Best known as the ill-fated P.O.W. (Flying Officer Archibald Ives) in The Great Escape (1963).

Died less than a month after Richard Attenborough, who was his costar in The Great Escape (1963) and directed him in Oh! What a Lovely War (1969).

He frequently returned to Scotland to appear in pantomime, often with his friend Stanley Baxter.

Began in show business as a dancer and stand up comedian. He was a song and dance man by the age of 14, performing at the Glasgow Metropole and was then on the variety circuit prior to making the transition into stage acting at Perth Theatre in the late 1940's.

He replaced Ian Whittaker as a shop assistant in Carry on Regardless but the scene was eventually cut.