastern Italy.

Crowe has friendly links to Italy after starring in Gladiator. In 2022, he was declared an ambassador of Rome, receiving a special plaque from the mayor.

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