Born into an acting family, he began a stage career in Australia, on Broadway and in Britain usually as leading men in musicals and comic operas, and in roles straight theatre, including Shakespeare plays.

He then performed in more than 320 films between 1909 and 1942, remembered for his character roles as sometimes exasperated men in authority, such as bosses, directors, and, especially, respectable butlers.

On Broadway, in 1900, he appeared as the tenor lead, Yussuf, in the first American production of The Rose of Persia at Daly's Theatre in New York.

He then moved to England, creating the role of Moreno in the Edwardian musical comedy hit The Toreador at the Gaiety Theatre, London in June 1901.

He next joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company on tour in Britain, playing another leading tenor, Terence O'Brian, in The Emerald Isle from September 1901 to May 1902.