I was involved in school plays, but when I left school I did a couple of odd jobs as a baker's apprentice and then as a fruit market porter in Manchester.

His first film role was a bit part in the 1962 adaptation of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner starring Tom Courtenay and he also acted on-stage opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in Semi-Detached (1962) by David Turner. Thaw was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in March 1993 by Queen Elizabeth II. He met actress Sheila Hancock in 1969 on the set of a London comedy So What About Love?.

John Edward Thaw CBE (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor who appeared in a range of television stage and cinema roles his most popular being television series such as Redcap The Sweeney Home to Roost Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.