Michael Craze

Michael Craze
Publicity photo
Born
Michael Francis Craze

(1942-11-29)29 November 1942
Newquay, Cornwall, England
Died8 December 1998(1998-12-08) (aged 56)
Surrey, England
OccupationActor
TelevisionDoctor Who (1966–1967)
Spouse
Edwina Craze
​
(m. 1968)​
Children1
RelativesPeter Craze (brother)

Michael Francis Craze (29 November 1942 – 8 December 1998) was a British actor noted for his role of Ben Jackson, a companion of the Doctor, in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He played the part from 1966 to 1967 alongside both William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton.

Early life and career

Craze was born in Newquay, Cornwall.[1] He got into acting by chance as, at the age of twelve, he discovered through Boy Scout Gang Shows that he had a perfect boy soprano voice. This led him to win parts in The King and I[2] and Plain and Fancy, both at Drury Lane, and Damn Yankees[2] at the Coliseum. Once he had left school, he went into repertory[2] and got into TV through his agent. His first television was a show called Family Solicitor for Granada, which was followed, amongst others, by a part in ABC TV's 1960 series Target Luna (written by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice and produced by Sydney Newman).

Before Doctor Who, Craze founded a film company, Mantic, and produced an award-winning short film entitled Fragment directed by Norman J Warren. It was exhibited at the Commonwealth Film Festival.[1] He worked on several ITV productions, including one episode (The Last Visitor) of Hammer Films' first TV series Journey to the Unknown in 1968. Other television roles include parts in Gideon's Way, Dixon of Dock Green and Z-Cars.[2]

In the 1970s Craze appeared in two cult Norman J. Warren horror films: Satan's Slave (1976) and Terror (1978). He also appeared in the horror/fantasy/romance film Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (1972).

In the 1980s, Craze acted only occasionally and also managed a pub. According to his brother, the actor Peter Craze, who also appeared in Doctor Who, much of Craze's later life was occupied by attending Doctor Who fan conventions.[3]

Personal life

Shortly before filming William Hartnell's final episode of Doctor Who, The Tenth Planet, Craze had an operation to remove a bone chip from his nose after an accident onstage. During the filming of the serial, the polystyrene "snow" thrown into a wind machine by production assistant Edwina Verner caused severe nasal irritation.[4] Despite this, Craze would later ask her on a date and the two would marry in 1968.[5] He had a son, Ben, with his second wife. Craze enjoyed fishing in his spare time.[1]

Death

Craze died of a heart attack on 8 December 1998. He had fallen down some steps the previous day while picking up his neighbour's paper for her and, owing to a heart condition, was unable to be operated on. Craze's funeral was attended by hundreds of Doctor Who fans, who had become devoted to him through his regular appearances at Doctor Who conventions, as well as series stars including Anneke Wills, Deborah Watling and Wendy Padbury. The Doctor Who theme music accompanied his coffin at the funeral.[3] Craze was cremated.[6]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1958 Blow Your Own Trumpet Bert uncredited
1961 Spare the Rod Thatcher
1965 Two Left Feet Ronnie
1972 Neither the Sea Nor the Sand Collie Delamare
1974 Madhouse Reporter
1976 Satan's Slave John
1978 Terror Gary

Television

incomplete

Year Title Role Notes
1958 Armchair Theatre Boy Episode: "The Pillars of Midnight"
1960 Target Luna Geoffrey Wedgwood All 6 episodes
1962 Dixon of Dock Green Jimmy Episode: "The Flemish Giant"
1966–1967 Doctor Who Ben Jackson 36 episodes
1971 Crossroads Len Harvey 21 episodes

References

  1. ^ a b c Anneke Wills. Obituary for Michael Craze in The Stage. 24 December 1998.
  2. ^ a b c d "Michael Craze obituary – The Doctor Who Cuttings Archive". cuttingsarchive.org.
  3. ^ a b Voice-over commentary on the BBC DVD "Nightmare of Eden" (1979, 2012)
  4. ^ "A Brief History of Time (Travel): The Tenth Planet". shannonsullivan.com.
  5. ^ "BBC One – Doctor Who". BBC.
  6. ^ Sweet, Matthew (10 April 2012). "Karen Gillan: just what the doctor ordered". Evening Standard. London.