At the outbreak of war, Pemberton was directed into an engineering position, in his spare time teaming up with Mervyn R Pinfield and others to stage plays for the forces.
[2] Demobilisation was followed by the next step to a professional acting career with the formation in 1946 of the performance company “The Star Players”,[3] in partnership with Ernest Pickering and Mervyn R Pinfield (as general manager).
The end of October saw Aurora Production's last performance in Falkirk and a move to The Little Theatre, Great Yarmouth, with Mervyn R Pinfield again general manager.
[10] Following his departure from Coronation Street in May 1964, he and other ex-members of the cast joined John Finch and Vince Powell's production of the farce “Firm Foundations”[11] at the Royal Court, Liverpool.
He died prematurely aged 56, in Copthorne, West Sussex of a fatal stroke on 26 March 1971, approximately six weeks after his last appearance as Frank Barlow.