He began his career in 1956 directing radio plays for the Wellington Repertory Theatre.
During the broadcast, Leywood was the director for the segment "The Cause of Something", written by Stephen Rose.
The show was popular in New Zealand and later re-broadcast in 1983 as part of the American television series The Third Eye on Nickelodeon.
In 2009, the series was remade into a feature film in which the character of Mr. Jones was played by Sam Neill.
Roy Leywood later starred in a television episode of "Both Sides of the Fence" and in 1988 appeared in the mini-series Erebus: The Aftermath.