Jim Bywater appeared on Coronation Street in two roles: firstly as Don, who was in attendance at Ray and Deirdre Langton's flat-warming party in September 1975; and he returned to the programme between February and August 1985 in the more regular role of Rovers' potman Wilf Starkey.
His other credits include roles in Bulman, The Luddites, Bodger and Badger, The Bill, Dalziel and Pascoe, The Hollow Crown, Wallander and the 1976 Jack Rosenthal-scripted television drama Ready When You Are, Mr. McGill alongside Coronation Street actors Fred Feast, Diana Davies, Jill Summers and Teddy Turner.
On stage, he appeared in productions of Waiting for Godot, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Oh What a Lovely War, The Merchant of Venice, Holding Fire!, An Enemy of the People, Clarion and The Lower Depths.