[citation needed] As a conscientious objector during the Second World War, Barr helped people in the Blitz in London's East End before serving with the Friends' Ambulance Unit in Africa.

There he met his wife Anne "Jean" Williams, marrying her after ten days; it would have been sooner, but they needed permission from London.

[citation needed] In 1946, he picked up where he had left off, and in the early 1950s he began working in British television, attaining a popularity greater than he had while playing supporting parts in such films as The Case of the Frightened Lady (1940) and The Blue Lagoon (1949).

Some of the films in which he appeared during this period were The Dam Busters (1955), Room in the House (1955), Saint Joan (1957), Next to Next Time (1960), Billy Liar (1963), The First Great Train Robbery (1979) and Octopussy (1983).

[5] Inspector Morley: Late of Scotland Yard (1952) - (seven episodes) - (with Dorothy Bramhall, Tucker McGuire, Tod Slaughter, and Johnny Briggs (actor)).