In 1974, he won New Faces, an ITV talent show and appeared on numerous light-entertainment shows. In 1982, he joined as one of the team on Russ Abbot's Madhouse and The Russ Abbot Show before forming a comedy partnership with fellow impressionist Dustin Gee, which in turn led to a series of their own, The Laughter Show. Following Dustin's sudden death on 3rd January 1986, Les carried on the show as a solo performer. He became the third host of Family Fortunes, taking over from Max Bygraves for a fifteen-year run from 1987 to 2002.