Russell Crowe has launched a scathing attack on a playwright who has accused him of being a cheap, egotistical drunk in a hit new Los Angeles play named "Killing Russell Crowe".

The "Gladiator" star is furious about Jeremy Kehoe's play, which has a scene in which a disgruntled bartender declares he wants to murder Crowe because he doesn't pay for his drinks and leaves unsigned photos of himself instead, reports Ireland Online.

"I resent the imputation I do not pay my own way. The playwright is obviously a desperate twit," the actor said.

But Kehoe counters: "It's not about Crowe the individual, but the system that Crowe represents."