Career: Bowles spent his early years in theatre before making his TV debut in 1959's Last Chronicle of Barsett. He had roles in such classic series as The Avengers, Danger Man and The Prisoner throughout the 1960s. He continued to work steadily in such shows as I, Claudius and Rumpole of the Bailey, but didn't become a star until appearing concurrently in two sitcoms in 1979: the BBC's To the Manor Born and ITV's Only When I Laugh. Since then he's appeared in The Bounder, Lytton's Diary (a series he created), Executive Stress and Perfect Scoundrels. His movies include Blowup and For the Love of Benji. In 2007 he returned along co-star Penelope Keith in a Christmas special of To the Manor Born. He also starred with Keith in 2010 at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in The Rivals. In 2011, he had a supporting role in the big-screen romantic comedy Love's Kitchen.