He served in the armed forces during the Second World War, and then took leading directorial posts at the Old Vic, the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre and Sadler's Wells (later known as the English National Opera).

[1] He was educated at Westminster School, where his contemporaries included his elder brother, James Byam Shaw, later a well-known art historian, and John Gielgud, who became a lifelong friend and professional colleague.

[1] Denison speculates that Byam Shaw's cousin, actress May Ward, a close friend of Dame Ellen Terry, "may have been enough to make him take the plunge".

In 1925 he made his London debut, playing Yasha in J.B. Fagan's production of The Cherry Orchard, in a cast that included Alan Napier as Gaiev, O.B.

[6] The following year, Byam Shaw appeared at the Lyceum in Max Reinhardt's mime play The Miracle, with Lady Diana Cooper as the Madonna, Tilly Losch as the nun and Leonid Massine as the Spielmann.

[12] Byam Shaw concluded his acting career in the late 1930s in roles including D'Arcy in a dramatisation of Pride and Prejudice, character parts in The Merchant of Venice and Richard II, and Sir Benjamin Backbite in The School for Scandal.

After appearing in Michel Saint-Denis's short season at the Phoenix Theatre in 1938, his final role was Horatio to Gielgud's Hamlet, both in London and at Elsinore Castle.

Denison writes "Despite much success in all fields the three partners fell foul of the Vic governors and of the theatre's top-heavy and largely hostile administration".

The same board had earlier dismissed Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier as heads of the Old Vic company,[15] and now lost another leading team when Saint-Denis, Devine and Byan Shaw resigned in 1951.

Tucker's successor, Lord Harewood, recalled "a series of striking productions, including The Rake's Progress, Così fan tutte, Der Freischütz and A Masked Ball ... a notable elegant and witty Die Fledermaus, Hansel and Gretel ... and Gluck's Orpheus.

[16] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1954 New Year Honours in recognition of his work as director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.