John Standing

John Standing
Sir John Ronald Leon, 4th Baronet (born 16 August 1934) is an English actor who is known as John Standing. He is the stepson of John Clements.
Early life
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.
Career
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.
Filmography
Film roles
A Pair of Briefs (1962) – Hubert Shannon
The Wild and the Willing (1962) – Arthur
The Iron Maiden (1962) – Humphrey Gore-Brown
Hot Enough for June (1964) – Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
King Rat (1965) – Daven
The Psychopath (1966) – Mark Von Sturm
Walk, Don't Run (1966) – Julius D. Haversack
Torture Garden (1967) – Leo Winston (segment 3 "Mr. Steinway")
A Touch of Love (1969) – Roger Henderson
All the Right Noises (1971) – Nigel
X Y & Zee (1972) – Gordon
Au Pair Girls (1972) – Buster
Rogue Male (1976) – Major Quive-Smith
The Eagle Has Landed (1976) – Father Philip Verecker
Space: 1999, The Mark of Archanon (1976) – Pasc
The Legacy (1978) – Jason Mountolive
The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978) – Charles Fairbrother
The Sea Wolves (1980) – Finley
The Elephant Man (1980) – Fox
Privates on Parade (1983) – Captain Sholto Savory
To Catch a King (1984, TV Movie) – Duke of Windsor
The Young Visiters (1984) – Prince of Wales
Invitation to the Wedding (1985) – Earl Harry
Nightflyers (1987) – Michael D'Brannin
Chaplin (1992) – Butler
Mrs Dalloway (1997) – Richard Dalloway
The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997) – Gilbert Embleton
8½ Women (1999) – Philip Emmenthal
Rogue Trader (1999) – Peter Baring
Mad Cows (1999) – Politician
Pandaemonium (2000) – Rev. Holland
The Calling (2000) – Jack Plummer
Queen's Messenger (2001) – Foreign Secretary
Witness to a Kill (2001) – Foreign Secretary
Shoreditch (2003) – Jenson Thackery
Jack Brown and the Curse of the Crown (2004) – Sheldon Gotti
A Good Woman (2004) – Dumby
Animal (2005) – Dean Frydman
V for Vendetta (2006) – Bishop Anthony Lilliman
Lassie (2005) – French
Scoop (2006) – Garden Party Guests
Rabbit Fever (2006) – Ally's dad
Outlaw (2007) – Captain Mardell
I Want Candy (2007) – Michael de Vere
Before the Rains (2007) – Charles Humphries
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding (2012) – Horace Spigott
Queen and Country (2014) – Grandfather George
The Hippopotamus (2017) – Podmore
The Happy Prince (2018) – Dr. Tucker
The Great Escaper (2023) - Arthur
Television roles
The Avengers (1963) – East
The Saint (1963) – Gendarme
Armchair Theatre (1964) – Siaru
Danger Man (1965) – James
The First Churchills (1969) – Sidney Godolphin
Space: 1999 (1976) – Pasc
Van der Valk (1977) – Ehrlich
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979, TV Mini-Series) – Sam Collins
Pygmalion (1983, TV Movie) – Col. Pickering
Murder, She Wrote (1987–1990) – Chief Daniel Trent / Arthur Constable
The Endless Game (1989) – Belfrage
L.A. Law (1990) – Nigel Morris
The Old Boy Network (1992) – Peter Duckham
Riders (1993, TV Movie) – Malise Gordon
Gulliver's Travels (1996, TV Mini-Series) – Admiral Bolgolam
A Dance to the Music of Time (1997, TV Mini-Series) – Nicholas Jenkins
NYPD Blue (2000) – Jimmy Cheatham
The Real Jane Austen (2002) - Mr. Austen
Midsomer Murders (2004) - Charles Rust - “Bad Tidings”
The Line of Beauty (2006) – Lord Kessler
Midsomer Murders (2009) - Will Tunstall - “The Dogleg Murders”
Game of Thrones (2011) (Episode: "Winter Is Coming") – Jon Arryn (corpse)
Agatha Christie’s Poirot (2013) - Colonel Toby Luttrell - “Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case”
The Crown (2016) – Imbert-Terry
Arms
References
External links
John Standing, photo, filmography, biography and awards; Juggle.com
John Standing(Aveleyman)
1934 births
Alumni of the Byam Shaw School of Art
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
English male film actors
English male television actors
King's Royal Rifle Corps officers
Living people
People educated at Eton College
People educated at Millfield
Male actors from London
Standing family