In classical theatre he worked with John Gielgud, Donald Wolfit, Anthony Quayle and Richard Burton.

After successful Shakespearian seasons at the Old Vic and Stratford-upon-Avon, he starred in the musical Lock Up Your Daughters which launched the Mermaid Theatre in London.

Later he played a scene as a sinister taxidermist with James Stewart (whom he described as 'a perfect gentleman') in Alfred Hitchcock's second version of The Man Who Knew Too Much.

In the final decades of his life he developed The Bliss of Solitude a one-man tribute to his great ancestor with which he toured Britain and the United States.

He also founded the Wordsworth Summer School – a week of poetry, lectures and walks in his beloved Lake District.