Crawford was brought up by his mother, Doris Agnes Mary Pike, and her parents, Montague Pike and his wife, Edith (née Keefe or O'Keefe), in what Crawford described as a "close-knit See more

Career beginnings
Crawford made his first stage appearance in the role of Sammy the Little Sweep in his school production of Benjamin Britten's See more

In 1987, during Crawford's starring role in The Phantom of the Opera, a double A-sided single was released featuring two songs from the musical: "The Music of the Night", sung by Crawford, and "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again", sung by his Phantom co-star See more

Crawford has performed many concert tours in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, beginning with The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1992. In 1998, Crawford began Michael Crawford: Live In Concert tour around the United States. One … See more

Since the late 1980s, Crawford has affiliated himself with various charities, particularly for the good of children. He is a patron of the Lighthouse Foundation in Australia, and has also been President of the Sick Children's Trust since 1987. See more

Crawford has three children. Two, born in 1966 and 1968, were daughters from his first marriage to Gabrielle Lewis.
In 2007, Crawford relocated to New Zealand for health reasons, as he sought recovery from his diagnosed myalgic encephalitis See more

• Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his performance of the title role in Barnum (1981)
• Awards won for his performance in the title role in The Phantom of the Opera:
• Awards won for his performance as Count Fosco in See more