Theatre being his first "love", he was a noted farceur and won best actor awards for his appearances in the Ray Cooney farces "Not Now, Darling" (1967); "Two into One" (1984) and "Out of Order" (1990). In 1976 he was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actor for his performance on Broadway as Arthur Wicksteed in Alan Bennett's comedy "Habeas Corpus". His other notable leading performances in the commercial theatre included roles in productions such as "There's a Girl in My Soup" (1966); "In Praise of Love" (1973); "An Enemy of the People" (1975); "Present Laughter" (1981); "The School for Scandal" (1983); "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1985); "Major Barbara" (1988); "Diversions and Delights" (one-man show as Oscar Wilde, 1989); "She Stoops to Conquer" (1993); "That Good Night" (1996) and "Quartet" (1999).