John Standing
Acting
Born: August 16, 1934 (age 92) · London, England, UK
Highest Rated
Biography
Sir John Ronald Leon, 4th Baronet (born 16 August 1934) is an English actor and baronet who is known as John Standing. He is the stepson of John Clements. Standing was born in London, the son of Kay Hammond (née Dorothy Katherine Standing), an actress, and Sir Ronald George Leon, 3rd Baronet, a stockbroker descended from Sir Herbert Leon, the builder of Bletchley Park. He succeeded his father as the 4th baronet in 1964, but does not use the title. The Leon family were, until 1937, owners of Bletchley Park, the country house in Buckinghamshire used in the Second World War as a code-breaking centre. He was educated at Eton College and Millfield School, Somerset. He served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps as a second lieutenant, before going on to study at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London Standing began his career in Peter Brook'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, Christopher Fry's Ring Round the Moon, A Sense of Detachment by John Osborne, and Noël Coward's Private Lives, with Maggie Smith. He was nominated for an Olivier award (1979) for Close of Play at the National Theatre. He made his film debut in The Wild and the Willing (1962), going on to appear in King Rat (1965), Walk, Don't Run (1966), 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 roles 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). In 1976, he also appeared opposite Peter O'Toole in the little-seen BBC thriller film, Rogue Male, directed by Clive Donner. He appeared in the horror film Nightflyers (1987) adapted from a short story by George R. R. Martin. In 2002, he had a speaking credit on Lost Horizons, the second studio album from the British electronic duo Lemon Jelly. On track 1, "Elements", he lists the basic “elements" that make up the world: ash, metal, water, wood, fire and sky. On track 3, "Ramblin' Man", Standing reads a long list of various locations around the world, ranging from small Sussex villages to major world capitals. 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.
Known for
Game of Thrones
2011
V for Vendetta
2006
The Elephant Man
1980
The Crown
2016
Scoop
2006
Chaplin
1992
The Man Who Knew Too Little
1997
Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989
Murder, She Wrote
1984
The Eagle Has Landed
1976
Midsomer Murders
1997
Patrick Melrose
2018
Photos (4)
Movies (70)
V for Vendetta
Lilliman
King Lear
Butler
The Elephant Man
Fox
The Great Escaper
Arthur
The Eagle Has Landed
Father Verecker
The Contractor
Sir Anthony
Scoop
Garden Party Guest
Chaplin
Butler
The Man Who Knew Too Little
Embleton
The Sea Wolves
Finley
The Happy Prince
Dr. Tucker
A Good Woman
Dumby
A Touch of Love
Roger
The Legacy
Jason Mountolive
Lassie
French
The Shadow in the North
Webster Garland
I Want Candy
Michael de Vere
The Gathering Storm
Lord Moyne
Queen & Country
Grandfather George
To Catch a King
The Duke of Windsor
Hot Enough for June
Men's Room Attendant
Longitude
Capt. Proctor
Rogue Trader
Peter Baring
Torture Garden
Leo Winston (segment 3 "Mr. Steinway")
The Calling
Jack Plummer
King Rat
Daven
The Hippopotamus
Podmore
8 ½ Women
Philip Emmenthal
Nightflyers
D'Branin
Walk Don't Run
Julius D. Haversack
The Woman In White
Mr. Gilmore
Shoreditch
Jenson Thackery
A Pair of Briefs
Hubert Shannon
Witness to a Kill
Foreign Secretary
The Iron Maiden
Humphrey Gore-Brown
Au Pair Girls
Buster
All the Right Noises
Bernie
Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel
Whitfield
Mrs. Dalloway
Richard Dalloway
Night of the Fox
Alan Stacey
Riders
Malise Gordon
Zee and Co.
Gordon
Pandaemonium
Rev Holland
Rogue Male
Major Quive-Smith
Churchill and the Movie Mogul
Additional Voices (voice)
Mad Cows
Politician
Invitation to the Wedding
1983
Animal
Dean Frydman
Chameleons
Henry
The Wild and the Willing
Arthur
The Class Of Miss MacMichael
Charles Fairbrother
The Psychopath
Mark Von Sturm
Churchill's Secret
Lord Camrose
The Real Jane Austen
Mr. Austen
The Count of Solar
Coudray
The Endless Game
Belfrage
Can You Hear Me?
Ben
Flapjack Floozie
Dr. Kipper
The Biko Inquest
Van Rensburg
Visitors
Jack
The Falklands Play
Rt Hon William Whitelaw CH MC MP (Home Secretary)
Privates on Parade
Captain Sholto Savory
Consenting Adults
Lord Goddard
Pygmalion
Colonel Pickering
A Family Affair
Bernard
The Last Resort
Mr. Carpenter (voice)
The Sinking of the HMS Victoria
Captain Winsloe
Dark Holiday
Charnaud
Queen's Messenger
Foreign Secretary
May… I Have This Dance?
Narrator
TV Shows (56)
Game of Thrones
Jon Arryn · 1 eps
Midsomer Murders
Charles Rust · 1 eps
Midsomer Murders
Will Tunstall · 1 eps
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Colonnel Toby Luttrell · 1 eps
Murder, She Wrote
Arthur Constable · 1 eps
Murder, She Wrote
Chief Daniel Trent · 1 eps
The Crown
Imbert-Terry · 1 eps
L.A. Law
Nigel Morris · 1 eps
The Avengers
1 eps
The Saint
Gendarme · 1 eps
Hart to Hart
1 eps
BBC Play of the Month
Jack Chesney · 1 eps
BBC Play of the Month
Cléante · 1 eps
The Wednesday Play
Russ · 1 eps
Hotel
1 eps
ITV Playhouse
1 eps
Hunter
George Franklin · 2 eps
Screen Two
Jack · 1 eps
Lexx
Count Dracul · 1 eps
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Captain Bluntschli · 1 eps
Space: 1999
Pasc · 1 eps
Patrick Melrose
George Watford · 2 eps
BBC2 Play of the Week
Captain Winsloe · 1 eps
Eerie, Indiana
Professor Nigel Zirchon · 1 eps
Borgia
1 eps
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Lord Amberley · 1 eps
Van der Valk
Ehrlich · 1 eps
The Vice
Paul Weir · 1 eps
The Main Chance
Lord Radchester · 1 eps
Civil Wars
Terrence Hemnings · 1 eps
Joan of Arc
Archbishop · 2 eps
Keen Eddie
1 eps
Gulliver's Travels
Admiral Bolgolam · 2 eps
The First Churchills
Sidney Godolphin · 12 eps
King Solomon's Mines
Dr. Sam Maitland · 2 eps
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Sam Collins · 1 eps
The Frighteners
Tony Wardle · 1 eps
Longitude
Captain Proctor · 1 eps
In Deep
Ritchie · 2 eps
The Line of Beauty
Lord Kessler · 2 eps
A Dance to the Music of Time
Nicholas Jenkins (older) · 4 eps
Lime Street
Edward Wingate · 8 eps
Trust
Teresa's Father · 1 eps
Paddington Bear
Mr. Brown · 13 eps
Love in a Cold Climate
Lord Montdore · 2 eps
The Choir
Bishop Robert Young · 5 eps
Shillingbury Tales
Dick Firman · 1 eps
Murphy's Law
1 eps
Fallen Angel
Voice of Francis Youlgreave · 3 eps
Armchair Theatre
Sutcliffe · 1 eps
The Other 'Arf
27 eps
Tonight at 8.30
Toby Cartwright · 1 eps
The Endless Game
Belfrage · 2 eps
Beryl Reid
1 eps
Rosamunde Pilcher: The Other Wife
Lord George Meriot · 2 eps
The Woman In White
Mr. Gilmore · 2 eps