Russell Crowe threatened to kill a producer with his bare hands over a pay dispute while filming Hollywood blockbuster Gladiator.The volatile actor so terrified veteran producer Branko Lustig that he wanted to quit the film - which went on to win seven Oscars.
Crowe, who will next be seen by moviegoers as Robin Hood, displayed a range of erratic behaviour on the set of Gladiator that shocked the cast and crew.
According to a new book Crowe was a 'puffy' pain while making the 2000 film in which he won an Oscar for Best Actor.
He twice walked off the set and threw a tantrum before filming the climatic scene when he utters the film's most memorable line 'And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.'
Author Nicole LaPorte claims Crowe, 46, thought the line was ridiculous and had to be persuaded to film the scene.
After it was shot, Crowe was still unhappy and when quizzed by director Ridley Scott said: 'It was shit... but I'm the greatest actor in the world and I can make even shit sound good.'
LaPorte details Crowe's behaviour in her book The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company called DreamWorks.
The book mostly focuses on the three men who formed Dreamworks, Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
The Hollywood studio put up the money to make Gladiator and author LaPorte talked to many of the people involved in making the film which helped establish Crowe as a major A-list star.
LaPorte recalls how Crowe, unhappy about the day rate pay for some of his assistants on the film, called producer Lustig at 3am.
She said Crowe said: 'You mother******. I will kill you with my bare hands.'
Lustig, a 77-year-old Jewish concentration camp survivor, was so terrified by the threat he called Steven Spielberg and demanded to leave the film.
'Steven,' he said. 'I'm leaving. Russell wants to kill me. I'm leaving.'
'Steven,' he said. 'I'm leaving. Russell wants to kill me. I'm leaving.'
Australian-born Crowe is known within the film industry for his short temper.
In 2005 he was charged with assault in New York after throwing a phone at a hotel employee who had refused to help him place a call to Australia.
Three years earlier at the Bafta Awards in London he was caught ranting against a BBC producer who had cut out part of his speech during an award acceptance.
LaPorte's book is published on May 4.
