After his discharge from the army, Laird resumed civilian life in New York, where he enrolled at the Dramatic Workshop and studied playwriting under John Gassner, he returned to Hollywood for a screen test and ultimately starred in a series of movie and radio roles, including the radio crime drama This Is Your FBI, his television appearances include episodes of Fireside Theatre, Ben Casey and Ironside.
He eventually moved into writing and producing, writing for various television shows, such as The Lone Ranger, The Millionaire, M Squad, Highway Patrol, Private Secretary, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Ford Theatre, The Wild Wild West, The Ann Sothern Show, Mr. District Attorney, and Have Gun – Will Travel.
[2][3][4] One of Laird's favorite actors was Leslie Nielsen with whom he made several made-for-TV movies, including 1964's See How They Run, the first feature in that genre,[5][6] Code Name: Heraclitus, Dark Intruder, The Return of Charlie Chan and numerous TV episodes.
In an early scene where Brett Kingsford meets with the police commissioner, opines that "gods older than the human race...deities like Dagon and Azathoth still have worshippers."
In November 1964, Laird married his third wife, Jeri Emmett, a former Playboy Bunny turned writer, they had a daughter, Persephone, through his marriage to Emmett, Laird would become step-father to her other children, Kurtis, Michael, and Journey, Emmett had written a few episodes for such television shows as, The Fugitive, Iron Horse, The Bold Ones: The Protectors (under the name Betty Deveraux),[7] and Mannix, as well as a Television Series Treatment called "Confessions of a Den Mother", and a book about her days working at the playboy club called "Point Your Tail in The Right Direction".