SAUCY SALUTE

Newly minted Oscar-winner Russell Crowe directed an obscene hand gesture at a Princeton University student who snapped a photo of him, New Jersey's Trentonian newspaper reports. Director Ron Howard was quick to defend Crowe, who was on campus shooting his upcoming film, A Beautiful Mind: "He's not a bad guy. It was out of character for him. He was signing a lot more autographs than giving middle fingers."

TV GuideNews March 30, 2001 at 12:00 a.m. PT