Born in New Zealand, he moved to the UK in the early 1950s on a Government bursary to study production abroad. He'd previously worked as a physical education teacher and had also been involved with the Auckland Amateur Operatic Society, touring the country, singing and dancing, with the Australian company J.C. Williamson and also being involved in some local film-making. He attended the Central School of Speech and Drama as a graduate student along with Vanessa Redgrave and Dame Judi Dench and later started working for Ealing Films as an assistant director, working on films such as Dunkirk, Scapegoat and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.