[3] Vinson began acting professionally when he was 18; his television debut came in the role of a page boy on Milton Berle's first program from NBC's new Burbank studios.

[1] In an interview, he stated: I started during the Marlon Brando era when guys my age in Hollywood were all wearing pouts, torn shirts, mussed hair, and looked like they needed a bath.

He guest-starred on other various television series, including Whirlybirds, Gunsmoke, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Bachelor Father, Cheyenne, Maverick- ("A Fellow's Brother", in 1959), Sugarfoot, Wagon Train, Laramie, Bat Masterson, Harbor Command, Colt .45, The Rough Riders, Hawaiian Eye, and in three episodes of 77 Sunset Strip.

In 1962 he was cast as Bruce Randall in the episode "The Parish Car" of the ABC series, Going My Way, starring Gene Kelly as a Roman Catholic priest in New York City.

[6] In 1959, he signed a term contract with Warner Bros.[3] On October 15, 1984, a week before his 48th birthday, Vinson committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot in Redondo Beach, California.