He studied at
Trinity College of Music, and served as a
Bevin Boy during the
Second World War. He initially entered professional music as a jazz and classical pianist. He played in various big bands and started leading his own band by the early 1950s. He then became a music director at the
BBC alongside
Wally Stott. He worked as a session musician on occasion, playing on and arranging
Johnny Duncan's UK hit "Last Train to San Fernando." He also worked as an actor, supporting comedian
Tony Hancock in all of the comedian's first TV series in 1956. A second volume was issued in 2019. ==References==