[5] Crawford's first important break as an actor followed with the title role in a Lux Video Theatre production of "Little Boy Lost", a live broadcast on March 15, 1956.

While enlisted in the United States Army for two years, Crawford worked on training films[11] as a production coordinator, assistant director, script supervisor, and occasional actor.

The Resurrection of Broncho Billy was a student film Crawford agreed to do as a favor to his close friend, producer John Longenecker.

Crawford played a key role in the early career of entertainer Victoria Jackson of Saturday Night Live fame.

After the two appeared together in a summer stock production of Meet Me in St. Louis, he presented her with a one-way ticket to California and encouraged her to pursue a career in Hollywood.

This led Jackson to early appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, then she was cast as a regular on SNL.

[16] A remastered version of the orchestra's highly rated[17] first album, Sweepin' the Clouds Away, was released on August 21, 2012, on the label CD Baby.

[14] His longtime friend, actor Paul Petersen, started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help cover Crawford's medical costs.

[20] Crawford died in a personal care home on April 29, 2021, at age 75, after contracting COVID-19 and then pneumonia before later succumbing to Alzheimer's disease.