A galvanizing presence whose prodigious talents earned him Hollywood's highest acting accolades, but whose mercurial – and occasionally violent – temperament put him in hot water publicly, actor Russell Crowe ultimately built a reputation as an A-list leading man, whose electric performances well overshadowed his so-called bad boy nature. With an intense breakout performance as a racist skinhead in the Australian-made “Romper Stomper” (1992), Crowe established himself as an actor on the rise. Crossing the Pacific, he exploded off the screen as a violent 1950s police detective in “L.A.