London: It seems Russell Crowe has a photographic memory, as he has reportedly helped police in Paris, France identify a violent thug, whose face he had only seen once.

The hard-man actor spotted a pair of US tourists being mugged as he was leaving a Paris eatery last month, and even though the thief escaped, the Hollywood heartthrob got a good look at his face and was able to identify him to police.

"It happened too fast for him to react but he got a good look at the thug's face. He comforted the victims until cops came then he went to a police station and identified a mug shot," Femalefirst quoted a scource as saying.

"The mugger was then held in a line-up and Crowe made a positive ID," the source added.