Actor and singer, born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, S England, UK. His performance in No Sex Please, We're British (1971) established him as a comedy actor. In the 1970s the television series Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, in which he played the accident-prone misfit Frank Spencer, made him a household name in Britain. He went on to star in such musicals as Billy (1974), Flowers for Algernon (1979), Barnum (1981), The Phantom of the Opera (1986, Tony), and The Woman in White (2004). His films include The Knack (1964), How I Won the War (1966), Hello Dolly (1968), Condorman (1980), and Once Upon a Forest (1993). In 1999 he published his autobiography, Parcel Arrived Safely: Tied With String.
Michael Crawford, OBE (born 19 January 1942 in Salisbury, Wiltshire), is an English actor and singer.
Although he most often appears on stage, in musicals such as Phantom of the Opera and Barnum, he first became a household name and famous to millions for his role as the hapless Frank Spencer in the British television sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973-78), for which he performed most of his own stunts.
Crawford has been awarded the OBE, and has also been named Showbusiness Personality of the Year by the Variety Club of Great Britain.
Awards
Awards won by Michael Crawford in 1988 for his performance in the title role in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a MusicalBiography
Born Michael Patrick Dumbell-Smith, Crawford was raised by his widowed mother, Doris.
From an early age, it was clear, even to his family and friends, that he demonstrated both an aptitude for comedy and an exceptional singing voice and at the tender age of seven made one of his first (and brief) public appearances as a child as a choirboy at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, but he very quickly soon left that job.
His first stage debut, in front of an audience, was in a school production of Benjamin Britten's, Let's Make an Opera playing the role of Sammy the Little Sweep (who was the leading character in the opera) at Brixton Town Hall, but his big break didn't come till Benjamin Britten hired him to play Sammy in a professional production of Let's Make an Opera at the Scala Theatre in London, which he alternated with another boy soprano, David Hemmings.
He began his stage career in such plays as - André Birabeau's French comedy Head of the Family, Change for the Angel, Out of the Frying Pan, Come Blow Your Horn, but very quickly went onto playing in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, and Twelfth Night and other famous plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest, The Striplings, The Move After Checkmate, among others.
After appearing in several British children's films,Blow Your Trumpet and Soapbox Derby, he was approached to play an American, Junior Sailen, in The War Lover opposite Steve McQueen in 1962.
In 1964, he first struck stardom in the British television series, Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life playing Byron and it was this role that attracted director, Richard Lester to hire him for the role of Colin in The Knack...
During this time, he continued with his stagework and made his Broadway debut in an adaption of Black Comedy, White Lies starring Lynn Redgrave, but it was while working in the show, he had been called to Hollywood to audition for the role for Cornelius Hackl in the upcoming film adaption of Hello, Dolly.
For a while, his career seemed to be at a stand-still, until he was asked to star in a BBC television comedy, in the role of child-like but eternally haphazard, Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em with Michele Dotrice cast in the role of his long-suffering wife Betty in 1973.
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em soon became one of the BBC's most popular TV series and ran, at first, until 1975 when it was felt that rather than continuing to run the show until it failed in the ratings, it would be best to close while it was still a success.
Crawford continued working on stage during this time, and after "Billy" went onto star in the ill-fated "Flowers for Algernon" in the role of Charly Gurdon, based on the book with the same title and the famous Hollywood film starring Cliff Robertson; Cy Coleman's Barnum (1981) (one of the longest runs by a leading man) and, most notably, in the title role of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (1986), for which he won an Olivier Award (Best Actor in a Musical), a Tony Award (Best Performance By An Actor in a Lead Role, Musical), an N.Y's Drama Desk Award, and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Achievement in Theatre (Lead Performance).
He also performed "Music of the Night" at the Inaugural Gala for President George Bush in Washington, D.C., on 19 January 1989.
In 1995, Crawford created the high-profile starring role in EFX, the $70 million production which officially opened MGM's 1700-seat Grand Theatre in Las Vegas.
He also had a short comeback to Broadway as the Count von Krolock in the short-lived commercial and financial flop musical Dance of the Vampires during late 2002 and early 2003.
Crawford was invited to attend the Gala Performance of the stage version of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway at the Majestic Theater to celebrate the show becoming the longest running musical in Broadway history (supplanting Cats).
Crawford was ranked #17 in the 100 Greatest Britons (2002) poll sponsored by the BBC. (film) (1969) — Cornelius Hackl How I Won the War (1967) — Goodbody The Jokers (1967) - Michael Tremayne A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) — Hero The Knack...and How to Get It (1965) - Colin Two Left Feet (1963) - Alan Crabbe The War Lover (1962) — Sgt. Junior Sailen Two Living, One Dead (1961) - Nils Lindwall Soapbox Derby (1958) - Peter Toms Blow Your Own Trumpet (1958) - Jim Fenn
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