After that he lived a rather aimless adolescent life as messenger, office boy at Liverpool Docks and apprentice joiner.

[6] In 1958 he acted in the first of two Titanic films, A Night to Remember, as a steward unable to communicate with non-English speaking passengers.

[6] In 1972, he appeared in Young Winston and the cult horror film Death Line with Donald Pleasence.

'[9] From the 1970s onwards, Rossington mainly appeared on television, including roles in His and Hers, The Wednesday Play, Casanova, Carry On Christmas, Crown Court, I, Claudius, Z-Cars, Big Jim and the Figaro Club (1981, in the title role of "Big Jim"), The Bill and Last of the Summer Wine.

[6] His stage career included time spent with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

[12] Rossington also made many appearances in the West End, with roles in Peter Pan, My Fair Lady (as Alfred Doolittle), Annie Get Your Gun (as Charlie Davenport), Tony Weller in Pickwick: The Musical,[1] Guys and Dolls (as Nathan Detroit), and in Beauty and the Beast (as Maurice).