Denton was born in the London suburb of Stepney[2] and was raised in the East End.
From 1951 until 1965, Denton worked for the Australian Broadcasting Commission as an announcer, and eventually moved on to screenwriting, producing and directing television.
In the 1970s, an anonymous television critic for The Australian newspaper was revealed to be Kit Denton, writing under the pseudonym "Janus".
Although it was widely assumed that the film Breaker Morant was based on Denton's book, it was in fact based on a play by Kenneth G. Ross, who successfully sued publisher Angus & Robertson when they publicised Denton's novel as the source for the film.
Denton died in April 1997 at his home in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales.