Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford was born Michael Patrick Dumble-Smith on January 19th 1942, which makes him 48 years young.
Michael's first claim to fame was starring in the Benjamin Britten production of 'Let's make an opera!'. In his late teens (after changing his name to Michael Crawford) he starred in the BBC series: 'Not so much a programme, more a way of life'. He then dabbled in films- starring in 'Two left feet'; 'The war lover'; 'The knack'; 'How I won the war' and 'A funny thing happened on the way to the forum'. He then tried his hand at stage again, starring in 'Come blow your horn', followed by 'The anniversary' and 'White lies and black comedy'.
He was then spotted by Gene Kelly, and was cast in 'Hello Dolly!', alongside Barbara Streisand. He then went back to films, starring in 'The Games' and 'Alice's adventures in wonderland', before once again turning back to the stage for the hugely successful show: 'No sex please, we're British'.
He then gained a huge following for his portrayal of Frank Spencer in 'Some mothers do 'ave 'em', and was voted funniest man on television. He starred in his first stage musical, 'Billy' in 1974 and was voted 'Show business personality of the year'. He was then cast in 'Same time, next year' and the highly emotional stage drama: 'Flowers for Algernon'.
Once again he turned back to the screen, for a series called 'Chalk and Cheese' but ended up back on the stage 'Barnum' for which he won a 'Laurence Olivier Award'.
It was at this time he was 'discovered' by Andrew Lloyd Webber and was cast the part as the Phantom in 'The Phantom Of The Opera'. He performed the role in London, before performing the same role in Broadway, and won a Tony Award for best actor in a musical.
He then toured countries such as Australia and America, before touring with the concert production of 'The music of Andrew Lloyd Webber'.
At this time, Michaels international star status was recognised, and he was awarded an OBE. He then went onto star in EFX, 'a $41 million musical spectacle', but sustained a hip injury, and had to quit the performance while undergoing a hip replacement operation.
He then released several albums (his latest was his Christmas album- 'The most wonderful time of the year'- below), a video and even his own autobiography entitled 'Parcel arrived safely tied with string' (above).
Michael is currently touring America and England.
You can view lyrics to michaels songs at my lyrics page.
Michael websites:
More websites will be added soon. If you have a website to add, please e-mail me.
The music you are currently hearing is: 'A Strange Way To Save The World'- a duet with Twila Paris from Michael's Christmas album. The quality is not fantastic, but this song is one of my favourites.