Talk:Michael Crawford

Removal of paragraph
I have removed the following text: "On May 24, 2006, Crawford is perfoming at the inauguration of the newly remodeled LaSalle Bank Theater (formerly known as the Shubert Theater) in Chicago, Illinois. The LaSalle was originally opened in 1906 as the Majestic Theater and renamed during the Depression to the Shubert.  It has recently completed a $14 million, 18-month renovation."

Apart from the text now being out of date, it was completely unwikified. I also don't understand the notability of a single performance of his, unless it is, for example, at an Olympic Games opening ceremony. The LaSalle Bank Theatre seems reasonably notable as far as theatres go, but I don't think his performance at a reopening of it deserves a mention in this article. Graham talk 12:38, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Removal of Sentence
I have removed the following:

"He will also participate in a special, as of yet unknown, presentation to celebrate."- This is now inaccurate as the presentation has occured, hence, the public know what it was. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tomr2006 (talk • contribs) 21:42, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Addition of Paragraph
By watching several of Michael Crawfords Videos, it can be seen that the singer/actor is left handed, this is particularly noitceable in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em when you see the character Frank Spencer writing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tomr2006 (talk • contribs) 21:42, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
 * That violates the policy of no original research in wikipedia; even though it is an understandable inference (and probably easy to deduce), unless a reliable source has published information saying that he is left-handed. Having said that, I don't think the fact that he is left-handed is notable enough for an encyclopedia article; it occurs in 8-15% of the population according to the left-handed article, so it's not a unique trait. Graham 87 08:20, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Yet being gay is (and I know the wordage here is wrong :-P) a trait that occurs in around the same percentage of the population, and as soon as a celebrity comes out of the closet it's chucked onto their wikipedia page...I'd say left-handedness is very much an encyclopaedic entry to his page. If you want unique traits, you can take out the fact that he won the Lawrence Olivier award because someone won it the year before him, he's not unique...you can take out the fact that he saved a crewmember, the fire bridage do that daily, you can take out that he starred in "Some mothers do 'ave 'em" because loads of people have...since when were unique traits and pieces of information a requirement for inclusion? SmUX 21:28, 25 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Homosexuality doesn't occur at nearly the same rate as left-handedness. Look it up. Left-handedness also doesn't affect most people as much as homosexuality does, so it doesn't really need to be included. This is a bad analogy.
 * We can refer to a left-handed homosexual for the exact analogy between these two traits. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)

Question about citing Sources
I'm still not quite sure how to use Wikipedia fully, but I would like to know how to site sources for the various paragraphs mentioned? I have found the sources for "Michael writing a column in the guise of his character Byron" and as to his relationship with his ex-wife Gabrielle. Could someone please help me to set up the proof for these statements? Thank you. EmilyGreene1984 01:57, 2 September 2007 (UTC)


 * The easiest way is to put your source between statements then it will come up as a footnote. A "==References==" section will also have to be created with reflist in it so the footnotes can come up. For more details see Footnotes. You can optionally use citation templates if you need help with formatting the reference.


 * Also you probably accidentally removed some comments in your last edit. To avoid that, you can use the "+" link next to the edit link on talk pages to add a new comment. You can sign your comments automatically by typing four tildes like this: "~". Graham 87 08:44, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Unemployment?
"Crawford faced a brief period of unemployment."

When? This chronology here is quite confusing. Was he unemployed after 'Alice in Wonderland' but before 'Some mothers...'? It states he worked with his ex-wife. Well the divorce occurred in 1975. So how did he become unemployeable after such a successful television show? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.72.124.97 (talk) 03:03, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Personal Info
As a reader, I would like to know more about Crawford's personal life - for example, is he married now (I think he is)? Where does he spend his private life? I know he owns a house in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.5.253.175 (talk) 08:51, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Brixton Town Hall?
Surely this phrase is in error; Brixton is not, and as far as I know never has been, a borough; it's one of the districts of the London Borough of Lambeth. The place in question has always, within my memory at least, been called "Lambeth Town Hall". -- 92.40.230.243 (talk) 13:43, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I realize this comment is old, but before someone goes and changes the phrase in the article, the building is known by both names - Brixton Town Hall and Lambeth Town Hall. (http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/18294, http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/LeisureCulture/LocalHistory/index_EXTRA.htm) &mdash;D'Ranged 1 talk 07:24, 28 December 2009 (UTC)

Illness, + move to NZ
Daily mail just published an interview w Michael Crawford talking about his illness and move to NZ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2113684/Michael-Crawford-Moving-New-Zealand-restored-stars-health.html. This was also mentioned in another Daily Mail article which coincided w his role in the Wizard of Oz. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1347273/Michael-Crawford-long-awaited-return-stage.html

Perhaps start a personal section that mentions his marriage, illness, living in NZ. Or should wait for another source before doing so? So far articles are referring to the dailymail interview. Linnah (talk) 14:23, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

filmography and discography: wall-e
Seriously? excerpts from hello dolly? perhaps appropriate for a pub quiz, but hardly notable. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.148.148.233 (talk) 06:56, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

Lead paragraph
Wouldn't you say he is by far more well known for playing the Phantom then from that TV show? Wouldn't it make sense to switch that in the lead?

"Michael Crawford is best known for originating the title role in The Phantom of the Opera as well as playing the hapless Frank Spencer in the popular 1970s British sitcom, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em."

Or is it just a timeline thing.Zdawg1029 (talk) 18:23, 7 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Certainly not "by far more well known" - the sitcom (believe it or not) is still what most British (and Australian) people would think of first when they hear his name. Given we are going to mention those two things in the lead (and appropriately, as between them they cover two very different aspects of his work) then I think the chronological factor (as you hint yourself) is the clincher. The other way around sounds a little strange, as he was already a household name before "Phantom". --Soundofmusicals (talk) 19:50, 7 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Well if that is the way you want to keep it then it doesn't matter, thought I'd at least bring it up, I mean I still like my sentence better and don't think it sounds strange at all, but it doesn't matter.Zdawg1029 (talk) 16:19, 9 December 2013 (UTC)


 * "Some mothers" never took off in America (it wouldn't have, the humour is very British) - so your comment was quite natural. Still, we don't go framing American showbiz biographies around what went down well in Britain or Australia, either. And as you say - there are lots of things more worth arguing over. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 21:08, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

"Ill-fated"?
Flowers for Algernon was most certainly NOT one of Crawford's major commercial successes - but then it was not really "that kind of show". I have deleted the "ill-fated" label anyway - the impression given is of a major production that failed badly, which is not the case. I agonised a good deal over another descriptive word or phrase to replace "ill-fated" - finally coming to the conclusion that we don't really need one. We have a link to the article for the musical itself if anyone wants further information at this point. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 01:47, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Michael Crawford. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160221130312/http://www.ranthollywood.com/2014/12/24/best-movie-musicals-of-all-time/ to http://www.ranthollywood.com/2014/12/24/best-movie-musicals-of-all-time/
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/the-secret-life-of-a-phantom-star/story-e6frfmqi-1226296026514

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 16:06, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Michael Crawford. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150923182857/http://www.bbm.org.uk/SmithAD.htm to http://www.bbm.org.uk/SmithAD.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 13:11, 28 November 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Michael Crawford. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20071113052935/http://www.sickchildrenstrust.org/navAboutUs.htm to http://www.sickchildrenstrust.org/navAboutUs.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 06:02, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Michael Crawford. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080503011051/http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwidb/people/Michael_Crawford/ to http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwidb/people/Michael_Crawford/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 15:43, 27 January 2018 (UTC)

100 Greatest Britons
Could this article point out that Michael Crawford came seventeenth in the list of 100 Greatest Britons?Vorbee (talk) 08:02, 10 September 2018 (UTC)

Dulwich
From my time at Alleyn's School, I know that Michael was part of that circle, at the birth of the NYT. The school was never parochial, and often worked with kids from the area: it was also part of Britten's circle, which is how he had that intro. David Hemmings was actually at the School until the premier run of The Turn of the Screw at La Fenice in Venice, when he and Britten shared a bed throughout the run. Both agreed that was exactly as far as it went, and the piece turns around a similar relationship, written as a study of dark obsession by Henry James at the suggestion of Charlotte Bronte, based on her experiences as governess of the Sedgwick Benson family: Miles is the portrayal of Edward, who would go on to become Archbishop of Canterbury, creating the Ceremony of Nine Lessons and Carols along the way, which in turn informs Britten's Ceremony of Carols. The events did, however, result in a break between the School and Britten, to the great detriment of the choir: I worked with David Roblou, who went on to become a Guildhall Voice Coach, tutoring Bryn Terfel, restoring it from within a decade later. My family was close to Sir Geraint Evans' wife Brenda, I think she shared maternity classes with my mother, and Bryn was one of their protégés. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.249.78.216 (talk) 12:38, 18 February 2019 (UTC)

Birthplace
There seems to be some uncertainty about where he was born. Having previously been listed as Salisbury, Wiltshire, it is now listed as Sheerness, Kent Scf1985 (talk) 12:39, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

The Greatest Living Briton?
According to the much-acclaimed 100 Greatest Britons List, he is the Greatest Living Briton - a bit unbelievable, but maybe it should be mentioned? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.99.126.230 (talk) 06:05, 6 February 2020 (UTC) Yes, according to this, he is the greatest living Briton as of 2020, but at the time of the poll, Margaret Thatcher was still alive and was reckoned to be the then greatest living Briton. Vorbee (talk) 19:58, 15 October 2020 (UTC)

Why was his older the subject of a court case 1969
Does his older daughter still bother with him 2A00:23C6:4B10:6401:B85B:E711:6F26:C97E (talk) 00:09, 6 August 2022 (UTC)

Mentorship of ice dancers worth a mention?
Inside the Games featured a Fact of the Day on 15 February 2022 regarding Crawford’s mentorship of the British Olympic ice dance pair Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, which began in 1981. It credits him with helping them create their routine for the ice dance competition at the 1984 Winter Olympics. Crawford was present at ringside with Torvill and Dean’s trainer when the pair won gold in Sarajevo. Perhaps it is worth a mention in this article, as an example of his involvement in performance beyond the dramatic arts? Spitzmauskc (talk) 21:30, 24 December 2022 (UTC)

Inconsistent information re children
Summary at top of page says 3 children. Personal life section says 3 daughters plus one son. Also no information about who mother of any children not with Gabrielle is/was. ColinBrough (talk) 20:55, 6 August 2023 (UTC)