‘Gladiator’ Star Russell Crowe Talks About His Beheaded Ancestor: ‘I Laughed Till I Dropped’

The famous actor discovered a lot of interesting things in his pedigree

Actor Russell Crowe claims to be a descendant of the last person executed by beheading in England. According to the film star, ancestry research shows he is related to the 11th Lord Lovat, who was executed at the Tower of London in 1747.

Russell Crowe claims to have a direct connection to the last person to be executed by beheading in England – a Jacobite who lived a life of “insidious intrigue”, writes The Guardian.

The New Zealand-born actor said research into his ancestry has revealed he is related to Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, who was executed at the age of 80 in 1747 at the Tower of London for treason.

King George II considered the execution so significant that the monarch installed additional stands for additional spectators who wished to witness the event. But one of these platforms is said to have collapsed moments before the execution, killing about nine people. Legend has it that this caused Fraser, nicknamed the Old Fox for his wily reputation, to laugh as the ax fell, giving rise to the phrase “laughing till you drop.”

Crowe says: “I spent quite some time hunting for my Italian ancestors. Family folklore and spelling errors led me to follow several false leads. It turns out that my maternal great-great-great grandfather, who came to New Zealand in 1864, was Luigi Ghezzi. Born in 1829 in Ascoli Piceno, Marche, the son of Augustine and Annunziata, born in Parma. Luigi worked in Argentina, sailed on a ship to India, was shipwrecked and ended up in Cape Town. There he met and married Mary Ann Curtin and they migrated to New Zealand. Charming.

Also something else that recently came to light on my father’s mother’s side, through John (Jock) Fraser (arrived in New Zealand in 1841) we are directly linked to Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat. Find him. He still has the same character. They called him the Old Fox. His Machiavellian ways seem to have caught up with him at the age of 80, and he claims infamy as the last person to have his head cut off while living in the Tower of London. They even coined a phrase about his death. Apparently, temporary stands had been set up there so the gentry could watch his death. One of these stands collapsed, killing nine spectators. When he was told about this just before his execution, he laughed. He was still laughing when the blade hit him in the neck, causing him to “laugh out loud.” Fascinating.”

Crowe added: “So now we know about Norwegian connections, Italian connections, numerous Scottish connections, Maori connections, but here’s the strange thing: a close relative’s DNA test still shows that most of them are Irish, but we don’t know how and Who. I’ve been trying to find my Italian ancestors for quite some time now. Family folklore and spelling errors led me down several wrong paths… In my mother’s family, three generations apart, women married men with the last name Crow. I’ve had people come up to me to say we’re related and I was a little dismissive, thinking I knew every member of the Crow family, but I’m also related to another line of Crows who seem to have ended up in Australia very early on. Charming.

It’s so great to finally discover a connection to Italy, and that most of the Italy I’ve seen is places I’ve never been. Looks like there’s an adventure ahead of us.”

Russell Crowe’s Maori roots are well known, notes The Guardian. The actor is also the cousin of the late New Zealand cricketer Martin Crowe.