Served with the Royal Air Force during World War II.
Big break came when he first donned fangs for the title role in Horror of Dracula (1958).
Ian Fleming (James Bond author and his distant cousin) suggested him for the title role in the film Dr. No (1962), but the part went to Joseph Wiseman. He was later cast as the villain Scaramanga opposite Roger Moore in The Man With the Golden Gun (1974).