John Standing
Acting • Born 1934-08-16
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.
Filmography
127 credits
V for Vendetta
Movie • 2006
Lilliman
The Elephant Man
Movie • 1980
Fox
Rogue Trader
Movie • 1999
Peter Baring
8 ½ Women
Movie • 1999
Philip Emmenthal
The Eagle Has Landed
Movie • 1976
Father Verecker
The Man Who Knew Too Little
Movie • 1997
Embleton
The Falklands Play
Movie • 2002
Rt Hon William Whitelaw CH MC MP (Home Secretary)
The Legacy
Movie • 1978
Jason Mountolive
A Good Woman
Movie • 2004
Dumby
Rabbit Fever
Movie • 2006
Ally's dad
Chaplin
Movie • 1992
Butler
All the Right Noises
Movie • 1970
Bernie
Nightflyers
Movie • 1987
D'Branin
Walk Don't Run
Movie • 1966
Julius D. Haversack
Mrs. Dalloway
Movie • 1997
Richard Dalloway
Wine of India
Movie • 1970
Russ
The Calling
Movie • 2000
Jack Plummer
The Shadow in the North
Movie • 2007
Webster Garland
Longitude
Movie • 2000
Capt. Proctor
Privates on Parade
Movie • 1983
Captain Sholto Savory
The Psychopath
Movie • 1966
Mark Von Sturm
Shoreditch
Movie • 2003
Jenson Thackery
Rogue Male
Movie • 1976
Major Quive-Smith
The Iron Maiden
Movie • 1963
Humphrey Gore-Brown
Night of the Fox
Movie • 1990
Alan Stacey
The Great Escaper
Movie • 2023
Arthur
A Touch of Love
Movie • 1969
Roger
The Class Of Miss MacMichael
Movie • 1979
Charles Fairbrother
The Count of Solar
Movie • 1992
Coudray
The Real Jane Austen
Movie • 2002
Mr. Austen
To Catch a King
Movie • 1984
The Duke of Windsor
The Contractor
Movie • 2007
Sir Anthony
Can You Hear Me?
Movie • 2025
Ben
The Wild and the Willing
Movie • 1962
Arthur
Invitation to the Wedding
Movie • 1983
Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel
Movie • 1992
Whitfield
Queen & Country
Movie • 2015
Grandfather George
Torture Garden
Movie • 1967
Leo Winston (segment 3 "Mr. Steinway")
Charley's Aunt
Movie • 1969
Jack Chesney
Lassie
Movie • 2005
French
I Want Candy
Movie • 2007
Michael de Vere
Sharp at Four
Movie • 1964
Sutcliffe
Visitors
Movie • 1987
Jack
Scoop
Movie • 2006
Garden Party Guest
Churchill's Secret
Movie • 2016
Lord Camrose
Consenting Adults
Movie • 2007
Lord Goddard
The Gathering Storm
Movie • 2002
Lord Moyne
Pandaemonium
Movie • 2001
Rev Holland
Queen's Messenger
Movie • 2001
Foreign Secretary
Riders
Movie • 1993
Malise Gordon
Au Pair Girls
Movie • 1972
Buster
The Endless Game
Movie • 1989
Belfrage
The Hippopotamus
Movie • 2017
Podmore
The Happy Prince
Movie • 2018
Dr. Tucker
King Rat
Movie • 1965
Daven
The Sea Wolves
Movie • 1980
Finley
Zee and Co.
Movie • 1972
Gordon
King Lear
Movie • 2018
Butler
Hot Enough for June
Movie • 1964
Men's Room Attendant
Mad Cows
Movie • 1999
Politician
The Woman In White
Movie • 1997
Mr. Gilmore
The Biko Inquest
Movie • 1984
Van Rensburg
A Family Affair
Movie • 2019
Bernard
Churchill and the Movie Mogul
Movie • 2019
Additional Voices (voice)
Dark Holiday
Movie • 1989
Charnaud
May… I Have This Dance?
Movie • 2020
Narrator
Animal
Movie • 2005
Dean Frydman
A Pair of Briefs
Movie • 1962
Hubert Shannon
The Last Resort
Movie • 2014
Mr. Carpenter (voice)
Flapjack Floozie
Movie • 1988
Dr. Kipper
The Sinking of the HMS Victoria
Movie • 1977
Captain Winsloe
Chameleons
Movie • 1989
Henry
Pygmalion
Movie • 1983
Colonel Pickering
Witness to a Kill
Movie • 2001
Foreign Secretary
Nanny's Boy
Movie • 1977
John Tallwatch
Midsomer Murders
TV • 1997
Charles Rust
L.A. Law
TV • 1986
Nigel Morris
Keen Eddie
TV • 2003
The Avengers
TV • 1961
Hotel
TV • 1982
Hart to Hart
TV • 1979
The Saint
TV • 1962
Gendarme
Hunter
TV • 1984
George Franklin
Van der Valk
TV • 1972
Ehrlich
Lime Street
TV • 1985
Edward Wingate
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
TV • 1971
Lord Amberley
The First Churchills
TV • 1969
Sidney Godolphin
The Other 'Arf
TV • 1980
A Dance to the Music of Time
TV • 1997
Nicholas Jenkins (older)
Murphy's Law
TV • 1988
The Vice
TV • 1999
The Old Boy Network
TV • 1992
Patrick Melrose
TV • 2018
George Watford
The Main Chance
TV • 1969
Lord Radchester
Game of Thrones
TV • 2011
Jon Arryn
Lexx
TV • 1997
Count Dracul
In Deep
TV • 2001
Ritchie
Borgia
TV • 2011
Shillingbury Tales
TV • 1980
The Crown
TV • 2016
Imbert-Terry
Joan of Arc
TV • 1999
Archbishop
Paddington Bear
TV • 1989
Mr. Brown
The Line of Beauty
TV • 2006
Lord Kessler
Beryl Reid
TV • 1977
King Solomon's Mines
TV • 2004
Dr. Sam Maitland
Eerie, Indiana
TV • 1991
Professor Nigel Zirchon
Midsomer Murders
TV • 1997
Will Tunstall
The Choir
TV • 1995
Bishop Robert Young
Fallen Angel
TV • 2007
Voice of Francis Youlgreave
Gulliver's Travels
TV • 1996
Admiral Bolgolam
Love in a Cold Climate
TV • 2001
Lord Montdore
Agatha Christie's Poirot
TV • 1989
Colonnel Toby Luttrell
Space: 1999
TV • 1975
Pasc
Murder, She Wrote
TV • 1984
Arthur Constable
Murder, She Wrote
TV • 1984
Chief Daniel Trent
Rosamunde Pilcher: The Other Wife
TV • 2012
Lord George Meriot
Armchair Theatre
TV • 1956
Sutcliffe
The Frighteners
TV • 1972
Tony Wardle
BBC Play of the Month
TV • 1965
Jack Chesney
BBC Play of the Month
TV • 1965
Cléante
BBC2 Play of the Week
TV • 1977
Captain Winsloe
Longitude
TV • 2000
Captain Proctor
Look at the State We're In!
TV • 1995
Dr Smith
Drama 61-67
TV • 1961
Ronald Brook
The Endless Game
TV • 1989
Belfrage
Jubilee 1977
TV • 1977
John Tallwatch
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
TV • 1979
Sam Collins