He made his stage debut at 2 with his father, Jack Lorimer, a music hall star, At 14 he ran away to play the son of George Lacey's Mother Goose in a touring panto in which he was billed as 'Max the Boy with Obedient Feet or Max Wall and His Independent Legs ,Being a dancer his 'dumb act' didn't earn much in fees so one night he added a joke and got a bit of a laugh and before long was doing more jokes and less dancing In WWII he was an acting corporal in the RAF, drilling, lecturing sand entertaining the troops. In 1946 he topped the bill for the first time in his first live radio comedy series 'Our Shed' with Patricia Hayes, He spent 18 in The Pyjama Game at the London Coliseum. His first dramatic role was as Pierre UBU in UBU ROI at the Royal, Court followed by The Old Ones also at the Royal Court and as Archie Rice in The Entrertainer at Greenwich, The Caretaker, Waiting For Godot and Krapps Last Tape