0:00:02 > 0:00:06He's a legend of British television comedy.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10What's extraordinary about Michael Crawford
0:00:10 > 0:00:15is people pigeonhole him into the Phantom or Frank Spencer
0:00:15 > 0:00:20and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, but it's a career that goes back eons.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22A star of Hollywood musicals.
0:00:22 > 0:00:23You stamped, Mr Vandergelder.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27I think the sign "danger" draws Michael right to it
0:00:27 > 0:00:31with such enthusiasm when most people would turn and run.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34An icon of West End and Broadway stages.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39He is probably the biggest musical theatre star in the world.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44He's just got something - there's just that pinch of magic
0:00:44 > 0:00:49that just comes in with Michael and I love it.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Betty, I can see my slippers!
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Michael has been responsible for giving me a very weak bladder.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Who will take on the most extreme stunts.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02He's barking to have done that on the bus off the bus on the roller skates.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Hello, Frank. What are you going to do with that?
0:01:04 > 0:01:08- But it's him!- May I rub your ball, sir! It gives me great pleasure.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10"You sure you're all right doing this, Michael?"
0:01:10 > 0:01:13And you're going, "Yep, fine. Thank you." Whoo hoo!
0:01:13 > 0:01:17These are the many faces of Michael Crawford.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37Ooh!
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Michael Crawford started life as Michael Patrick Dumbell-Smith.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45At age nine, this hyperactively busy and creative young man
0:01:45 > 0:01:47was involved in the London Choir School -
0:01:47 > 0:01:52a school that provided choirs for some of the city's grandest churches and oratories.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55I didn't have as good a voice as the other choristers.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57But I looked quite good.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02And so you had this little, round, blond-haired face
0:02:02 > 0:02:08and I was always given a cross to hold, which was staggeringly heavy
0:02:08 > 0:02:13but I would not be able to sing the passion,
0:02:13 > 0:02:14I would have to...
0:02:14 > 0:02:19I would mime to it. And I thought, no-one's going to know.
0:02:19 > 0:02:26So, I was one of the earliest mimers, especially in St Paul's Cathedral.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28He hated it and left after a year
0:02:28 > 0:02:31but his talent for entertaining was noted at his new school
0:02:31 > 0:02:34and the sound of applause became an addiction.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37I got reaction from people. People were laughing at me
0:02:37 > 0:02:39and I was supposed to have them laughing at me.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41It wasn't like making them laugh in a classroom
0:02:41 > 0:02:44and suddenly authority walks in
0:02:44 > 0:02:46and you haven't got a friend in the place.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49But you were actually being applauded for doing certain things
0:02:49 > 0:02:52so that really appealed to me.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Benjamin Britten spotted his talent and adapted part
0:02:56 > 0:03:00of his amateur opera, Noye's Fludde, to suit young Michael.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02My voice was beginning to slide.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06It didn't break, it was beginning to slide.
0:03:06 > 0:03:12So, he said, "Well, I'm sure we can adapt, I'm sure we can adapt this."
0:03:12 > 0:03:16And he changed the notes. He started to change the part of Jaffett,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19so that it would accommodate me
0:03:19 > 0:03:21as I couldn't get the higher notes any more.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26# Mother, we pray you altogether
0:03:26 > 0:03:29# We are here, your own children
0:03:29 > 0:03:34# Come into the ship for fear of the weather
0:03:34 > 0:03:37# For his not that you bought... #
0:03:37 > 0:03:40It was the beginning of... I really wanted was, the next step.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43I wanted to be on stage.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48If you are a choirboy, you go to a choir school, then that sets you up,
0:03:48 > 0:03:52doesn't it, for some kind of a career of musical activity?
0:03:52 > 0:03:55I wonder whether it didn't have some other sort of influence on him too.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58I think throughout his career,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01he's maintained a kind of awkward boyishness
0:04:01 > 0:04:05that I think somehow must have been formed in those years.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Michael's career was off. He was able to leave school at age 14
0:04:09 > 0:04:12with some radio acting credits and an agent.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14A biscuit van gave Michael Dumbell-Smith
0:04:14 > 0:04:16the inspiration for a name change.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20And Michael Crawford - the multi-talented child actor -
0:04:20 > 0:04:22rolled from one part to another.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26I mean, it's a child's dream to do this sort of stuff.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28They're saying, "Are you sure you're all right doing this, Michael?"
0:04:28 > 0:04:32And you're going, "Yep, fine, thank you."
0:04:32 > 0:04:38And you were just like a pig in a farm yard. It was brilliant fun.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42Aged just 14, Michael Crawford had parts in two movies
0:04:42 > 0:04:44for the Children's Film Foundation.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Soap Box Derby and Blow Your Own Trumpet.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49He could sing, he could act
0:04:49 > 0:04:52and now, for the first time, we saw what would be a trademark.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54Michael loved to do stunts.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59One of the things was you had to dive into the Thames
0:04:59 > 0:05:01at Battersea Power Station.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04They said, "Well, you can't do this bit." I'd love to.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07"I can do it because I'm a really good swimmer."
0:05:07 > 0:05:09So, they let me do it and I dived in.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Everybody's going, "Oh, that was amazing!"
0:05:12 > 0:05:17So, again, it's getting... It's having acceptance, I think.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22As a youngster. Suddenly in the world, and I loved adventure.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Most boys do.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Michael Crawford enjoyed a perfect start to his career.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31He had a proven singing voice, he had a knack for comedy
0:05:31 > 0:05:33and he enjoyed physical action.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36From thereon, I loved the physical side.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41I hadn't used it comedically yet but, for dramatic effect,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45I felt sort of early Steve McQueen.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50As the 1950s came to a close, he made his first appearances
0:05:50 > 0:05:54on television in the long-running series Billy Bunter.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58- You stole that tin from Coker. - Just going to scoff it!
0:05:58 > 0:06:01No, I didn't. I got this in a pub yesterday.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05- Oh, you fat chump. We saw you pick it up and make off with it. - Oh, did you?
0:06:05 > 0:06:10He was in every single British soap around,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13from Emergency Ward 10 to Dixon Of Dock Green.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18So, he was a real working lad in his teens.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21In 1962, he met his idol
0:06:21 > 0:06:25and featured alongside Steve McQueen in the film, The War Lover.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30Often these days, you get actors who come from nowhere.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35Who leave drama school, who find, wow, bang, the movie, the play
0:06:35 > 0:06:39that puts them right in the forefront.
0:06:39 > 0:06:44But you don't often find actors who've been around from a kid -
0:06:44 > 0:06:47almost a child actor.
0:06:47 > 0:06:5020-year-old Michael timed his entrance to the '60s perfectly.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54He was an opinionated Mod for a David Frost TV show.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57The reason I'm here is, I wouldn't be here at all if someone had a spanner.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00I'd be off like a spit from a bugler if I had a spanner
0:07:00 > 0:07:02only nobody round here knows how to fasten a fly button
0:07:02 > 0:07:04let alone do up a nut.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08So, I'm waiting for my brother to give me a lift home.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Michael had grown up. The singing voice was sidelined.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14He was a face of a new generation with a boy next door charm.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20When the Beatles made their first film, Hard Day's Night,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24they chose the radical American director, Richard Lester,
0:07:24 > 0:07:26the father of the music video.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30He next turned his zany talents to a highly-stylised story of boys,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34girls and coming of age - The Knack And How To Get It.
0:07:34 > 0:07:40It was black and white. I think Lester was a zany director.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43It was kind of bizarre in a way - very bizarre.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47White rooms and girls everywhere outside the Albert Hall.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Thousands of girls, you know.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53It was a strange film. It only took four weeks to shoot -
0:07:53 > 0:07:56mostly in Shepherd's Bush.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00It was that world of pure, cool Kings Road, Biba,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03all this stuff, you know?
0:08:03 > 0:08:05And Jean Shrimpton, and all this Twiggy.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07All the world of...
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Everything was beautiful people.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Michael plays a shy, young schoolteacher
0:08:13 > 0:08:15obsessed with getting a girl.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17But, first, he needs a bigger bed.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27The three boys in it were, you know,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Mr Cool, Mr Grey, um...
0:08:31 > 0:08:36And me in the middle - this innocent - which was me really.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39As an actor, you have to recognise what are those things.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44You don't act it, you have to be it.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47So, now I'm playing the role, so the frustration
0:08:47 > 0:08:50was sort of coming through the eyes.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52But I was looking at all these models.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55I mean, there was Charlotte Rampling and Jane Birken.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57They were all parading up the stairs -
0:08:57 > 0:09:02these very well known young actresses and models then were in this film.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04How can I get a woman?
0:09:04 > 0:09:07- You want advice?- How?
0:09:07 > 0:09:10- Oh, the right food is important... - It's not that. Listen.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14If I should see this girl, listen. Should I come across...?
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Would you show me?
0:09:19 > 0:09:22You mean how I get women, hm?
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Yes. Working with Richard Lester
0:09:25 > 0:09:32was so golden. It was so special.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36The Knack was the best. You learn.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41To do that as sort of really my first major film
0:09:41 > 0:09:43was priceless.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47When it was shown, everyone stood up and applauded. It was extraordinary.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50Suddenly, we found that this tiny little film -
0:09:50 > 0:09:55that was shot for £125,000 - in Shepherd's Bush,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58was suddenly a bonanza.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01The success of The Knack projected Michael Crawford
0:10:01 > 0:10:03into one of London's coolest film circles.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06One of the things that I think he was quite fortunate about
0:10:06 > 0:10:08was coming along at the right time.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12He would never have been a film star in the early-1950s,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15he just wasn't physically right for it.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19But, at the beginning of the '60s, the studio system is collapsing.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22All of those film stars are being pensioned off really.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Audiences are looking for a new kind of actor.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31Actually, his awkwardness and his gangliness suited that moment.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33HE CHANTS
0:10:37 > 0:10:41- Sir, you're in need of a soothsayer.- How do you know?
0:10:41 > 0:10:44I'd be a fine soothsayer if I didn't.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Richard Lester's next project was a more mainstream movie
0:10:47 > 0:10:50and he cast Michael Crawford as a lead
0:10:50 > 0:10:52alongside legends of film comedy
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Zero Mostel, Buster Keaton and Phil Silvers.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00It's the musical farce A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To The Forum.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04- To the garden and break the news. - What news?
0:11:04 > 0:11:08- That you're going to run away to marry her.- Won't I catch the plague?
0:11:08 > 0:11:10There is no plague. We made it up so as to get her out of there.
0:11:10 > 0:11:11Ah, that was clever.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Wasn't it? I'll high myself to the harbour to hire a boat. Hoe you to the garden.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19You high...and I'll hoe.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Good luck!
0:11:23 > 0:11:28When we weren't shooting, we'd all gravitate towards Zero's caravan
0:11:28 > 0:11:34and the three of... I mean Phil Silvers and he,
0:11:34 > 0:11:40it was a battle of these comics, and stories from the old days.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Again, you just eat them up.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46You don't interrupt. You don't...
0:11:46 > 0:11:49You just listen.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52And you learn. And their timing...
0:11:52 > 0:11:54The timing was superb.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Heargh!
0:11:56 > 0:12:00We did a big stunt sequence in Forum,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02which Dick Lester let me go out
0:12:02 > 0:12:07with the Second Unit and that was it.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10He just gave me a camera and we went out and did stunts
0:12:10 > 0:12:13on the back of this horseless chariot.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16And they were really quite dangerous.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21But, you just wanted to be more daring every single day.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24It was the best.
0:12:26 > 0:12:33It's 1965 and Michael's daredevil stunts are getting more extreme.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38Michael gallops off with the girl but his next film
0:12:38 > 0:12:41with Richard Lester, has an altogether darker tone.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Well done!
0:12:54 > 0:12:56It's How I Won The War with Beatle
0:12:56 > 0:13:00and iconic anti-war campaigner John Lennon.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02Er, Musketeer Gripweed, without whose help
0:13:02 > 0:13:04these memoirs would never have been written.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07My faithful batman.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10May I rub your ball, sir? It gives me great pleasure.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Very black anti-war comedy,
0:13:13 > 0:13:15as much as one can find humour in war.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Rally to me the troop.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21If it is humanly possible,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24I shouldn't be left on my own.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28I can't win a war on my own.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30I'm rather too young.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Aged just 25, Michael Crawford could hardly have had
0:13:34 > 0:13:36a better start to a career in film.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38He had ten years as a child actor,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41with numerous appearances on television.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43He'd starred in an award-winning cult hit.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46He'd shared screens with big time Hollywood talent
0:13:46 > 0:13:48and one of the world's biggest recording artists.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51But Michael had kept working in theatre
0:13:51 > 0:13:55and his next massive move was away from cinema altogether.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Broadway's neon lights drew young Michael to America
0:14:04 > 0:14:09in a very unusual and physically demanding show - Black Comedy.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11It was a very, very physical role.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15I most probably hurt my neck a bit
0:14:15 > 0:14:19and used to spend days in a neck brace
0:14:19 > 0:14:24and then go in to the theatre and do these stunts - live stunts -
0:14:24 > 0:14:29but I mean the reaction from the audience was just amazing.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31It's a brilliant play.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Broadway was a shop window of new talent
0:14:34 > 0:14:37and Michael's performances were attracting good reviews.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40That brought a knock on the door from a surprising fan,
0:14:40 > 0:14:45a Hollywood song and dance legend - now turned director - Gene Kelly.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50I opened the door. He said, "Hi! I'm Gene Kelly."
0:14:50 > 0:14:55I said, "I know!" And he walked down the corridor into the main room
0:14:55 > 0:14:58and he walked just like he does on film.
0:14:58 > 0:14:59I mean, the shoulders were going
0:14:59 > 0:15:04and it's like he turned round and said, "Now!"
0:15:04 > 0:15:07And all I could do was giggle about it.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11And he said... He asked me a few questions.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15"Do you sing?" I said, "Well, I do a little.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17"I've been to choir schools and I sing in the bath.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21"I sing in the bath." And he didn't laugh.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23And then he said, "Can you dance?"
0:15:23 > 0:15:26I said, "I've got a bit of jet lag at the moment.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29"I wouldn't be at my best right now
0:15:29 > 0:15:31"but I CAN dance."
0:15:31 > 0:15:34So, he said... He kept looking at me,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38and then he said, "Listen, what we're looking for
0:15:38 > 0:15:41"is an attractive idiot."
0:15:41 > 0:15:45My wife thinks you're attractive and I think you're an idiot.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53# Yes, New York, it's really us
0:15:53 > 0:15:56# Barnaby and Cornelius... #
0:15:56 > 0:15:59# Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down... #
0:15:59 > 0:16:03In Hello, Dolly, Michael Crawford is a Hollywood movie star
0:16:03 > 0:16:06with a superstar lead actress.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09# Before the parade
0:16:09 > 0:16:11# Passes by... #
0:16:16 > 0:16:19It's a full-on musical spectacular.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22A love story in which Gene Kelly fought for Michael
0:16:22 > 0:16:24to sing an emotional solo.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28It Only Takes A Moment is his perfect confession of love.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33I'm talking about none other than love.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35- Love?!- Love!
0:16:35 > 0:16:40It makes me tear to think of that.
0:16:40 > 0:16:41Because it's beautiful.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44# It only
0:16:44 > 0:16:48# Takes a moment
0:16:48 > 0:16:53# For your eyes to meet
0:16:53 > 0:16:56# And then
0:16:56 > 0:17:00# Your heart knows... #
0:17:00 > 0:17:04So, at the end, I was indeed crying slightly.
0:17:04 > 0:17:10And he came over, and he just says, "You little mother."
0:17:10 > 0:17:14And he hugged me so tightly.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16The truth pays off so much.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Some people won't like that.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22They want to say, # It only
0:17:22 > 0:17:27# Takes a moment
0:17:28 > 0:17:32# To be loved... #
0:17:34 > 0:17:38I didn't sing it really well - I know that.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41I sang it sincerely.
0:17:41 > 0:17:46There was a thing I didn't know until about three months ago.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51But the producers didn't actually want to use my voice.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54And I only found this out three months ago in my life.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56Thank God I didn't find out earlier.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58I'd have had depression for years.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02But they didn't want to use my voice for singing, It Only Takes A Moment.
0:18:02 > 0:18:07And, um, Gene insisted -
0:18:07 > 0:18:10absolutely insisted - that they did.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13Hello, Dolly was a critical success.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15But Hollywood was in decline.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Hello, Dolly cost 25 million to make
0:18:18 > 0:18:21but took just 9 million at American box offices.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27Michael finished a three-film deal with two minor films - The Games
0:18:27 > 0:18:29and Hello Goodbye.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32And with that, cheerio to Hollywood.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35Michael was back in Britain in the doldrums.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41Hello Goodbye, which really summed up my contract there
0:18:41 > 0:18:46because it's the least favourite thing I've ever done in my career.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51And, when I'd finished that, I was embarrassed about what I'd done.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53I didn't work for...
0:18:56 > 0:19:00..a year and a half, two years. I just couldn't.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03I was completely demoralised by it.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08Within my own life, someone had gone off with the money I'd earned -
0:19:08 > 0:19:12a business adviser had gone off with everything I'd earned
0:19:12 > 0:19:14from the films that I'd done.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19And, from driving rather a snazzy car, the next day I was in a van.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24My wife and I, we started a business, selling floor cushions.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27And so I used to go and stuff cushions every day
0:19:27 > 0:19:31in this factory at the back of Chelsea football ground.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34He'd tumbled from Hollywood to stuffing cushions
0:19:34 > 0:19:38and eventually found a part in a West End farce.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41No Sex, Please We're British gathered great reviews
0:19:41 > 0:19:43and cash-strapped Michael was even able
0:19:43 > 0:19:46to do a spot of moonlighting in disguise.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48# I'll zoom like a rocket as fast as I can
0:19:48 > 0:19:51# Now that I have my gloves and my fan... #
0:19:51 > 0:19:54- If you please, sir.- What?
0:19:59 > 0:20:02I think we'd been going for quite some time shooting the movie
0:20:02 > 0:20:06before Michael actually arrived on the set.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Um, and he was my white rabbit.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12I'll have to wear these in case I'm recognised.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16He had the white face, the white hair, facial hair,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19and the teeth and everything. So, apart from his eyes,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22it was difficult to get to know him.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31- Rather a nice day, isn't it? - Yes, very.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33The whole thing takes about an hour and a quarter.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37The eyes again taking the longest, I would say.
0:20:37 > 0:20:43The only thing left for the actor to work with when you're finished,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47are your eyes, which is what one uses mostly anyway.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50We would finish filming at Shepperton Studios
0:20:50 > 0:20:53at about, I don't know, 5:30pm,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56which meant that, for him, to get to the West End, it was quite tight.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00So he would actually get into the car, minus his costume,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03but with all his facial prosthetics on.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06And would have to remove that makeup in the car.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09He had a driver who would take him back, straight into the West End,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11where he could get ready for the show every night.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16Every night, I used to say, "Bye!" And he'd be peeling off all these layers of latex.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Well, it has no business in there! Go and take it away.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Sure, I don't like it, your honour, at all, at all!
0:21:23 > 0:21:28Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was hardly a star vehicle for Michael.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32But No Sex Please, We're British was a different matter.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35A BBC producer saw something in Michael's character
0:21:35 > 0:21:37that would become a television legend.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41I wonder what they'll do next.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Norman Wisdom had already turned it down.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Er, Ronnie Barker had already turned it down.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49So, I was third in line for this.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53That's happened to me a great deal.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56I've not often been first choice.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59And then, I started to read it,
0:21:59 > 0:22:03and saw the possibilities of the humour
0:22:03 > 0:22:06and bringing stunts in -
0:22:06 > 0:22:08marrying in -
0:22:08 > 0:22:12and they said,
0:22:12 > 0:22:13"Yeah, we could do that."
0:22:13 > 0:22:17And Raymond Allen adapted his thoughts as the writer.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20And we started to get that.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24And I used the characterisation vaguely
0:22:24 > 0:22:26from what I'd done in No Sex Please, We're British
0:22:26 > 0:22:29to use it in Some Mothers...
0:22:33 > 0:22:36The sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
0:22:36 > 0:22:39was a perfect vehicle for Michael -
0:22:39 > 0:22:42comic innocence combined with his love of physical comedy.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49Frank, I keep telling you.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52You don't have to keep jumping through the doors like that.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54They're perfectly safe.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58From the moment I walked in the door, we didn't stop laughing.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03And, in fact, if I recall, I don't think we even read the script.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06We just laughed a lot
0:23:06 > 0:23:10and that continued throughout the whole series as well.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Well, this is ridiculous.
0:23:38 > 0:23:44I want... I'll jam it.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48TOILET FLUSHES
0:23:48 > 0:23:52It's... But I haven't even...
0:23:56 > 0:23:57I'll leave it.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Some Mothers showed off Michael's exceptional comic timing.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04- It was jammed when you put your foot on the pedal.- Yes.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Just needs a few final adjustments.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Well, I'm glad you're making a few improvements about the house.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Well, it all adds to the value, doesn't it?
0:24:24 > 0:24:26I just wish it was a bit bigger, that's all.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Oh, it's quite big enough, Frank.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31There's plenty of room for the two of us.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Plenty of room for three really.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40- Three?- Could you come and sit down a minute, Frank?
0:24:47 > 0:24:53There's going to be a little addition to our family.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59We played it for real and, in the absurdity of course -
0:24:59 > 0:25:04the nonsense that went on. But we played it for real.
0:25:04 > 0:25:10And, I think, most of all, the key was that she loved him -
0:25:10 > 0:25:12she really loved him -
0:25:12 > 0:25:17and so, consequently, er, put up with the nightmare that he was,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20um, because of that.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23We're going to hear the patter of tiny little feet.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27No, no, no... Don't be silly.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30I'm not having another cat in this house.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37I've had enough trouble with Cleopatra.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39Last week I caught her scratching the wallpaper over there,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42and when I told her to stop, she did a whoopsie in my beret.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46He was truly an innocent abroad
0:25:46 > 0:25:49who would annoy the heck out of you.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53But he was honest to himself.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57He was honest, and she adored him.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02And without having married, which he wasn't in the first place,
0:26:02 > 0:26:06we had him married and he found Michelle,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09who was such a gift to the show.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15Because we got on so well and there was such a rapport.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19And she loved Frank, just loved him.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21You're going to be a father.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24Ohh...
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Ohhh...
0:26:29 > 0:26:32One of the keys to the success of that programme
0:26:32 > 0:26:36is how impersonatable Frank Spencer was.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Frank Spencer was in the repertoire of every impressionist
0:26:40 > 0:26:43in the country, from New Faces down to my school playground.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46There was nobody in the country in the '70s,
0:26:46 > 0:26:48who couldn't be persuaded to at least attempt
0:26:48 > 0:26:50a Frank Spencer impersonation.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Oh, nice.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55If you have a character who is really impersonatable,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58then you're inside the head of the nation.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01And that's the brilliance of that performance.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Some Mothers was also popular for its stunts.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Stunts that Michael had the experience to design and perform.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11I'll get it back for you.
0:27:11 > 0:27:12CAR HONKS
0:27:12 > 0:27:14I'm sorry!
0:27:26 > 0:27:27There's a lorry!
0:27:29 > 0:27:31When you come to a point,
0:27:31 > 0:27:33where somebody has in the script
0:27:33 > 0:27:37that this car goes over the edge of a cliff
0:27:37 > 0:27:42and is teetering with your leading man on the bonnet to hold up there,
0:27:42 > 0:27:43and a dog in the back seat
0:27:43 > 0:27:48and your wife on the roof, that's about as dangerous as you can get.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Just hold on to my legs!
0:27:52 > 0:27:54Hold my feet!
0:27:54 > 0:27:58And then I talked Michelle into... She was very eager to do it,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02I might say, cos she's a real good sport.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07And she was on the roof of the car, and she wouldn't have a double.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12There was this guy dressed up in the skirt and hat ready to do it
0:28:12 > 0:28:16and she said, "No, I'm going to do it!" So, she did it.
0:28:16 > 0:28:21The Morris Minor, where I was involved, was terrifying!
0:28:21 > 0:28:25We actually were up on top of that Morris Minor,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27which was doing all of that,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31and I said to somebody, "Do I have a harness?"
0:28:31 > 0:28:37And I'm wearing quite a strappy summer dress and a hat -
0:28:37 > 0:28:40why am I wearing a hat? I don't know.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Anyway, I'm up on there and I said to somebody,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45"Should I have some sort of safety equipment?"
0:28:45 > 0:28:50And they said, "Oh, yes, we've got this cotton thread
0:28:50 > 0:28:55"which goes round your ankle and somebody will be holding onto it."
0:28:55 > 0:28:59"Oh, good, that's very encouraging. Thank you."
0:28:59 > 0:29:01And that was it, literally -
0:29:01 > 0:29:05tiny, thread thing between me and death, 200 feet below!
0:29:09 > 0:29:10Frank?
0:29:12 > 0:29:14Frank!
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Oh, no!
0:29:17 > 0:29:18What shall I do?
0:29:18 > 0:29:21- Betty!- Yes!
0:29:22 > 0:29:24I can't...
0:29:24 > 0:29:27I can't...
0:29:29 > 0:29:31Oh, where are you?
0:29:31 > 0:29:33It's all right, Betty!
0:29:33 > 0:29:34Frank!
0:29:34 > 0:29:37I might need a bit of help, though!
0:29:37 > 0:29:39When it was shown, I was sitting in the sitting room
0:29:39 > 0:29:42with my mum and my dad and my two sisters,
0:29:42 > 0:29:46and when it finished, my mother came over to me and slapped me.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49I was aged 24 or something, and she slapped me.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53She said, "What the hell do you think you were doing?"
0:29:53 > 0:29:56But, of course, you couldn't do any of that stuff now.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59I want to make this a night to remember.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02Oh, I will remember it, Frank.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04I'll never forget it.
0:30:04 > 0:30:05You're not sorry we came?
0:30:05 > 0:30:08Of course not.
0:30:08 > 0:30:09Oh, Frank.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Betty... Oh...
0:30:13 > 0:30:17As a sitcom star, Michael Crawford reached a huge television audience
0:30:17 > 0:30:22but over a five-year period, only 22 episodes were made.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24This place should be condemned!
0:30:26 > 0:30:29We'll be condemned if they catch us!
0:30:29 > 0:30:31The last series, it wasn't the same.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36It just wasn't the same, and I don't think I played him as well.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39I think I played him more...
0:30:39 > 0:30:41obviously...
0:30:41 > 0:30:43thinking he was funny sometimes,
0:30:43 > 0:30:47instead of him just being natural,
0:30:47 > 0:30:52which is what I'd been talking about before.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54I think he needed simplicity.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56And I think I lost that simplicity.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13That's the best I can do for now.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16It was time for a move.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20When the original producer went to ITV, Michael was drawn away
0:31:20 > 0:31:22to play a very different character.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27- I can't see him.- No?
0:31:27 > 0:31:30He must have gone in. Thank God for that!
0:31:30 > 0:31:31Who would that be then?
0:31:31 > 0:31:32Um...
0:31:34 > 0:31:36- You.- Settling in, then. Settling in.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39In Chalk And Cheese, Michael Crawford plays a slovenly layabout -
0:31:39 > 0:31:42the awkward Cockney neighbour in a posh suburb.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46'It was completely the opposite to Frank.'
0:31:47 > 0:31:50He was a great sort of down-to-earth guy,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52and I grew a beard and had curly hair.
0:31:52 > 0:31:58It was a street, lazy person, but very intelligent.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01He had a very quick mind.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05And we got, I think, 13 million viewers,
0:32:05 > 0:32:09but they didn't want to see me playing that character.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19What's up, then? Having a break, are you?
0:32:19 > 0:32:21I did six or seven, and we didn't do any more.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24But I did enjoy doing that. It was a good exercise.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26I just shows you the power of the public
0:32:26 > 0:32:29as to what they really want to see you do.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32So, you can deny them that,
0:32:32 > 0:32:36and go and be very independent and do what you want to do,
0:32:36 > 0:32:43but, I... I tend to take notice of that.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47It's no good saying, "I want to act, and I want to do this."
0:32:47 > 0:32:49It doesn't always work that way.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54It was May 1979 and his last starring role on television.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58All right, love, don't worry, won't be long. Keep pushing.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04I have to do something different if I'm going to do anything.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08Because, it won't appeal to me, it won't intrigue me.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10It won't challenge me.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13So rather than do the ordinary,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16I'd rather not do anything.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19He'd been a boy actor, a trendsetter in '60s film,
0:33:19 > 0:33:21had starred in a Hollywood musical,
0:33:21 > 0:33:25was a master of physical comedy and had even played a white rabbit.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28As a giant of television sitcom he had reached a peak audience
0:33:28 > 0:33:32of 25 million viewers.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36He loved the West End stage, but his time on screen wasn't over yet.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42Does the name "Condorman" mean anything to you?
0:33:42 > 0:33:46The name Condorman meant a starring role in a Disney film.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49Coming quite out of the blue, it gave Michael a new line on his CV -
0:33:49 > 0:33:51Action hero.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03- Condorman, eh?- Yes, Condorman.
0:34:05 > 0:34:06Vulture of the Western world.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20This is a job for Condorman!
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Cheap effects got the movie panned by critics.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27Once again Michael's film career failed to fly
0:34:27 > 0:34:30and Condorman was his last major film or television role.
0:34:30 > 0:34:36I jumped off the Eiffel Tower and flew and that was done by stuntman.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38But I did the landing in the Seine,
0:34:38 > 0:34:42with these wings on, and they pulled me on the boat,
0:34:42 > 0:34:46and that's the nearest I've ever come to drowning.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50So I started to slow up on the stunts at this point!
0:34:50 > 0:34:52Aghh!
0:34:52 > 0:34:56From now on, Michael's career would have a different focus.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00In fact, he had already spent most of the '70s in the West End,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03quietly perfecting his musical theatre skills.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07When you really love acting...
0:35:09 > 0:35:16..and you can play a character from beginning to end in one take,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20the adrenaline rush of that,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23and then take it into musicals,
0:35:23 > 0:35:27and you're doing so many different skills.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31Every night, you go out and do a musical, say like Billy,
0:35:31 > 0:35:34for two years, eight shows a week.
0:35:34 > 0:35:36# Some of us belong to the stars... #
0:35:36 > 0:35:40'I'm a hard taskmaster when I'm working.
0:35:40 > 0:35:45'I learned that discipline from people like Gene Kelly.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48'Because I saw what the result'
0:35:48 > 0:35:52of hard work could bring and the pleasure it can bring.
0:35:52 > 0:35:59And the more exciting you can make a person's night at the theatre,
0:35:59 > 0:36:03the more...unforgettable it is to you as well.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07Despite Gene Kelly's coaxing, he wasn't a natural dancer.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11He did dance in Hello, Dolly and he danced very well.
0:36:11 > 0:36:17I cannot imagine how many hours of rehearsal he must have had.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21And knowing Michael, not just the hours of rehearsal
0:36:21 > 0:36:23that have been given, but up at 4am
0:36:23 > 0:36:26to practise and practise and practise.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28And then again, at the end of the day, to practise
0:36:28 > 0:36:34and practise and practise. No detail is ever left unturned with Michael.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37# ..In every part of the atlas... #
0:36:37 > 0:36:41He doesn't let one move go by without knowing how to do it
0:36:41 > 0:36:44in every sense of the word.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46So, all I would say was,
0:36:46 > 0:36:50"step right" and he'd have to know how do you step right? On the heel?
0:36:50 > 0:36:52On the ball? Where are your shoulders placed?
0:36:52 > 0:36:57What do I have to do to step right? And it was as detailed as that.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00Away from the big and small screen,
0:37:00 > 0:37:04he was a showman who loved to hear an audience applaud.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08In 1981, Michael heard a new show was heading for London
0:37:08 > 0:37:11that could take his physical skills to a new level.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14In preparation, he spent three months in New York
0:37:14 > 0:37:16at the Big Apple Circus School.
0:37:16 > 0:37:21I had this Hungarian teacher who taught me how to walk the high wire.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24And I thought, "Ah, this is a piece of cake!"
0:37:24 > 0:37:28And after about four or five days, I thought, "This is ridiculous!
0:37:28 > 0:37:32"This thing is two feet off the ground, and I cannot master it.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35"I cannot do it." And he's saying, "Yes, you can!"
0:37:37 > 0:37:39All right, argghh!
0:37:42 > 0:37:43The show was Barnum.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47Barnum's the name, PT Barnum. Here they are!
0:37:50 > 0:37:53Charity Barnum, I'll have a kiss before you leave.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55A pleasure, Mr Barnum.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58APPLAUSE
0:37:59 > 0:38:03You may not make much sense, but you're beautiful.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06It was joyous to do every night.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08Every show, you were exhausted.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10I mean, you were absolutely exhausted.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Hey!
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Because there was circus tricks involved,
0:38:18 > 0:38:23you had to be very secure with your other team members around you.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27# Fires glow, flags streaming
0:38:27 > 0:38:32# Spires grow, towers gleaming
0:38:32 > 0:38:34# In a land where the dawn is clear
0:38:34 > 0:38:36# In a sky where the sun's forever
0:38:36 > 0:38:38# On a plain where it's spring all year
0:38:38 > 0:38:40# And the dark of the night comes never... #
0:38:40 > 0:38:43And the tightrope walk and everything.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46He worked so hard at what he wanted to achieve
0:38:46 > 0:38:51and what he wanted to do that it was a consistently high performance.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55I have to say, I don't want it to sound boring,
0:38:55 > 0:38:58but it was highly professional in that sense.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00You never got the feeling of,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03"I don't know what sort of show we've got today"
0:39:03 > 0:39:05with him or anyone else on stage.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09DRUM ROLL
0:39:19 > 0:39:20HE PANTS
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Yeah!
0:39:24 > 0:39:27APPLAUSE
0:39:33 > 0:39:34It was high-energy throughout,
0:39:34 > 0:39:37just one trick after the other of high energy.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42Just enjoyment and affirmation
0:39:42 > 0:39:45and explosion of circus and music,
0:39:45 > 0:39:49and leaving everybody going out with a most wonderful feeling of high
0:39:49 > 0:39:52which is, of course, what musicals are all about.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56# I like your style
0:39:56 > 0:40:00# Style! #
0:40:00 > 0:40:04It was a high-pressure full-on circus spectacular -
0:40:04 > 0:40:05as well as a musical.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09Despite singing since his childhood, like many West End stars,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12Michael took regular voice coaching.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Many singers and musicians crossed paths
0:40:17 > 0:40:19in Ian Adam's South Kensington studio,
0:40:19 > 0:40:22constantly training and perfecting their technique.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29Andrew Lloyd Webber came with his then wife Sarah Brightman.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31He was on the hunt for a leading man
0:40:31 > 0:40:34to star in a new musical spectacular -
0:40:34 > 0:40:39a dark, gothic love story with a disfigured, tormented anti-hero.
0:40:39 > 0:40:44Michael was a sitcom star with a flair for physical stunts.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46A comedy showman.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49- When you first sang to me Danny Boy, do you remember?- Yes.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52It was an extraordinary experience,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55because you hung your head afterwards and said,
0:40:55 > 0:41:00"I'm terribly sorry, I don't suppose it's a musical."
0:41:00 > 0:41:03And it was a wonderful experience.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07When I was nearing the end of the lesson,
0:41:07 > 0:41:12Sarah Brightman arrived with Andrew, early for her lesson.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15And I was downstairs singing Care Selve,
0:41:15 > 0:41:18and most probably murdering it!
0:41:18 > 0:41:26And I finished, and he said, "Very good, Michael.
0:41:26 > 0:41:32"That was so good. It can be better, but it was good. All right?"
0:41:32 > 0:41:34"I'll see you next week."
0:41:34 > 0:41:39I said, "Thank you, Ian, thank you." And off I went,
0:41:39 > 0:41:41and went out the front door,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44Andrew apparently came down with Sarah...
0:41:44 > 0:41:48Sorry, came UP the stairs with Sarah and said,
0:41:48 > 0:41:52"Who was that that was just singing just now?"
0:41:52 > 0:41:56And he said, "Oh," he said, "I'm sorry, did it disturb you, Andrew?"
0:41:56 > 0:41:59He said, "He's going to get better." He said, "No, no, no!"
0:41:59 > 0:42:02He said, "It was Michael Crawford."
0:42:02 > 0:42:05He said, "I think we may have found our Phantom."
0:42:07 > 0:42:10Michael had the potential to play the Phantom Of The Opera
0:42:10 > 0:42:13but it was a controversial casting.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16'Before we opened in London, everyone was saying,
0:42:16 > 0:42:18'"Michael Crawford as The Phantom?
0:42:18 > 0:42:20'"I'm not quite sure what it's going to be like.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23'"Apparently, he's going to be doing a lot of swinging
0:42:23 > 0:42:26'"and be on the chandeliers and things."'
0:42:26 > 0:42:28You must be brave, go too far...
0:42:28 > 0:42:32'I spent hours and days and weeks in that room.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34'You needed to.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38'I mean, Music Of The Night took months to sing properly.
0:42:38 > 0:42:43'It took months to make the joins seamless between the notes
0:42:43 > 0:42:46'in the way you were going to do it, so that it was a cry of love.'
0:42:46 > 0:42:52MUSIC: "Overture to Phantom Of The Opera" by Andrew Lloyd Webber
0:42:52 > 0:42:55People say it was a big shock
0:42:55 > 0:42:58when he was named as the Phantom, because of Frank Spencer.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02All of those people had forgotten Barnum. They had forgotten Billy.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06The guy was a great, big musical star.
0:43:06 > 0:43:11Maybe the shock was the guy was a great big musical star
0:43:11 > 0:43:16that the world thought depended on physicality.
0:43:16 > 0:43:21And the physicality of the Phantom was totally different.
0:43:22 > 0:43:27Opening in 1986, The Phantom Of The Opera was a huge success,
0:43:27 > 0:43:30with a spin-off hit record, an Olivier Award
0:43:30 > 0:43:33and Tony Award for Crawford as Best Actor.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38# ..And stirs imagination... #
0:43:38 > 0:43:42I thought Phantom was a big surprise and a big leap
0:43:42 > 0:43:46and that was what was so wonderful, to see him do something
0:43:46 > 0:43:51so very different after being very used to him as PT Barnum.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54Phantom was very withdrawn and very inward,
0:43:54 > 0:43:58but that's another one where he didn't....
0:43:58 > 0:44:03Cos he can't! He's incapable of taking on the role and going,
0:44:03 > 0:44:07"OK, I'll do it this way." He delves.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10# Night unfold its splendour
0:44:10 > 0:44:14# Grasp it, sense it
0:44:14 > 0:44:18# Tremulous and tender... #
0:44:18 > 0:44:20He's a storyteller.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23And he's a storyteller with every song he sings.
0:44:23 > 0:44:28But the other thing is that Michael uses his arms
0:44:28 > 0:44:34and his hands to continue the storytelling from his heart.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37And I'm fascinated by his hands,
0:44:37 > 0:44:42absolutely fascinated by the way he uses them.
0:44:42 > 0:44:47# For your eyes will only tell the truth
0:44:47 > 0:44:55# And the truth isn't what you want to see... #
0:44:55 > 0:44:58As the Phantom, watching him, it's all one.
0:44:58 > 0:45:04It seems to come from his heart, and reach out to his fingertips,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07to express what he's saying.
0:45:07 > 0:45:14# That the truth is what it ought to be... #
0:45:14 > 0:45:19It was just a revelation. I thought he was completely wonderful in it.
0:45:19 > 0:45:20My breath was taken away.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24# Music shall caress you
0:45:24 > 0:45:28# Hear it, feel it... #
0:45:28 > 0:45:32I just think it's the most extraordinary gift that he has.
0:45:32 > 0:45:37# Floating, falling
0:45:37 > 0:45:43# Sweet intoxication
0:45:43 > 0:45:49# Touch me, trust me
0:45:49 > 0:45:55# Savour each sensation
0:45:55 > 0:45:57# Let the dream begin... #
0:45:57 > 0:46:02When my daughters came to see it first,
0:46:02 > 0:46:06it was in London at one of the previews.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10And it's a very emotional show.
0:46:10 > 0:46:16But they came round and my youngest daughter was absolutely sobbing.
0:46:17 > 0:46:22And she said, "I didn't know you could do that, Daddy."
0:46:27 > 0:46:31And, um, I just said this,
0:46:31 > 0:46:36"Did you ever believe that we would have this feeling
0:46:36 > 0:46:40"about something that I'd done?"
0:46:40 > 0:46:42And...
0:46:42 > 0:46:47we kind of just hugged and it was...special.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52# You alone can make my song take flight
0:46:52 > 0:47:01# Help me make the music of the
0:47:01 > 0:47:13# Night... #
0:47:13 > 0:47:17And the winner is Michael Crawford for Phantom Of The Opera.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:47:26 > 0:47:29There's been so many wonderful things that have happened to me.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32I know, by the law of averages,
0:47:32 > 0:47:35I must be due to be knocked down by a truck any day now.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39LAUGHTER
0:47:39 > 0:47:41Oh...
0:47:41 > 0:47:45Andrew, once again, I thank you for choosing me.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47After two years in London,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50Michael starred in the Broadway production
0:47:50 > 0:47:52and opened the show in Los Angeles.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55In 25 years of productions all around the world,
0:47:55 > 0:47:58The Phantom Of The Opera has now taken
0:47:58 > 0:48:02more than £3.5 billion of ticket receipts.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04Michael had created the title character
0:48:04 > 0:48:07in one of the greatest theatre productions of all time.
0:48:08 > 0:48:14But in April 1990, after three and a half years in the Phantom role,
0:48:14 > 0:48:15he left.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18It seemed he had reached the pinnacle of his career.
0:48:18 > 0:48:19For the next three years,
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Michael headlined a world tour of Lloyd Webber songs.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25The comic, the action hero
0:48:25 > 0:48:29and stuntman seemed to have settled as a singer.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35In 1994, it had been 16 years
0:48:35 > 0:48:38since Michael starred on television screens.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41He'd wowed live audiences all around the world,
0:48:41 > 0:48:45but was so far off the British radar he might have been in a desert.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48And that's where he headed next. Las Vegas Nevada.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52Home of some of the world's most extravagant entertainment events,
0:48:52 > 0:48:54but culturally, off the beaten track.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05MGM producers planned a spectacular show in Las Vegas
0:49:05 > 0:49:08bigger than anything ever before seen on stage.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12It would test Michael Crawford, now in his fifties, to the limit.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21It was colossal.
0:49:21 > 0:49:27They wanted a show that they could truly say
0:49:27 > 0:49:29is the seventh wonder of the world
0:49:31 > 0:49:34And it was. It was, like, awesome.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39That is, terrifying. The ride across is terrifying.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42Because as you bang into the cables,
0:49:42 > 0:49:44the thing is going from under your feet
0:49:44 > 0:49:46so you've just got this arm loop to hold onto.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48I am the effects master.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51I'm in charge of this unusual world.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54A world governed by...
0:49:54 > 0:49:57I think it had been running for a year
0:49:57 > 0:49:59and he wanted to put changes into the show
0:49:59 > 0:50:03and asked if I would come and look at the show
0:50:03 > 0:50:05and work with him to make some changes.
0:50:05 > 0:50:13Well, I arrived, and Michael was doing the most hair-raising stunt
0:50:13 > 0:50:15you could imagine!
0:50:15 > 0:50:18It was astonishing!
0:50:18 > 0:50:21Talk about torturing the body!
0:50:21 > 0:50:25He wouldn't stop. He wanted more and he wanted more danger.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28He did destroy his body.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31He was doing this slide for life
0:50:31 > 0:50:34where he came from the back of this vast auditorium.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38It was quite a harsh landing and gradually, I was watching,
0:50:38 > 0:50:41and Michael could barely walk and yet,
0:50:41 > 0:50:44he would go through that show night after night.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47I think there was nine shows a week.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50He would not take a show off. He would not rest.
0:50:50 > 0:50:56And I think after the injury became so severe,
0:50:56 > 0:50:59he then had to pull out of the show.
0:51:01 > 0:51:06A hip replacement operation ended Michael's time in Las Vegas.
0:51:06 > 0:51:11He left the show in 1996 and returned to playing concert tours.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14Crawford the stuntman seemed to have retired.
0:51:17 > 0:51:22Five years passed, and then in 2001 came a surprise announcement
0:51:22 > 0:51:25that he was to star in a new Broadway production -
0:51:25 > 0:51:29Dance Of The Vampires.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33Dance Of The Vampires was going to be Crawford's comeback vehicle.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35There he is, back on Broadway,
0:51:35 > 0:51:42in this enormous musical adapted from a '60s film by Roman Polanski.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44Two things go terribly wrong with this.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48First, 9/11 happens, which means that the show doesn't open,
0:51:48 > 0:51:50it gets delayed for ages.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54But then, when it does open, it's just a disaster.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57The critics absolutely hated it.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01It didn't sell and closed after just 56 performances
0:52:01 > 0:52:03and losses of 12 million -
0:52:03 > 0:52:08making it the most expensive flop in the history of Broadway.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11He could've vanished and disappeared, but he didn't.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14And it's interesting that he chose to come back
0:52:14 > 0:52:17with another piece of Gothic horror.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21He comes back as Count Fosco in Andrew Lloyd Webber's version
0:52:21 > 0:52:23of Wilkie Collins's The Woman In White.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest West End show
0:52:27 > 0:52:28needed an obese leading man.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31# I can get away with anything
0:52:31 > 0:52:34# Because I have
0:52:34 > 0:52:39# No-o-o-o-o-o
0:52:39 > 0:52:47# Sha-a-a-a-a-a-ame. #
0:52:47 > 0:52:51Michael was back.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53He won the Variety Club's award
0:52:53 > 0:52:56for Outstanding Stage Performance Of The Year in 2004.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59But inside the fatsuit, he was boiling up.
0:52:59 > 0:53:04After just weeks, Michael had to leave the show.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08Eventually it developed into ME.
0:53:08 > 0:53:14And you have no idea, I was going for every test known to man
0:53:14 > 0:53:17and it left me vulnerable.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19Michael's long recovery
0:53:19 > 0:53:22was on the other side of the world in New Zealand.
0:53:22 > 0:53:27Seven years later, London's musical theatre machine was changing.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29A television talent contest
0:53:29 > 0:53:32found a new young lead for The Wizard Of Oz.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35But once again Andrew Lloyd Webber was on the hunt for a star
0:53:35 > 0:53:38for the sage-like old professor.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40Andrew phoned me up he said,
0:53:40 > 0:53:43"What about Michael Crawford as the wizard?"
0:53:43 > 0:53:46And I promise you, I said, "In your dreams".
0:53:48 > 0:53:52Andrew said, "He's going to come in and meet us."
0:53:52 > 0:53:56# We're off to see the wizard... #
0:53:56 > 0:54:01The whole reason that I did Wizard Of Oz was for my grandchildren.
0:54:01 > 0:54:07They hadn't seen me in anything that they could remember, live.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10They'd seen me do concerts at Royal Festival Hall,
0:54:10 > 0:54:13and they were sitting in the rehearsal,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16but I don't think they were paying much attention.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19And, I didn't hold their attention.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22They were about four, five, six.
0:54:22 > 0:54:28And now they were 13, 14, 15, and I thought this would be fun.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33Michael didn't just play the Wizard in The Wizard Of Oz,
0:54:33 > 0:54:35he had to play the Doorkeeper
0:54:35 > 0:54:38and then we created something new called the Tour Guide,
0:54:38 > 0:54:42so Michael could join in the vast Emerald City number
0:54:42 > 0:54:44and lead the dancers.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47# That's how we laugh the day away
0:54:47 > 0:54:51# With a ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha ha-ha-ha
0:54:51 > 0:54:54# In the merry old land merry old land
0:54:54 > 0:55:01# Merry old, merry old, merry old land of Oz! #
0:55:01 > 0:55:07In some ways, I found a very, very different Michael. A calmer...
0:55:07 > 0:55:14Nevertheless, just as demanding.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16"I am the sponge," says Michael,
0:55:16 > 0:55:20"and I want to soak up everything I can."
0:55:20 > 0:55:26So once again, working really hard at performing in The Wizard Of Oz
0:55:26 > 0:55:29where he played different characters
0:55:29 > 0:55:33was something that Michael wanted to do.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36# Because, because, because
0:55:36 > 0:55:38# Because of the wonderful things he does... #
0:55:38 > 0:55:41When I started, I was a little bit terrified.
0:55:41 > 0:55:46Because, as well as Michael, so many people were coming into this show
0:55:46 > 0:55:51that I admired and had admired from afar for such a long time.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54And I thought, "I'm going to have to stand on the stage
0:55:54 > 0:55:56"and be in a rehearsal room with these people,
0:55:56 > 0:56:00"I hope I'm good enough, I hope I can give what they need."
0:56:00 > 0:56:05But from the second I walked into the rehearsal room on day one,
0:56:05 > 0:56:10I just let out a sigh of complete relief because he was so generous
0:56:10 > 0:56:15with his time and his knowledge and so welcoming.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18I felt like I had a real rock next to me.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24It wasn't the biggest of parts, but Grandpa Michael was back,
0:56:24 > 0:56:27determined to make the most of what he had.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29# Because, because, because... #
0:56:29 > 0:56:32The Wizard goes off in the balloon at the end for Dorothy.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35And he suggested having himself - at 69 -
0:56:35 > 0:56:37falling out of the balloon
0:56:37 > 0:56:42and being attached by his ankle and being taken up.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45Most 69-year-olds would be like, "No way!"
0:56:45 > 0:56:48They'd already built the set, so their excuse was
0:56:48 > 0:56:51there was no room for me to go upside down.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54I have a feeling that the insurance man had said to them,
0:56:54 > 0:56:58"Under no circumstances is this 70-year-old to go
0:56:58 > 0:57:02"upside down hanging by one leg from a balloon!"
0:57:02 > 0:57:07And I suppose I'm grateful to the insurance man,
0:57:07 > 0:57:09because it would have hurt, most probably.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13But it was worth a try.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16# You must come visit one of my Shangri-Las... #
0:57:16 > 0:57:18He's a hero of stage and screen.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22He's pushed himself to the limits for the perfect performance.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24He's in his seventies now,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28but we might not have seen the last of Michael Crawford just yet.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30# I belong to the stars! #
0:57:30 > 0:57:32I would love to do something else,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35but the thing is it would have to be something...
0:57:37 > 0:57:40What do the Americans say? Out of left-field.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42It would have to be something off the wall.
0:57:42 > 0:57:44Number one, get out of bed.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46There's nobody quite like him,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49so he's out there on his own really.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51He doesn't think he's a big star.
0:57:51 > 0:57:56He doesn't wear the coat of a big star.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00He wears the coat of a man who always, always
0:58:00 > 0:58:04wants to please and wants to learn.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07I don't think you get stars like Michael Crawford any more.
0:58:07 > 0:58:08I don't think they exist.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11I don't think someone can do everything that he did in television
0:58:11 > 0:58:14and everything that he's done for theatre.
0:58:14 > 0:58:18To me, he's a megastar and he always will be.
0:58:21 > 0:58:22Ooh...
0:58:28 > 0:58:31Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd