Le Vaillant's English father moved to Pakistan after service during the Second World War, and worked in the tea plantation industry there, eventually becoming Chief Executive for Brooke Bond in South Asia.
[1] He was educated at Bryanston school in England and at St Peter's College, Oxford, although he later stated that, despite his outward appearance, he "never felt like a Westerner".
[1] Le Vaillant began acting soon after the family returned to England,[1] although he initially struggled to find work in the industry and spent nine years unemployed.
His performance of Volpone at Oxford Playhouse(1980) was noted approvingly by William W E Slights in 'Ben Jonson and the Art of Secrecy'(1994) Le Vaillant briefly returned to acting in 2009 to play British Prime Minister Edward Heath in the television drama Margaret.
[2] Le Vaillant abandoned the acting profession in the early 2000s, being uneasy with the fame that comes with being a recognized figure on national television, and spends much of his time in Southern India where he is a property developer, while also maintaining a residence in Brixton, South London.