Churton Fairman was born in London, the son of actors Austin Fairman (1892–1964) and Hilda Moore (c.1886–1929). His mother died in the United States when he was a child, after catching an infection from him, and he was brought up by three aunts, who sent him to
Aldenham School. He went up to
Magdalen College, Oxford, but was called up for wartime service in the
Royal Ulster Rifles, where he served as a lieutenant. After the war he joined the
Ballet Rambert as a dancer, but then turned to photography, specialising in ballet shots. He also worked as a conjuror and interior decorator. In 1949, he married Aurelia Pascual y Pérez, a refugee from the
Spanish Civil War, and returned with her to her home. They had one son and three daughters together; they later divorced. He wrote a well-regarded travel book,
Another Spain, published in 1952, about Spain's undiscovered countryside and in particular Aurelia's home village of
Quintanarraya. While in
Seville for the
Holy Week celebrations there, he met the director
Peter Brook. This led to him returning to London and becoming an actor, director and production manager on dramas on
ITV. When ITV's
Stars on Sunday religious series ended, he presented both the
Ten Commandments programme and its successor,
Songs That Matter, as well as contributing to
ATV's weekday
Epilogue. He also acted on stage in Moscow in the 1950s with
John Gielgud, and occasionally played flamenco guitar music in a Spanish restaurant in London. ==Radio career==