Editing Michael Crawford (section)

===1970s===
While he was playing in ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', Crawford was approached to star in the musical ''[[Billy (musical)|Billy]]'' (based on the novel ''[[Billy Liar]]''), which opened in 1974 at the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]] in London. This was his first leading man role on the West End stage and helped to cement his career as both a singer and showman. The part was demanding, requiring proficiency in both song and dance, and in preparation for the role, Crawford began taking both more seriously, studying singing under the tutelage of vocal coach Ian Adam and spending hours perfecting his dancing capabilities with choreographer [[Onna White]].<ref name="parcel"/>

''Billy'' gave the many fans of Crawford's portrayal of Frank Spencer an opportunity to see him in a broadly similar role on the stage, and was a considerable hit (904 West End performances). After the closing of ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', Crawford continued to perform in plays and musicals, starring in ''[[Charlie and Algernon|Flowers for Algernon]]'' (1979) in the role of Charley Gordon, based on the book of the same title. He pursued another role on an ITV sitcom, ''[[Chalk and Cheese]]'', as the slovenly, uncouth Dave Finn. The show did not go over well with his fans: the popularity of Crawford's portrayal of Frank Spencer, and the similar Billy Fisher character, had left him somewhat [[typecast]], to the extent that they could not accept his very different role as Dave Finn. Crawford abandoned the show during its first series and returned to theatre work.<ref name="parcel"/>