Leslie Lawton was a child actor in films and television before he joined the Liverpool Playhouse Company. After several years in repertory and the West End theatre he returned to British television in roles throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s. Following an uncredited part in the 1963 film Billy Liar, he appeared in Redcap, The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder, Z Cars and Elizabeth R. He has served on the council of Equity and on an advisory panel of the Arts Council of Great Britain.