Russell Crowe's Welsh roots: BBC Homecoming special

Jan 3, 2008, 12:30 GMT

10/29/2007 - Russell Crowe - "American Gangster" Industry Screening - Arrivals - The ArcLight Theater - Hollywood, CA, USA © GL / PR Photos

Russell Crowe is to visit Wales to trace his family roots.

The 'American Gangster' star - who was born in New Zealand and now lives in Australia - will visit Wrexham, where his grandfather ran a fruit and vegetable business, to discover his heritage for a BBC Wales TV documentary.

A BBC spokesperson said: "We have commissioned a 'Coming Home' documentary about Russell tracing his family roots to Wales.

"Plans for filming are already under way, and everyone involved is very excited about working with yet another international superstar for 'Coming Home'."

Russell's great-grandparents Fred and Kezia left Wrexham - which is in northwest Wales and close to the English border - for Calgary, Canada, in 1925 with 12 of their 13 children.

Fred and Kezia's 18-year-old son John remained in Wrexham and took over the family business.

When the company started to suffer, John emigrated to New Zealand where he married and had two children, David and Alex, Russell's father.

Russell, 43, still has numerous relatives living in Wrexham and Cheshire, northwest England.

Other stars to uncover their Welsh ancestry for the 'Coming Home' series include Donny Osmond and Susan Sarandon.

Donny traced his family line to Merthyr Tydfil, while Susan traced her roots back to Bridgend.

(C) BANG Media International