Early Career
Letts was an assistant stage manager at the Theatre Royal in his teens and took up the job full-time after leaving school. His initial work was as a repertory actor, following his service as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He later played one of the leading characters in the Terence Fisher directed film, To the Public Danger, a heartfelt plea against dangerous driving. He also appeared in the highly regarded Ealing Studios productions, Scott of the Antarctic and The Cruel Sea, in supporting roles.
From 1950 he appeared in various television productions including The Avengers and a live drama, Gunpowder Guy in which future Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton played Guy Fawkes and Letts a fellow conspirator. He also appeared as Colonel Herncastle in the 1959 television adaptation of Wilkie Collins's novel The Moonstone. He acted in The Last Man Out (tv series 1962).
Much of this television work was for the BBC and Letts abandoned acting after completing their director's course in 1967. His early directorial work included episodes of the long-running police drama Z-Cars and a soap opera, The Newcomers.
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