BAFTA winner Russell Crowe has had his poetic ambitions snubbed yet again only this time it was in his adopted homeland, Australia. The New Zealand-born actor flew into a rage following the BAFTA awards in London, when the BBC cut a short poem from his acceptance speech last week.
According to British newspaper The Sun, Russell was assured that his acceptance speech would be shown in full on Australia’s ABC channel, and invited a few friends around to his farm near Coff’s Harbour, New South Wales, to see the show on Saturday. But Australian TV bosses had specifically asked for the same version of the ceremony shown on BBC – the version that cut his rendition of a four line poem by the late Irish poet Patrick Cavanagh.
The poem, Sanctity, was cut from the original BBC broadcast because of time restrictions, and for copyright reasons. Russell, who won the best actor gong for A Beautiful Mind, caused a stir when he gave BBC executive Malcolm Gerrie a serious tongue-lashing at an after-awards party. The 37-year-old actor later telephoned Mr Gerrie to apologise, but he is said to be in the doldrums again after being scratched by the Australian channel.
Russell is also in the running for an Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards, again for his portrayal of the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash. The prestigious awards ceremony will take place on March 24.
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