John Standing
Encyclopedia
Sir John Ronald Leon Standing, 4th Baronet (born 16 August 1934) is an English
actor
.
, the son of Kay Hammond (née Dorothy Katherine Standing), an actress, and Sir Ronald George Leon, a stockbroker. He is from a distinguished acting family on his mother's side, including his great-grandfather Herbert Standing
(1846–1923) and his grandfather, Sir Guy Standing
(1873–1937).
He was educated at Eton College
and Millfield School, Somerset
, later serving in the King's Royal Rifle Corps
as a 2nd Lieutenant, before going to study at London's Byam Shaw School of the Arts
.
’s 1955 production of Titus Andronicus
starring Laurence Olivier
and wife Vivien Leigh
and later played leading parts in Oscar Wilde
's The Importance of Being Earnest
, Ring Around the Moon, A Sense of Detachment by John Osborne
, and Noel Coward
's Private Lives
, with Maggie Smith
. He made his film debut in The Wild and the Willing (1962), going on to appear in King Rat (1965), The Psychopath (1966), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), The Elephant Man (1980), Nightflyers (1987), Mrs. Dalloway (1997), and A Good Woman (2004).
One of his first major television role was as Sidney Godolphin
in the BBC
twelve part serial, The First Churchills
(1969). Other television appearances include Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979); the ITV
sitcom The Other 'Arf
(1980–84), with Lorraine Chase
; The Choir (1995) and King Solomon's Mines (2004). In the United States, he made guest appearances in numerous weekly programmes including L.A. Law
, Civil Wars and Murder She Wrote, and co-starred briefly with Robert Wagner
and Samantha Smith
in the action series Lime Street (1985).
He appeared in the 1987 film Nightflyers
adapted from a short story by George R.R. Martin. In July 2010 it was confirmed that he would be appearing as Jon Arryn in the HBO series Game of Thrones
, based on Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire
novels.
Standing appeared on the tracks "Elements" and "Ramblin' Man
" on electronica
duo Lemon Jelly
's album Lost Horizons.
, the country house in Buckinghamshire
famous as the World War II Enigma
code-breaking centre. He married Jill Melford in 1961; they divorced in 1972. They had a son. In 1984 he married Sarah Kate Forbes, the daughter of film director Bryan Forbes
and actress Nanette Newman
and the sister of television presenter Emma Forbes; they have three children.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Early life
Standing was born John Ronald Leon in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the son of Kay Hammond (née Dorothy Katherine Standing), an actress, and Sir Ronald George Leon, a stockbroker. He is from a distinguished acting family on his mother's side, including his great-grandfather Herbert Standing
Herbert Standing
Herbert Standing was a British stage and screen actor and the patriarch of the Standing family of actors. He was the father of numerous children who many of them had careers in the theatre and/or in cinema...
(1846–1923) and his grandfather, Sir Guy Standing
Guy Standing
Commander Sir Guy Standing KBE RNVR was an English actor.-Biography:Standing served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve throughout the First World War, reaching the rank of Commander. In 1918, he was part of the British War Mission to the United States...
(1873–1937).
He was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Millfield School, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, later serving in the King's Royal Rifle Corps
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
as a 2nd Lieutenant, before going to study at London's Byam Shaw School of the Arts
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...
.
Career
Standing began as an extra in Peter BrookPeter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
’s 1955 production of Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, and possibly George Peele, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy, and is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent and bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were...
starring Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
and wife Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
and later played leading parts in Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
's The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
, Ring Around the Moon, A Sense of Detachment by John Osborne
John Osborne
John James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre....
, and Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
, with Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
. He made his film debut in The Wild and the Willing (1962), going on to appear in King Rat (1965), The Psychopath (1966), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), The Elephant Man (1980), Nightflyers (1987), Mrs. Dalloway (1997), and A Good Woman (2004).
One of his first major television role was as Sidney Godolphin
Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin
Sir Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, KG, PC was a leading English politician of the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
twelve part serial, The First Churchills
The First Churchills
The First Churchills was a BBC serial from 1969 about the life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and his wife, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough...
(1969). Other television appearances include Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979); the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
sitcom The Other 'Arf
The Other 'Arf
The Other 'Arf is a British television ITV sitcom series broadcast from 1980 to 1984. It stars John Standing as upper class Conservative politician Charles Latimer, MP, who begins a relationship with working class cockney Lorraine Watts .The series was produced by ATV , and was screened...
(1980–84), with Lorraine Chase
Lorraine Chase
Lorraine Chase is an English actress and model. She became well known for her strong cockney accent and frequent use of cockney slang, and found fame through a series of television commercials for Campari before embarking on an acting career.-Television:After initially working as a model, Chase...
; The Choir (1995) and King Solomon's Mines (2004). In the United States, he made guest appearances in numerous weekly programmes including L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
, Civil Wars and Murder She Wrote, and co-starred briefly with Robert Wagner
Robert Wagner
Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
and Samantha Smith
Samantha Smith
Samantha Reed Smith was an American schoolgirl and child actress from Manchester, Maine, who became famous in the Cold War-era United States and Soviet Union...
in the action series Lime Street (1985).
He appeared in the 1987 film Nightflyers
Nightflyers
Nightflyers is the title of a 1980 novella by George R. R. Martin, a 1985 anthology by the same author that includes the novella, and a 1987 science fiction-horror film based on that novella.-Collection:The collection contains the following stories:...
adapted from a short story by George R.R. Martin. In July 2010 it was confirmed that he would be appearing as Jon Arryn in the HBO series Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones (TV series)
Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...
, based on Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire
A Song of Ice and Fire
A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the series in 1991 and the first volume was published in 1996. Originally planned as a trilogy, the series now consists of five published volumes; a further two...
novels.
Standing appeared on the tracks "Elements" and "Ramblin' Man
Ramblin' Man (Lemon Jelly song)
"Ramblin' Man" is a song by Lemon Jelly, from their first studio album Lost Horizons, released in 2002. It features a conversation between an interviewer and 'John', the Ramblin' Man , during which 'John' lists 67 places around the world.When listed in the order in which the...
" on electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
duo Lemon Jelly
Lemon Jelly
Lemon Jelly is a British electronic music duo from London, formed in 1998. Since their inception, the band's line-up has included Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen. Lemon Jelly has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and BRIT Awards....
's album Lost Horizons.
Personal life
He succeeded his father as the 4th baronet in 1964. He does not use the title. The Leon family were, until 1937, owners of Bletchley ParkBletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
, the country house in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
famous as the World War II Enigma
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
code-breaking centre. He married Jill Melford in 1961; they divorced in 1972. They had a son. In 1984 he married Sarah Kate Forbes, the daughter of film director Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes, CBE is an English film director, actor and writer.-Career:Bryan Forbes was born John Theobald Clarke on 22 July 1926 in Queen Mary's Hospital, Stratford, West Ham, Essex , and grew up at 43 Cranmer Road, Forest Gate, West Ham, Essex .Forbes trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of...
and actress Nanette Newman
Nanette Newman
-Early life:Newman was born in Northampton, England. She was educated at Sternhold College, the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts stage school and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.-Career:...
and the sister of television presenter Emma Forbes; they have three children.
Film roles
- The Wild and the WillingThe Wild and the WillingThe Wild and the Willing is a 1962 British romantic drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Virginia Maskell, Paul Rogers, Ian McShane, Samantha Eggar and John Hurt. It marked the film debut of McShane, who later became famous for his television roles in Lovejoy and Deadwood...
(1962) - A Pair of BriefsA Pair of BriefsA Pair of Briefs is a 1962 British legal comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Michael Craig, Mary Peach, Brenda De Banzie and James Robertson Justice...
(1962) - The Iron Maiden (1962)
- Hot Enough for JuneHot Enough for JuneHot Enough for June is a 1964 British spy comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and featuring Dirk Bogarde, Sylva Koscina, Robert Morley, Leo McKern, John Le Mesurier and Roger Delgado. It was based on the 1960 novel "The Night of Wenceslas" by Lionel Davidson and directed by Ralph Thomas. It was...
(1964) - King Rat (1965)
- The PsychopathThe PsychopathThe Psychopath is a 1966 film directed by Freddie Francis and written by Robert Bloch. It stars Patrick Wymark and Margaret Johnston.It deals with a police inspector who investigates a string of murders where the victims have dolls attached to their bodies. The trail soon leads to one Mrs...
(1966) - Walk Don't RunWalk Don't RunWalk, Don't Run is a 1966 comedy film set in Tokyo during the Olympic Games in 1964. The movie marked the last appearance by Cary Grant in a feature film, and is a remake of the 1943 film The More the Merrier.-Plot:...
(1966) - Torture GardenTorture Garden (film)Torture Garden is a 1967 British horror film made by Amicus Productions. It was directed by Freddie Francis and scripted by Robert Bloch. It stars Burgess Meredith, Jack Palance, Michael Ripper, Beverly Adams, Peter Cushing, Maurice Denham, Ursula Howells, Michael Bryant and Barbara Ewing...
(1967) - A Touch of LoveA Touch of Love (1969 film)A Touch of Love is a 1969 British drama film directed by Waris Hussein, adapted by Margaret Drabble from her novel The Millstone . It was entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival.-Plot:...
(1969) - All the Right NoisesAll the Right NoisesAll the Right Noises is a 1971 British drama film directed by Gerry O'Hara and starring Tom Bell, Olivia Hussey, Judy Carne and John Standing.-Cast:* Tom Bell - Len Lewin* Olivia Hussey - Val* Judy Carne - Joy Lewin* John Standing - Bernie...
(1971) - Rogue MaleRogue Male (1976 film)Rogue Male is a 1976 British television film starring Peter O'Toole, based on Geoffrey Household's novel Rogue Male. Made by the BBC, it was adapted by Frederic Raphael and directed by Clive Donner, and also stars Alastair Sim, John Standing and Harold Pinter...
(1976) - The Eagle Has LandedThe Eagle Has LandedThe Eagle Has Landed is a book by Jack Higgins set during World War II. It first published in 1975. It was made into a film of the same name in 1976 starring Michael Caine...
(1976) - The Class of Miss MacMichaelThe Class of Miss MacMichaelThe Class of Miss MacMichael is a 1978 British comedy drama film directed by Silvio Narizzano and starring Glenda Jackson, Oliver Reed and Michael Murphy. It was based on a novel by Sandy Hutson. The film depicts the attempts of an idealistic teacher, Miss MacMichael, to inspire her pupils in an...
(1978) - The Legacy (1979)
- The Elephant ManThe Elephant Man (film)The Elephant Man is a 1980 American drama film based on the true story of Joseph Merrick , a severely deformed man in 19th century London...
(1980) - The Sea WolvesThe Sea WolvesThe Sea Wolves is a 1980 war film starring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and David Niven. The film is based on the book Boarding Party by James Leasor, which itself is based on a real incident which took place in World War II...
(1980) - The Young Visitors (1984)
- NightflyersNightflyersNightflyers is the title of a 1980 novella by George R. R. Martin, a 1985 anthology by the same author that includes the novella, and a 1987 science fiction-horror film based on that novella.-Collection:The collection contains the following stories:...
(1987) - Chaplin (1992)
- The Man Who Knew Too LittleThe Man Who Knew Too LittleThe Man Who Knew Too Little is a 1997 American comedy espionage film starring Bill Murray, directed by Jon Amiel, and written by Robert Farrar and Howard Franklin...
(1997) - Mrs DallowayMrs DallowayMrs Dalloway is a novel by Virginia Woolf that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway in post-World War I England. It is one of Woolf's best-known novels....
(1997) - Mad Cows (1999)
- 8½ Women8½ Women8½ Women is a 1999 comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Greenaway, and starring John Standing, Matthew Delamere, and Vivian Wu. The international co-production was entered into the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:After the death of his wife , wealthy businessman Philip Emmenthal 8½...
(1999) - Rogue TraderRogue Trader (film)Rogue Trader is a 1999 drama film directed by James Dearden about former derivatives broker Nick Leeson and the 1995 collapse of Barings Bank...
(1999) - Queen's MessengerQueen's MessengerThe Corps of Queen's Messengers are couriers employed by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. They hand-carry secret and important documents to British embassies and consulates around the world. Many Queen's Messengers are retired Army personnel...
(2002) - A Good WomanA Good Woman (film)A Good Woman is a 2004 drama film directed by Mike Barker. The screenplay by Howard Himelstein is based on the 1892 play Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde...
(2004) - V for VendettaV for Vendetta (film)V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd...
(2005) - LassieLassie (2005 film)Lassie is a 2005 family-based film directed by Charles Sturridge. When a family hits financial crisis, they have no choice but to sell Lassie...
(2005) - I Want Candy (2007)
- Outlaw (2007)
Television roles
- The AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
- The SaintThe Saint (TV series)The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
- Danger ManDanger ManDanger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
- The First ChurchillsThe First ChurchillsThe First Churchills was a BBC serial from 1969 about the life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and his wife, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough...
- Space: 1999Space: 1999Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
- Van der Valk
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpyTinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpyTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a 1974 British spy novel by John le Carré, featuring George Smiley. Smiley is a middle-aged, taciturn, perspicacious intelligence expert in forced retirement. He is recalled to hunt down a Soviet mole in the "Circus", the highest echelon of the Secret Intelligence...
- LA Law
- Murder She Wrote
- A Dance to the Music of TimeA Dance to the Music of TimeA Dance to the Music of Time is a twelve-volume cycle of novels by Anthony Powell, inspired by the painting of the same name by Nicolas Poussin. One of the longest works of fiction in literature, it was published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim...
- NYPD BlueNYPD BlueNYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
- Midsomer MurdersMidsomer MurdersMidsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
- Game of ThronesGame of Thrones (TV series)Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones, the television series debuted in...