At age nine he appeared in the film In Which We Serve (1942). He is mainly a stage actor, onscreen in occasional British films as an adult from 1958. For his portrayal of Noel Coward in Star! (1968) he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination; it so happens that Coward was his godfather. He is married to actress Adrienne Corri. His father was actor Raymond Massey; his mother, actress Adrianne Allen.