Let’s be honest here, what is the first thing you think of when you hear the name Michael Crawford? Frank Spencer. As much as Michael may get a bit peeved that his alter ego Frank has attached himself to him ever since the late seventies, it is without doubt also a form of flattery. The nation have made Frank and his clumsy ways a part of our culture, and there is no escape from him. Even now the next generation of kids know who Frank Spencer is.
Of course there is a lot more to Michael Crawford then you realise.
His story begins with the knowledge that his father (an RAF pilot) was not actually his father, it follows thorough his tough but basically happy childhood and his beginnings as an actor in the theatre. He started at a young age and worked himself up from the bottom to eventually star in some films with big names (Barbara Streisand in ‘Hello Dolly’ springs to mind), he did comedy, straight drama and anything in between. After a few appearances on a comedy show he was offered the part of Frank Spencer, but only because all the other choices refused to do it. Frank made him a household name and he even appeared at the Royal Vareiety Performance in the role. Apparently Her Majesty loved it.
Apart from ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em’ Michael also starred in the highly successful stage show ‘Barnum’. Famous for doing his own stunts this must have been an amazing show to watch seeing as it was based on a circus performer. After ‘Barnum’ along came Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom Of The Opera’. As Michael describes his experiences in this show you can’t help laughing out loud at all the things that went wrong. His writes in an easy manner, he obviously has a good sense of humour and he doesn’t make rude remarks about his fellow actors.
If you are familiar with the Frank Spencer stories (and who isn’t) you will notice as you read Michaels book that he used an awful lot of real life stories to play the character. I began to pick them out straight away.
This was a good book. I appreciate Mr Crawford far more now then I did before.
Score Board:10/10 Oooooh Betty! The cat's done a whoopsie in my beret!
Of course there is a lot more to Michael Crawford then you realise.
His story begins with the knowledge that his father (an RAF pilot) was not actually his father, it follows thorough his tough but basically happy childhood and his beginnings as an actor in the theatre. He started at a young age and worked himself up from the bottom to eventually star in some films with big names (Barbara Streisand in ‘Hello Dolly’ springs to mind), he did comedy, straight drama and anything in between. After a few appearances on a comedy show he was offered the part of Frank Spencer, but only because all the other choices refused to do it. Frank made him a household name and he even appeared at the Royal Vareiety Performance in the role. Apparently Her Majesty loved it.
Apart from ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em’ Michael also starred in the highly successful stage show ‘Barnum’. Famous for doing his own stunts this must have been an amazing show to watch seeing as it was based on a circus performer. After ‘Barnum’ along came Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom Of The Opera’. As Michael describes his experiences in this show you can’t help laughing out loud at all the things that went wrong. His writes in an easy manner, he obviously has a good sense of humour and he doesn’t make rude remarks about his fellow actors.
If you are familiar with the Frank Spencer stories (and who isn’t) you will notice as you read Michaels book that he used an awful lot of real life stories to play the character. I began to pick them out straight away.
This was a good book. I appreciate Mr Crawford far more now then I did before.
Score Board:10/10 Oooooh Betty! The cat's done a whoopsie in my beret!
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