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
The Elephant Man
Fox
Chaplin
Butler
The Man Who Knew Too Little
Embleton
The Contractor
Sir Anthony
The Eagle Has Landed
Father Verecker
King Lear
Butler
Scoop
Garden Party Guest
Lassie
French
8 ½ Women
Philip Emmenthal
A Good Woman
Dumby
The Sea Wolves
Finley
The Great Escaper
Arthur
Rogue Trader
Peter Baring
The Happy Prince
Dr. Tucker
King Rat
Daven
I Want Candy
Michael de Vere
Hot Enough for June
Men's Room Attendant
The Gathering Storm
Lord Moyne
Longitude
Capt. Proctor
Queen & Country
Grandfather George
Mrs. Dalloway
Richard Dalloway
Pandaemonium
Rev Holland
The Class Of Miss MacMichael
Charles Fairbrother
The Legacy
Jason Mountolive
Chameleons
Henry
Nightflyers
D'Branin
Torture Garden
Leo Winston (segment 3 "Mr. Steinway")
The Hippopotamus
Podmore
Walk Don't Run
Julius D. Haversack
The Shadow in the North
Webster Garland
Au Pair Girls
Buster
Mad Cows
Politician
Zee and Co.
Gordon
Churchill's Secret
Lord Camrose
The Calling
Jack Plummer
Visitors
Jack
Night of the Fox
Alan Stacey
Rogue Male
Major Quive-Smith
The Woman In White
Mr. Gilmore
A Touch of Love
Roger
To Catch a King
The Duke of Windsor
The Wild and the Willing
Arthur
Invitation to the Wedding
1983
The Iron Maiden
Humphrey Gore-Brown
Witness to a Kill
Foreign Secretary
The Psychopath
Mark Von Sturm
Shoreditch
Jenson Thackery
The Endless Game
Belfrage
A Family Affair
Bernard
Privates on Parade
Captain Sholto Savory
The Falklands Play
Rt Hon William Whitelaw CH MC MP (Home Secretary)
Consenting Adults
Lord Goddard
Pygmalion
Colonel Pickering
Queen's Messenger
Foreign Secretary
Can You Hear Me?
Ben
Churchill and the Movie Mogul
Additional Voices (voice)
Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel
Whitfield
A Pair of Briefs
Hubert Shannon
Riders
Malise Gordon
Animal
Dean Frydman
The Biko Inquest
Van Rensburg
The Real Jane Austen
Mr. Austen
Dark Holiday
Charnaud
All the Right Noises
Bernie
The Count of Solar
Coudray
The Sinking of the HMS Victoria
Captain Winsloe
Flapjack Floozie
Dr. Kipper
The Last Resort
Mr. Carpenter (voice)
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
The Avengers
1 eps
Hart to Hart
1 eps
L.A. Law
Nigel Morris · 1 eps
BBC Play of the Month
Jack Chesney · 1 eps
BBC Play of the Month
Cléante · 1 eps
Hotel
1 eps
Hunter
George Franklin · 2 eps
The Wednesday Play
Russ · 1 eps
The Saint
Gendarme · 1 eps
Screen Two
Jack · 1 eps
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Captain Bluntschli · 1 eps
ITV Playhouse
1 eps
Lexx
Count Dracul · 1 eps
Space: 1999
Pasc · 1 eps
The Vice
Paul Weir · 1 eps
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Lord Amberley · 1 eps
BBC2 Play of the Week
Captain Winsloe · 1 eps
Borgia
1 eps
Patrick Melrose
George Watford · 2 eps
Van der Valk
Ehrlich · 1 eps
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Sam Collins · 1 eps
Eerie, Indiana
Professor Nigel Zirchon · 1 eps
Civil Wars
Terrence Hemnings · 1 eps
King Solomon's Mines
Dr. Sam Maitland · 2 eps
Joan of Arc
Archbishop · 2 eps
The Main Chance
Lord Radchester · 1 eps
Longitude
Captain Proctor · 1 eps
Keen Eddie
1 eps
A Dance to the Music of Time
Nicholas Jenkins (older) · 4 eps
Gulliver's Travels
Admiral Bolgolam · 2 eps
In Deep
Ritchie · 2 eps
The Frighteners
Tony Wardle · 1 eps
The Line of Beauty
Lord Kessler · 2 eps
Murphy's Law
1 eps
Paddington Bear
Mr. Brown · 13 eps
Lime Street
Edward Wingate · 8 eps
Trust
Teresa's Father · 1 eps
The Other 'Arf
27 eps
Rosamunde Pilcher: The Other Wife
Lord George Meriot · 2 eps
Love in a Cold Climate
Lord Montdore · 2 eps
The First Churchills
Sidney Godolphin · 12 eps
Shillingbury Tales
Dick Firman · 1 eps
Fallen Angel
Voice of Francis Youlgreave · 3 eps
Tonight at 8.30
Toby Cartwright · 1 eps
The Endless Game
Belfrage · 2 eps
Armchair Theatre
Sutcliffe · 1 eps
The Woman In White
Mr. Gilmore · 2 eps
The Choir
Bishop Robert Young · 5 eps
Beryl Reid
1 eps