Born Malcolm James Thomas, in Abercynon, South Wales,[1] he spent much of his childhood in the village of Troedyrhiw, near Merthyr Tydfil after his family relocated there, and sang with the local choir.

He followed this up with a role in a variety show organized by the bandleader and impresario Jack Hylton, and a part in the Thornton Wilder play The Skin of Our Teeth at the Piccadilly Theatre, which was directed by Laurence Olivier and also appeared in the first stage production of the popular BBC Children's Hour programme The Adventures of Larry the Lamb in which he was Dennis the Dachshund, and was an errand boy in the film Bedelia alongside Margaret Lockwood.

[1] He was called up for National Service in 1947, and served with the Army in Egypt and Greece, but returned to acting after being demobbed and appeared in Aladdin and Dick Whittington on ice in Brighton, and in 1952 teamed up with three other vocalists to form the Welsh Street Singers and also went on to support Old Mother Riley in pantomime, then appeared in the revue Going Gay in Eastbourne in 1953, where he befriended the comedian Kenneth Earle.

It was here that his singing career began to develop thanks to his strong voice and after the BBC disc jockey Jack Jackson saw Earle and Vaughan performing at the Chiswick Empire in 1955.

[2] "Ev'ry Day of My Life" was the first of many hits he achieved throughout the latter half of the 1950s, three other major releases being "St. Therese of the Roses" in 1956, 1957's "My Special Angel" and "More Than Ever" ("Come prima") in 1958.

However, the appearance was cancelled after a BBC committee decided that the song was unsuitable for broadcast because "the lyric is contrary both to Roman Catholic doctrine and to Protestant sentiment.

Later in 1957 Vaughan appeared in that year's Royal Variety Show alongside other 1950s stars, including Ronnie Hilton, Dickie Valentine and David Whitfield.