Russell Crowe denies ban from UK pub

Sydney: Australian actor Russell Crowe on Monday denied reports that he was banned from a British pub after an argument about closing time.Britain`s Sunday Express newspaper reported that Crowe, 45, had been banned from the Brickmakers in Windelsham, Surrey, near the set of his new movie "Robin Hood."

An unidentified resident was quoted in the newspaper as saying that Crowe had offered money to keep drinking at the pub after closing time, but was refused and eventually left, smashing a plate on his way. A spokesman from the pub declined to comment on the reports on Monday. But Crowe`s manager, Grant Vandenberg, said the newspaper story was untrue. "The only truth to the whole thing is that he has been to the (pub)," Vandenberg told Australia`s Nine Network television. "He has been there four or five times with his kids. There is a playground in the back." Crowe, who won an Oscar for best actor in 2001 for his role in "Gladiator," has two young sons with his wife Danielle Spencer. The actor has been in a number of altercations in recent years, including throwing a telephone at an employee in a New York hotel. Bureau Report