Russell Crowe has claimed to be directly related to the last man executed by beheading in England – a Jacobite who lived a life of “devious intrigue”.

Writing on X, the New Zealand-born actor said research into his ancestry had revealed he was related to Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, who was executed aged 80 in 1747 at the Tower of London for high treason.

The execution was considered so significant by King George II that the monarch put up additional stands for the extra spectators who wished to witness the event. But one of these platforms is said to have collapsed moments before the execution, killing about nine people. Legend has it that this caused Fraser – nicknamed the Old Fox for his devious reputation – to laugh while the axe fell, coining the phrase “laughing his head off”.

Crowe said on X: “I’ve been on the hunt to track down my Italian forebears for quite some time. Folkloric family tales and misspelling had seen me travel on a number of wrong tracks.

“Turns out my great great great grandfather, on my mother’s side, who travelled to NZ in 1864, was Luigi Ghezzi. Born in 1829 in Ascoli Piceno, Marche, the son of Augestine and Annunziata born in Parma. Luigi had been working in Argentina, took a boat to India, was shipwrecked, and ended up in Cape Town. While there he met and married Mary Ann Curtain and they migrated to NZ. Fascinating.

“Also something else that has recently come to light on my father’s mother’s side, via John (Jock) Fraser (arrived in NZ in 1841) we directly connect back to Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat. Look him up. He’s quite the character. The Old Fox they used to call him.

“Seems his machiavellian ways caught up to him at the age of 80, and he has a claim to infamy as the last man to have the head chopped off his living body in the Tower of London.

“His death even coined a phrase. Apparently, they set up temporary stands for the gentry to watch him die. One of these stands collapsed which resulted in the death of nine onlookers. Being told this just before he was put to death made him laugh. He was still laughing when the blade struck his neck, thereby ‘laughing his head off’. Fascinating.”

Crowe added: “So we now know Norwegian connections, Italian connections, multiple Scottish connections, Māori connections, but here’s the odd thing, a close relative’s DNA test still comes back as a majority Irish, but we don’t know how/who.

“How about this for weirdness, too. In my mother’s family, three generations apart, women married men called Crowe. I’ve had people come up to me to tell me we are related and I’ve been a little dismissive thinking I knew every Crowe family member, but I’m also related to another line of Crowes who appear to have been in Australia very early on. Fascinating.

“It’s so cool to finally find out the Italian connection, and that as much of Italy as I’ve seen, it’s to places I’ve never been. Looks like there’s an adventure ahead.”

Crowe’s Māori heritage is well established. He is also the cousin of the late New Zealand cricketer Martin Crowe.