[1] A native of Christchurch, New Zealand, Warbeck became involved in local theatre there, which led to him receiving a scholarship to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London in 1965.

He made his feature film debut in John Hough's Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood (1969), reuniting with the director again for 1971's Twins of Evil.

Warbeck was then cast in American filmmaker Russ Meyer's cult film Black Snake (1973), in which he portrayed a man in the 1800s searching for his brother on a Caribbean island overseen by a vicious woman who owns a slave plantation.

One of the most noted of these is Lucio Fulci's The Beyond (1981), in which he portrayed a doctor who helps a woman uncover the mystery behind a Louisiana hotel she has inherited.

[7] The same year, he was cast in a supporting part as a police inspector in Fulci's The Black Cat (1981), based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe.

Thanks to his appearances in several high-profile action and horror films, Warbeck was being seriously considered as the next James Bond,[1][3] but the role was taken by Roger Moore.

[1] He spent two decades restoring his residence there, which had been built by Sir George Gilbert Scott at the time of the construction of St Pancras Station.