Reg began his performing career as a part-time piano player in working men’s clubs, before singing with various big bands during the 1930s. He served with the Royal Engineers during the Second World War, but found time to entertain the troops, touring the Far East. After the war he found work as an all-round entertainer, travelling the music halls up and down the country. His big break came when he was cast in the role of foreman in the ITV sitcom The Rag Trade in 1961, but his most successful role was as bus driver Stan Butler in the ITV sitcom On The Buses, which began in 1969.