A SEARCH has been launched in Wrexham to track down the long lost relatives of Russell Crowe.
The Aussie superstar can trace his family roots to the town where grandfather, John Crowe, ran the grocers, Crofruit, before emigrating to New Zealand in the mid-1920s.
To coincide with the release of Oscar award-winning Russell Crowe’s latest film Les Misérables, a film adaptation of the 1980s musical based on Victor Hugo’s 19th-century novel, Wrexham’s Odeon Cinema in Eagles Meadow is trying to track down the movie star’s relatives and invite them to a screening of the film.
Cinema manager Andy Elvis said: “It’s amazing that Russell Crowe’s family can be traced right back to Wrexham.
“It seems his great grandparents, Fred and Kezia, emigrated to Canada in June, 1925 along with 12 of their 13 children.
“Russell’s grandfather John stayed behind to run Crofruit.
“He was also a member of Grove Park School’s water polo team.
“His older brother Frank returned from Canada in 1927 to help John run the business.
“It seems John decided to emigrate himself to New Zealand where he married and had two children, David and Alex, Russell’s father. The family later moved to Australia when Russell was still a child.
“However Frank stayed put in Wrexham and had a family of his own and it seems many of his descendants still live in the Wrexham area today.”
Mr Elvis wants to hear from anyone who can claim a connection with Russell Crowe and the first five descendants who come forward and can prove a family connection will each receive a pair of tickets for a screening of Les Misérables after January 24.
Email ceidiog@ceidiog.com, with ‘Russell Crowe’ written in the subject box, to explain the family connection or call Ceidiog Hughes on 07958 497592.