Complex sentence: Henderson urged him to take elocution lessons and got him parts at the Maida Vale Theatre in London, and he had already begun pursuing a film career, playing an extra in Herbert Wilcox's 1954 musical "Lilacs in the Spring" alongside Anna Neagle.
Split into simpler sentences: Henderson urged him to take elocution lessons and got him parts at the Maida Vale Theatre in London. In addition, he had already begun pursuing a film career, having played an extra in Herbert Wilcox's 1954 musical "Lilacs in the Spring" alongside Anna Neagle.