His first break into showbiz came as a singer at the age of 14, after winning first prize in a talent competition at the Empire Cinema, Edmonton. In the early 1940s he achieved notable success as the boy soprano Master Thomas Criddle after recording ten songs for HMV at its Abbey Road Studios and touring with the likes of
Katharine Hepburn and
Donald Wolfit. He was featured several times on BBC's "Children's Hour".