The 46-year-old actor has revealed he had his first puff of tobacco "many years" before his tenth birthday, but developed a serious habit from then on. He used to smuggle the cigarettes into his school concealed in his shoes and socks so he could smoke during his lunch break and on the way home.

"I started smoking properly when I was ten years old, on the roof of the student Prince Hotel in Camperdown, near Sydney University," Russell wrote on his Twitter page.

"my first puff many years before that. I became a carrying smoker at 10.At school used to load each sock with 3 + flint&match`s (sic)."

Shortly after Russell posted his nicotine confession, a fan sent him a message reading: "yeah.. thank god you don`t act with your lungs!?!?! (sic)."

Russell promptly replied: "oh yes I do, and with my liver and kidney`s and intestine`s and pancreas and all the mushy internals ntm gonad`s and brain (sic)."

After reflecting on the damage he has done to his body with almost four decades of smoking, Russell decided to quit. He is going cold turkey, but already doubts he will last long without a puff.

"Today was my first day as a non-smoker. I`ll see how I go tomorrow," he wrote.
sections: Celebrities