Leslie Dwyer began acting as a child, appearing in his first film in 1921, and built an extensive career across several decades of British cinema, including notable roles in In Which We Serve (1942) and The Way Ahead (1944), and a scene opposite Brigitte Bardot in Act of Love (1953). He is best remembered today for television, playing the miserable, hard-drinking Punch and Judy man Mr Partridge, with his trademark dislike of children, in the BBC sitcom Hi-de-Hi! He also made guest appearances across popular British series including Doctor Who, The Sweeney and Steptoe and Son.