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In his most famous film role, Russell Crowe played a Roman general turned slave who horribly dispatches his enemies.
Maximus Decimus Meridius was the tragic hero of Ridley Scott’s 2000 megahit Gladiator.
But now, the Hollywood star has discovered her own connection to a notorious traitor who was murdered in an equally brutal way.
The actor, 59, revealed on
Fraser’s murder gave rise to the phrase “laugh out loud”, because, moments before he was executed, a scaffold containing spectators collapsed, causing the rebel to burst into a fit of laughter.
Hollywood star Russell Crowe has discovered that he is related to Simon Fraser, the 11th Lord Lovat, who became the last man to be beheaded in Britain when he was executed on Tower Hill in 1747.
The Scot was executed after supporting the convicted Jacobite figurehead Bonnie Prince Charlie, who was defeated at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746.
Crowe said he also located his Italian great-great-grandfather, who was named Luigi Ghezzi.
He said: ‘I have been searching for my Italian ancestors for quite some time.
“Folklore family tales and misspellings had caused me to travel down several wrong paths.”
Ghezzi was born in 1829 and went to work in Argentina before being shipwrecked during a voyage to India.
He ended up in Cape Town, where he met his wife Mary Ann Curtain and the couple moved to New Zealand.
Crowe revealed in X that he has delved into his family’s history. He discovered that his great-great-grandfather was the Italian Luigi Ghezzi. He is related to Fraser through his mother’s side.
Crowe added: ‘There is also something else that has recently come to light from my father’s mother: through John (Jock) Fraser (he arrived in New Zealand in 1841), we connect directly with Simon Fraser. 11th Lord Lovat. Search it.
He is quite a character. Old Fox, they called him.
“It seems his Machiavellian ways caught up with him at the age of 80, and he is entitled to infamy as the last man to have his head severed from his living body in the Tower of London. His death even coined a phrase.
‘Apparently, they set up temporary posts for the nobility to watch him die.
‘One of these stands collapsed, causing the death of 9 spectators.
“When he was told this just before he was executed, he laughed. She was still laughing when the blade hit his neck, “laughing out loud.” Fascinating.’
Crowe said he has now discovered he has Norwegian, Italian, Scottish and even Maori heritage.
But he said it is “strange” that a close relative’s DNA test “still shows an Irish majority”.
He also revealed that the women in his family who were three generations apart married men with the last name Crowe.
Fraser, who was the head of his family’s clan, was buried beneath the floor of a chapel attached to the Tower of London.
It was long believed that his body was later moved to the family’s Wardlaw mausoleum near Inverness.
A coffin in the mausoleum containing a decapitated body was believed by many to be that of Fraser.
But in 2018, DNA testing on the bones revealed they belonged to a young woman.
Fraser became famous during his lifetime for his frequent changes of allegiance.
He was initially sentenced to death in 1698 after sparking a bitter dispute with the relatives of the woman he forcibly married, Lady Lovat.
The chief of the clan ended up in France, where I came into contact with the exiled Stuarts. The last Stuart king, James II, had been deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
Fraser betrayed the Jacobite cause to the Duke of Queensbury and was held captive for ten years in France.
Crowe is also the cousin of the late New Zealand cricket legend Martin Crowe. When he died in 2016, the actor paid tribute to him, saying: “My champion, my hero, my friend.” I love you forever.’ Above: Martin Crowe (right), with his brother Jeff, who also played cricket in New Zealand.
After escaping, he returned to Scotland in 1715 and was pardoned.
But then he returned to espouse the Stuart cause. After Bonnie Prince Charlie’s defeat at Culloden, he urged the claimant to continue his campaign.
He was finally captured and sentenced to death by the House of Lords in March 1747.
Fraser is also known for being the grandfather of the fictional Jamie Fraser, the main character of the books and the television adaptation of Outlander.
Crowe is also the cousin of the late New Zealand cricket legend Martin Crowe.
When he died in 2016, the actor paid tribute to him, saying: “My champion, my hero, my friend.” I love you forever.’