
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.
Known For
Credits
- 2024 · Can You Hear Me? as Ben
- 2023 · The Great Escaper as Arthur
- 2020 · May… I Have This Dance? as Narrator
- 2019 · A Family Affair as Bernard
- 2019 · Churchill and the Movie Mogul as Additional Voices
- 2018 · King Lear as Butler
- 2018 · Patrick Melrose as George Watford
- 2018 · The Happy Prince as Dr. Tucker
- 2017 · The Hippopotamus as Podmore
- 2016 · The Crown as Imbert-Terry
- 2016 · Churchill's Secret as Lord Camrose
- 2014 · The Last Resort as Mr. Carpenter (voice)
- 2014 · Queen & Country as Grandfather George
- 2012 · Rosamunde Pilcher: The Other Wife as Lord George Meriot
- 2011 · Borgia as
- 2011 · Game of Thrones as Jon Arryn
- 2007 · The Shadow in the North as Webster Garland
- 2007 · Consenting Adults as Lord Goddard
- 2007 · The Contractor as Sir Anthony
- 2007 · I Want Candy as Michael de Vere
- 2007 · Fallen Angel as Voice of Francis Youlgreave
- 2006 · Rabbit Fever as Ally's dad
- 2006 · Scoop as Garden Party Guest
- 2006 · The Line of Beauty as Lord Kessler
- 2006 · V for Vendetta as Lilliman
- 2005 · Lassie as French
- 2005 · Animal as Dean Frydman
- 2004 · A Good Woman as Dumby
- 2004 · King Solomon's Mines as Dr. Sam Maitland
- 2003 · Shoreditch as Jenson Thackery
- 2003 · Keen Eddie as
- 2002 · The Real Jane Austen as Mr. Austen
- 2002 · The Gathering Storm as Lord Moyne
- 2002 · The Falklands Play as Rt Hon William Whitelaw CH MC MP (Home Secretary)
- 2001 · Pandaemonium as Rev Holland
- 2001 · Queen's Messenger as Foreign Secretary
- 2001 · In Deep as Ritchie
- 2001 · Love in a Cold Climate as Lord Montdore
- 2000 · The Calling as Jack Plummer
- 2000 · Longitude as Capt. Proctor
- 1999 · Mad Cows as Politician
- 1999 · Rogue Trader as Peter Baring
- 1999 · 8 ½ Women as Philip Emmenthal
- 1999 · Joan of Arc as Archbishop
- 1999 · The Vice as
- 1997 · The Man Who Knew Too Little as Embleton
- 1997 · A Dance to the Music of Time as Nicholas Jenkins (older)
- 1997 · Mrs. Dalloway as Richard Dalloway
- 1997 · Lexx as Count Dracul
- 1997 · Midsomer Murders as Charles Rust
- 1997 · Midsomer Murders as Will Tunstall
- 1997 · The Woman In White as Mr. Gilmore
- 1996 · Gulliver's Travels as Admiral Bolgolam
- 1995 · The Choir as Bishop Robert Young
- 1993 · Riders as Malise Gordon
- 1992 · Chaplin as Butler
- 1992 · Old Boy Network as
- 1992 · The Count of Solar as Coudray
- 1992 · Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel as Whitfield
- 1991 · Eerie, Indiana as Professor Nigel Zirchon
- 1990 · Night of the Fox as Alan Stacey
- 1989 · Chameleons as Henry
- 1989 · Paddington Bear as Mr. Brown
- 1989 · The Endless Game as Belfrage
- 1989 · Dark Holiday as Charnaud
- 1989 · Agatha Christie's Poirot as Colonnel Toby Luttrell
- 1988 · Murphy's Law as
- 1988 · Flapjack Floozie as Dr. Kipper
- 1987 · Nightflyers as D'Branin
- 1987 · Visitors as Jack
- 1986 · L.A. Law as Nigel Morris
- 1985 · Lime Street as Edward Wingate
- 1984 · The Biko Inquest as Van Rensburg
- 1984 · Murder, She Wrote as Arthur Constable
- 1984 · Murder, She Wrote as Chief Daniel Trent
- 1984 · Hunter as George Franklin
- 1984 · To Catch a King as The Duke of Windsor
- 1983 · Pygmalion as Colonel Pickering
- 1983 · Privates on Parade as Captain Sholto Savory
- 1983 · Invitation to the Wedding as
- 1982 · Hotel as
- 1980 · The Elephant Man as Fox
- 1980 · The Sea Wolves as Finley
- 1980 · The Other 'Arf as
- 1980 · Shillingbury Tales as
- 1979 · Hart to Hart as
- 1979 · Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as
- 1979 · The Class Of Miss MacMichael as Charles Fairbrother
- 1978 · The Legacy as Jason Mountolive
- 1977 · Beryl Reid as
- 1977 · The Sinking of the HMS Victoria as Captain Winsloe
- 1976 · The Eagle Has Landed as Father Verecker
- 1976 · Rogue Male as Major Quive-Smith
- 1975 · Space: 1999 as Pasc
- 1972 · Van der Valk as Ehrlich
- 1972 · The Frighteners as Tony Wardle
- 1972 · Au Pair Girls as Buster
- 1971 · The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes as Lord Amberley
- 1971 · Zee and Co. as Gordon
- 1970 · All the Right Noises as Bernie
- 1970 · Wine of India as Russ
- 1969 · Charley's Aunt as Jack Chesney
- 1969 · The First Churchills as Sidney Godolphin
- 1969 · A Touch of Love as Roger
- 1969 · The Main Chance as Lord Radchester
- 1967 · Torture Garden as Leo Winston (segment 3 "Mr. Steinway")
- 1966 · Walk Don't Run as Julius D. Haversack
- 1966 · The Psychopath as Mark Von Sturm
- 1965 · King Rat as Daven
- 1964 · Sharp at Four as Sutcliffe
- 1964 · Hot Enough for June as Men's Room Attendant
- 1963 · The Iron Maiden as Humphrey Gore-Brown
- 1962 · The Wild and the Willing as Arthur
- 1962 · The Saint as Gendarme
- 1962 · A Pair of Briefs as Hubert Shannon
- 1961 · The Avengers as
- 1956 · Armchair Theatre as Sutcliffe