Michael Caine and Norman Bowler in a 1961 television play

Now here's a find. 

The Ship That Couldn't Stop is a television play from 1961 about a vessel powered by a nuclear reactor. It's heading for the port of New York and can't slow down.

And down the cast list are both Michael Caine and this blog's hero Norman Bowler.

If you play the video here you will see a short extract in which they both appear. Play it on YouTube to watch the whole thing.

I was going to say that this is the earliest screen appearance by Bowler I've seen, but I note from IMDb that he made an uncredited appearance in Tom Thumb (1958). And I remember seeing that at the cinema as a little boy in the Sixties.