John Standing
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Aug 16, 1934 (age 92)
- Place of birth
- London, England, UK
- Credits
- 132
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
Filmography
Can You Hear Me?
2025Movie
Ben
The Great Escaper
2023Movie
Arthur
May… I Have This Dance?
2020Movie
Narrator
A Family Affair
2019Movie
Bernard
Churchill and the Movie Mogul
2019Movie
Additional Voices (voice)
King Lear
2018Movie
Butler
Patrick Melrose
2018TV
George Watford
The Happy Prince
2018Movie
Dr. Tucker
The Hippopotamus
2017Movie
Podmore
The Crown
2016TV
Imbert-Terry
Churchill's Secret
2016Movie
Lord Camrose
Queen & Country
2015Movie
Grandfather George
The Last Resort
2014Movie
Mr. Carpenter (voice)
Rosamunde Pilcher: The Other Wife
2012TV
Lord George Meriot
Borgia
2011TV
Game of Thrones
2011TV
Jon Arryn
The Shadow in the North
2007Movie
Webster Garland
Consenting Adults
2007Movie
Lord Goddard
The Contractor
2007Movie
Sir Anthony
I Want Candy
2007Movie
Michael de Vere
Fallen Angel
2007TV
Voice of Francis Youlgreave
Rabbit Fever
2006Movie
Ally's dad
Scoop
2006Movie
Garden Party Guest
The Line of Beauty
2006TV
Lord Kessler
V for Vendetta
2006Movie
Lilliman
Lassie
2005Movie
French
Animal
2005Movie
Dean Frydman
A Good Woman
2004Movie
Dumby
King Solomon's Mines
2004TV
Dr. Sam Maitland
Shoreditch
2003Movie
Jenson Thackery
Keen Eddie
2003TV
Trust
2003TV
Teresa's Father
The Real Jane Austen
2002Movie
Mr. Austen
The Gathering Storm
2002Movie
Lord Moyne
The Falklands Play
2002Movie
Rt Hon William Whitelaw CH MC MP (Home Secretary)
Witness to a Kill
2001Movie
Foreign Secretary
Pandaemonium
2001Movie
Rev Holland
Queen's Messenger
2001Movie
Foreign Secretary
In Deep
2001TV
Ritchie
Love in a Cold Climate
2001TV
Lord Montdore
The Calling
2000Movie
Jack Plummer
Longitude
2000Movie
Capt. Proctor
Longitude
2000TV
Captain Proctor
Mad Cows
1999Movie
Politician
Rogue Trader
1999Movie
Peter Baring
8 ½ Women
1999Movie
Philip Emmenthal
Joan of Arc
1999TV
Archbishop
The Vice
1999TV
Paul Weir
The Woman In White
1997Movie
Mr. Gilmore
The Woman In White
1997TV
Mr. Gilmore
The Man Who Knew Too Little
1997Movie
Embleton
A Dance to the Music of Time
1997TV
Nicholas Jenkins (older)
Mrs. Dalloway
1997Movie
Richard Dalloway
Lexx
1997TV
Count Dracul
Midsomer Murders
1997TV
Charles Rust, Will Tunstall
Gulliver's Travels
1996TV
Admiral Bolgolam
Look at the State We're In!
1995TV
Dr Smith
The Choir
1995TV
Bishop Robert Young
Riders
1993Movie
Malise Gordon
Chaplin
1992Movie
Butler
The Old Boy Network
1992TV
The Count of Solar
1992Movie
Coudray
Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel
1992Movie
Whitfield
Civil Wars
1991TV
Terrence Hemnings
Eerie, Indiana
1991TV
Professor Nigel Zirchon
Tonight at 8.30
1991TV
Toby Cartwright
Night of the Fox
1990Movie
Alan Stacey
Chameleons
1989Movie
Henry
Paddington Bear
1989TV
Mr. Brown
The Endless Game
1989Movie
Belfrage
The Endless Game
1989TV
Belfrage
Dark Holiday
1989Movie
Charnaud
Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989TV
Colonnel Toby Luttrell
Murphy's Law
1988TV
Flapjack Floozie
1988Movie
Dr. Kipper
Nightflyers
1987Movie
D'Branin
Visitors
1987Movie
Jack
L.A. Law
1986TV
Nigel Morris
Lime Street
1985TV
Edward Wingate
Screen Two
1985TV
Jack
The Biko Inquest
1984Movie
Van Rensburg
Murder, She Wrote
1984TV
Arthur Constable, Chief Daniel Trent
Hunter
1984TV
George Franklin
To Catch a King
1984Movie
The Duke of Windsor
Pygmalion
1983Movie
Colonel Pickering
Privates on Parade
1983Movie
Captain Sholto Savory
Invitation to the Wedding
1983Movie
Hotel
1982TV
Shillingbury Tales
1981TV
Dick Firman
The Elephant Man
1980Movie
Fox
The Sea Wolves
1980Movie
Finley
The Other 'Arf
1980TV
Hart to Hart
1979TV
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
1979TV
Sam Collins
The Class Of Miss MacMichael
1978Movie
Charles Fairbrother
The Legacy
1978Movie
Jason Mountolive
Beryl Reid
1977TV
The Sinking of the HMS Victoria
1977Movie
Captain Winsloe
BBC2 Play of the Week
1977TV
Captain Winsloe
Nanny's Boy
1977Movie
John Tallwatch
Jubilee 1977
1977TV
John Tallwatch
The Eagle Has Landed
1976Movie
Father Verecker
Rogue Male
1976Movie
Major Quive-Smith
Space: 1999
1975TV
Pasc
Van der Valk
1972TV
Ehrlich
The Frighteners
1972TV
Tony Wardle
Au Pair Girls
1972Movie
Buster
Zee and Co.
1972Movie
Gordon
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
1971TV
Lord Amberley
All the Right Noises
1970Movie
Bernie
Wine of India
1970Movie
Russ
Charley's Aunt
1969Movie
Jack Chesney
The First Churchills
1969TV
Sidney Godolphin
A Touch of Love
1969Movie
Roger
The Main Chance
1969TV
Lord Radchester
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969TV
Captain Bluntschli
Torture Garden
1967Movie
Leo Winston (segment 3 "Mr. Steinway")
ITV Playhouse
1967TV
Walk Don't Run
1966Movie
Julius D. Haversack
The Psychopath
1966Movie
Mark Von Sturm
King Rat
1965Movie
Daven
BBC Play of the Month
1965TV
Jack Chesney, Cléante
The Wednesday Play
1964TV
Russ
Hot Enough for June
1964Movie
Men's Room Attendant
Sharp at Four
1964Movie
Sutcliffe
The Iron Maiden
1963Movie
Humphrey Gore-Brown
The Wild and the Willing
1962Movie
Arthur
The Saint
1962TV
Gendarme
A Pair of Briefs
1962Movie
Hubert Shannon
Drama 61-67
1961TV
Ronald Brook
The Avengers
1961TV
Armchair Theatre
1956TV
Sutcliffe