The phantom
Erik (better known as The Phantom of the Opera, commonly known as The Phantom) is the main character in the 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l´Opéra) by Gaston Leroux. He is also the protagonist and antagonist of many film adaptations of the novel, notably the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney, and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
Michael Crawford was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and began his professional career as a boy soprano in Benjamin Britten’s Let’s Make An Opera. There followed television and some 500 radio broadcasts and he was hailed in the 60s for his portrayal of ‘Byron’ in the popular television programme Not So Much A Programme, More A Way Of Life. This was followed by playing Colin in The Knack which won the Best Film Award at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival.