He went to Hollywood and took a job with CBS Radio, where he performed in a number of plays on the air, specializing in Shakespearean roles.

During World War II Terry was classified "4F" unfit for military service due to defective vision.

[3] When he left Paramount, he signed with RKO and was in Music in Manhattan, George White's Scandals, Pan-Americana, Born to Kill and the lead in Seven Keys to Baldpate (1947).

On July 21, 1942, at the Hidden Valley Ranch in Ventura County, California, he married film star Joan Crawford.

Some of his better B movies from this period include The Leech Woman (1960), with Grant Williams, and The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966), with Mamie Van Doren.