John Standing

John Standing

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.

The Great Escaper
2023
Arthur
May… I Have This Dance?
2020
Narrator
A Family Affair
2019
Bernard
Churchill and the Movie Mogul
2019
Additional Voices
The Happy Prince
2018
Dr. Tucker
King Lear
2018
Butler
The Hippopotamus
2017
Podmore
Churchill's Secret
2016
Lord Camrose
Queen & Country
2014
Grandfather George
The Last Resort
2014
Mr. Carpenter (voice)
The Shadow in the North
2007
Webster Garland
The Contractor
2007
Sir Anthony
I Want Candy
2007
Michael de Vere
Consenting Adults
2007
Lord Goddard
V for Vendetta
2006
Lilliman
Scoop
2006
Garden Party Guest
Lassie
2005
French
Animal
2005
Dean Frydman
A Good Woman
2004
Dumby
Shoreditch
2003
Jenson Thackery
The Falklands Play
2002
Rt Hon William Whitelaw CH MC MP (Home Secretary)
The Real Jane Austen
2002
Mr. Austen
The Gathering Storm
2002
Lord Moyne
Pandaemonium
2001
Rev Holland
Queen's Messenger
2001
Foreign Secretary
Witness to a Kill
2001
Foreign Secretary
The Calling
2000
Jack Plummer
Longitude
2000
Capt. Proctor
Rogue Trader
1999
Peter Baring
8 ½ Women
1999
Philip Emmenthal
Mad Cows
1999
Politician
The Man Who Knew Too Little
1997
Embleton
Mrs. Dalloway
1997
Richard Dalloway
The Woman In White
1997
Mr. Gilmore
Riders
1993
Malise Gordon
Chaplin
1992
Butler
The Count of Solar
1992
Coudray
Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel
1992
Whitfield
Night of the Fox
1990
Alan Stacey
The Endless Game
1989
Belfrage
Dark Holiday
1989
Charnaud
Chameleons
1989
Henry
Flapjack Floozie
1988
Dr. Kipper
Nightflyers
1987
D'Branin
Visitors
1987
Jack
To Catch a King
1984
The Duke of Windsor
The Biko Inquest
1984
Van Rensburg
Privates on Parade
1983
Captain Sholto Savory
Invitation to the Wedding
1983
Pygmalion
1983
Colonel Pickering
The Elephant Man
1980
Fox
The Sea Wolves
1980
Finley
The Class Of Miss MacMichael
1979
Charles Fairbrother
The Legacy
1978
Jason Mountolive
The Sinking of the HMS Victoria
1977
Captain Winsloe
The Eagle Has Landed
1976
Father Verecker
Rogue Male
1976
Major Quive-Smith
Au Pair Girls
1972
Buster
Zee and Co.
1971
Gordon
All the Right Noises
1970
Bernie
A Touch of Love
1969
Roger
Torture Garden
1967
Leo Winston (segment 3 "Mr. Steinway")
Walk Don't Run
1966
Julius D. Haversack
The Psychopath
1966
Mark Von Sturm
King Rat
1965
Daven
Hot Enough for June
1964
Men's Room Attendant
The Iron Maiden
1963
Humphrey Gore-Brown
The Wild and the Willing
1962
Arthur
A Pair of Briefs
1962
Hubert Shannon