Career beginnings Crawford made his first stage appearance in the role of Sammy the Little Sweep in his school production of
Benjamin Britten's ''
Let's Make an Opera'', conducted by
Donald Mitchell. It was transferred to
Brixton Town Hall in London. He auditioned, unsuccessfully, for the role of Miles in Britten's
The Turn of the Screw – the role was given to another boy soprano,
David Hemmings. But Crawford's audition so impressed Britten that in 1955 he hired him to play Sammy, alternating with David Hemmings, in another production of ''Let's Make an Opera'', this time at the
Scala Theatre in London. Credited as Michael Ingram, singing the role of Gay Brook, he participated in a recording of the opera made that same year, conducted by the composer. In 1958, Crawford was hired by the
English Opera Group in the role of Jaffet in ''
Noye's Fludde'', Britten's setting of the Chester miracle play of the
Genesis flood narrative. In 1961, Crawford appeared in an episode of
One Step Beyond called "The Villa", in which he played a character experimenting with strobe lights. Crawford appears in the only surviving episode of the 1960 British crime series
Police Surgeon alongside
Ian Hendry. This series would spawn the much better-known
The Avengers.
Early adult career At age nineteen, Crawford was approached to play an American, Junior Sailen, in the film
The War Lover (1962), which starred
Steve McQueen. To prepare for the role, he would spend hours listening to
Woody Woodbury, a famous American comedian of the time, to try to perfect an American accent. After
The War Lover, Crawford briefly returned to the stage. After playing the lead role in the 1963 British film
Two Left Feet, he was offered a role in the British television series,
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life, as the Mod-style, tough-talking, motor-scooter riding Byron. It was this character that attracted film director
Richard Lester to hire him for the role of Colin in
The Knack ...and How to Get It in 1965. The film was a huge success in the UK. Lester also cast Crawford in the
film adaptation of the
Stephen Sondheim musical,
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and in
How I Won the War, starring
Roy Kinnear and
John Lennon. (During filming Crawford lived in London with Lennon and his first wife
Cynthia, and Gabrielle Lewis). Crawford starred in
The Jokers (directed by
Michael Winner) with
Oliver Reed in 1967.
Broadway debut In 1967, Crawford made his
Broadway début in
Peter Shaffer's
Black Comedy with
Lynn Redgrave (making her début as well). He demonstrated his aptitude and daring for extreme physical comedy, such as walking into walls and falling down staircases. While working in the show, he was noticed by
Gene Kelly, who called him to Hollywood to audition for a part in the
film adaptation of the musical
Hello, Dolly!. Crawford was cast and shared top billing with
Barbra Streisand and
Walter Matthau. Despite being one of the highest-grossing works of 1969, the film failed to recoup its $25 million budget at the box office. It won three
Academy Awards, was nominated for a further four (including
Best Picture), and is now considered to be one of the greatest musical films ever. Crawford's later films fared less successfully, although ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in which he played the White Rabbit, enjoyed moderate success in the UK. After performing in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
, and with offers of work greatly reduced and much of his salary from Hello, Dolly!'' lost, reportedly due to underhanded investments by his agent, Crawford faced a brief period of unemployment. During this time, he helped his wife stuff cushions (for their upholstery business) and took a job as an office clerk in an electric company. But at this difficult time, his marriage fell apart and divorce followed in 1975. In 1984 a revival of
Barnum opened in
Manchester at the
Opera House, ending the tour at the
Victoria Palace in the West End. In 1986 this production, with a new cast, though still headed by Crawford, was recorded for television and broadcast by the BBC. Crawford's
Barnum is one of the longest runs by a leading actor.
The Phantom of the Opera In 1984, at the final preview of
Starlight Express, Crawford happened to run into the show's creator, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lloyd Webber had met Crawford socially several times and remembered him from his work in
Flowers for Algernon. He informed Crawford that he was working on a new project based on a
Gaston Leroux novel and wanted to know whether he was interested. Crawford said he was, but the show was still in the early planning stages, and nothing had been decided. Several months passed, during which Lloyd Webber had already created a pitch video featuring his then-wife
Sarah Brightman as the female lead Christine, and British rocker
Steve Harley as the Phantom, singing the title song in the manner of a contemporary
new wave video. Crawford was turned off by that, supposing the songwriter had chosen to do a "rock opera"-inspired spectacle in lieu of a more traditional operatic musical. During the Los Angeles run, Crawford was asked to sing "
The Music of the Night" at the Inaugural Gala for President
George H. W. Bush in
Washington, D.C., on 19 January 1989. At the gala, Crawford was presented with a cake in celebration of his 47th birthday. On 29 April 1990, Crawford left the show. He admits to having been saddened at his departure, and, during the final Lair scene, altered the Phantom's line to "Christine... I
loved you", acknowledging that this was his final performance. However, on 31 December 1990, he returned to the role in Los Angeles, replacing
Robert Guillaume. Crawford's final performance as the Phantom was on 28 April 1991.
1990s At the request of Liz Kirschner, wife of film producer
David Kirschner, he obtained the role of Cornelius in
20th Century Fox's animated film
Once Upon a Forest, which was produced by her husband. In 1995, Crawford created the high-profile starring role in
EFX, the US$70 million production which officially opened the 1,700-seat
MGM Grand Theatre in
Las Vegas. The Atlantic Theater label released the companion album to EFX. Early into the run, Crawford suffered an accident during a performance (which involved him sliding from a wire hanger from the back of the theatre all the way to the stage and then jumping down to the stage itself) and left the show to recover from his injury, which resulted in a hip replacement operation.
2000s to present In 2001, Crawford sang
Baby Mine from Disney's
Dumbo on its 60th anniversary
VHS and DVD. Crawford had a short comeback to Broadway as the Count von Krolock in the short-lived musical
Dance of the Vampires (2002–03). He originated the role of Count Fosco in Lloyd Webber's
The Woman in White, which opened at the
Palace Theatre, London in September 2004. However, he was forced to leave the show three months later because of ill health caused by dehydration resulting from the enormous fat-suit he wore during the performance. He spent months recuperating and was thus unable to reprise the role on Broadway. He learned he was suffering from the post-viral condition
myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), from which he did not fully recover for six years. In 2007, Crawford briefly relocated to New Zealand to be closer to one of his daughters who had settled in Australia, and to convalesce from ME. On 23 October 2010, Crawford attended the celebratory 10,000th performance of
The Phantom of the Opera in London alongside composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Crawford spoke of his own memories of the first performance 24 years earlier, and was then presented, along with Lloyd Webber, with a special cake to commemorate the landmark achievement. Beginning with previews in February 2011, Crawford originated the part of the Wizard in the new
Andrew Lloyd Webber/
Tim Rice musical version of
The Wizard of Oz at the
London Palladium, which had its official opening on 1 March 2011. He stated on
This Morning: Sunday, on 14 August 2011, that he had signed on for a further six months in the show. He left the production on 5 February 2012; the same day as co-star
Danielle Hope played her final performance as Dorothy. From 14 February,
Russell Grant took over the role. On 2 October 2011 Crawford made a special appearance during the finale of
The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall — a fully staged production of the musical at the famous London venue – marking 25 years since the show received its world premiere. Although reunited with Sarah Brightman, he did no real singing as he had just finished performing in a matinee of
The Wizard of Oz at the
London Palladium. On 18 March 2016 Crawford and Dotrice reprised their roles in a one-off special of ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', broadcast as part of the
Sport Relief charity fundraiser event. Crawford starred in the new West End musical
The Go-Between which premiered on 27 May 2016 at
Apollo Theatre. He appeared in the 60th anniversary performance of Britten's ''Noye's Fludde'' in London in 2018, performing the Voice of God, and recalled in a BBC Radio 3 interview
Benjamin Britten's valuable support in his early career. To date,
The Go-Between is Crawford's last stage performance. He reportedly has not retired, however. He had been attached to play
Clarence Odbody for at least two years in
Paul McCartney's planned musical adaptation of
Frank Capra's
It's a Wonderful Life, which was scheduled to premiere in "late 2020," but the production fell through. In 2025, it was reported that Crawford plans to make a documentary about his career. ==Recording career and chart success==