He began acting at the end of The '40s in Made-for-TV Movies. His big screen film debut came as a clerk in the 1952 film The Paris Express. Nightingale's career would continue in this manner, playing small parts of big authority such as barristers, policemen, inspectors, officials, captains, and doctors.
In 1961, he appeared in an Uncredited Role in Carry On Regardless, and over the next seventeen years would appear in a further twelve Carry On films. His most notable role in the series was that of Squire Trelawney in Carry On Dick, whereas his appearances in Don't Lose Your Head, Follow That Camel, and Carry On Girls were also uncredited.
The Carry On producer and director Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas also used him in their films Watch Your Stern, Raising the Wind, The Iron Maiden, and Bless This House. Other comedies Nightingale appeared in included Mutiny on the Buses and Revenge of the Pink Panther, and he also appeared in horror films (Night After Night After Night), crime films (Clegg), and thriller films (The Internecine Project).
He died at the age of 76.
Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:
Film
- Ice Cold in Alex (1958) — C.M.P. Captain
- Watch Your Stern (1960) — Commander Andrews
- Carry On Regardless (1961) — Wine Bystander (Uncredited Role)
- Raising the Wind (1961) — Invigilator
- Carry On Cabby (1963) — Businessman
- Carry On Jack (1964) — Town Crier
- Carry On Cleo (1964) — Ancient Briton
- Carry On Cowboy (1965) — Bank Manager
- Don't Lose Your Head (1967) — "What locket?" Man (Uncredited Role)
- Follow That Camel (1967) — Nightingale, the Butler (Uncredited Role)
- Carry On Camping (1969) — Man in Cinema
- Night After Night After Night (1969) — Martingale, the Solicitor
- Clegg (1970) — Colonel Sullivan
- Carry On Matron (1972) — Dr. Pearson
- Mutiny on the Buses (1972) — Pilot
- Carry On Girls (1973) — City Gent on Tube (Uncredited Role)
- Carry On Dick (1974) — Squire Trelawney
- The Internecine Project (1974) — Business Man
- The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) — Museum Tourist
- Carry On England (1976) — Officer
- Carry On Emmannuelle (1978) — Police Commissioner
- Dixon of Dock Green, 24 episodes (1961-62) — Detective Constable Jack Cotton
- The Avengers, 2 episodes:
- "All Done with Mirrors" (1968) — Real Colonel
- "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station" (1967) — Lucas
- The Prisoner, episode "Dance of the Dead" (1967) — Night Supervisor
- UFO, episode "Confetti Check A-O.K." (1970) — Mary's Father
- The Persuaders!, episode "The Time and the Place" (1971) — Coalition Club Member (Uncredited Role)
- The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, episode "The Case of the Mirror of Portugal" (1971) — Harkness
- Carry on Laughing!, 2 episodes:
- "The Case of the Screaming Winkles" (1975) — Colonel Postwick
- "Lamp-Posts of the Empire" (1975) — Neighbour
- The Two Ronnies, 3 episodes (1980) — Diana
- Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, 1 episode (1986) — Donald Renshaw
