DURING THE summer of 2016 Michael Crawford was preparing to return to the London stage, after an absence of several years, playing Leo in a musical version of LP Hartley’s The Go-Between.
Michael’s role was that of an old man reflecting on an episode in his youth that ended up scarring him for life. And, in interviews publicising the show, Michael was himself in reflective mood, recalling events from his own childhood that had helped to shape his personality and remarkable career.
Most notably Michael recalled how he discovered that his fighter pilot father, killed in action before he was born, was not his biological father. He also revealed that he had been routinely beaten as a child by his brutal stepfather.
Michael went on to acknowledge that this troubled early life may have ignited the relentless drive for perfection, a desire to give his audience the very best of himself, that Michael has brought to all his roles.
What was so striking about that round of interviews was how candid they were, something this most private of actors had never been noted for. And sometimes, during Michael’s interviews, it has been hard to disentangle what is real and what is performance.
Even his stage name isn’t real – Michael’s real name is Smith, and he was born on an army barracks in Salisbury, Wiltshire in 1942, mum Doris having moved there because of the Blitz.
Growing up, Michael had no reason to believe his father was anyone other than Sgt Arthur Dumbel-Smith, a heroic fighter pilot who had been shot down and killed over Kent.
But when, aged 15, he
