Acting · London, England, UK · Born August 16, 1934
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.
MovieCan You Hear Me?
2025
as Ben
MovieThe Great Escaper
2023
as Arthur
MovieMay… I Have This Dance?
2020
as Narrator
MovieA Family Affair
2019
as Bernard
MovieChurchill and the Movie Mogul
2019
as Additional Voices (voice)
MovieKing Lear
2018
as Butler
TVPatrick Melrose
2018
as George Watford
MovieThe Happy Prince
2018
as Dr. Tucker
MovieThe Hippopotamus
2017
as Podmore
TVThe Crown
2016
as Imbert-Terry
MovieChurchill's Secret
2016
as Lord Camrose
MovieQueen & Country
2015
as Grandfather George
MovieThe Last Resort
2014
as Mr. Carpenter (voice)
TVRosamunde Pilcher: The Other Wife
2012
as Lord George Meriot
TVBorgia
2011
TVGame of Thrones
2011
as Jon Arryn
MovieThe Shadow in the North
2007
as Webster Garland
MovieConsenting Adults
2007
as Lord Goddard
MovieThe Contractor
2007
as Sir Anthony
MovieI Want Candy
2007
as Michael de Vere
TVFallen Angel
2007
as Voice of Francis Youlgreave
Rabbit Fever
2006
as Ally's dad
MovieScoop
2006
as Garden Party Guest
TVThe Line of Beauty
2006
as Lord Kessler
MovieV for Vendetta
2006
as Lilliman
MovieLassie
2005
as French
MovieAnimal
2005
as Dean Frydman
MovieA Good Woman
2004
as Dumby
TVKing Solomon's Mines
2004
as Dr. Sam Maitland
MovieShoreditch
2003
as Jenson Thackery
TVKeen Eddie
2003
TVTrust
2003
as Teresa's Father
MovieThe Real Jane Austen
2002
as Mr. Austen
MovieThe Gathering Storm
2002
as Lord Moyne
MovieThe Falklands Play
2002
as Rt Hon William Whitelaw CH MC MP (Home Secretary)
MovieWitness to a Kill
2001
as Foreign Secretary
MoviePandaemonium
2001
as Rev Holland
MovieQueen's Messenger
2001
as Foreign Secretary
TVIn Deep
2001
as Ritchie
TVLove in a Cold Climate
2001
as Lord Montdore
MovieThe Calling
2000
as Jack Plummer
MovieLongitude
2000
as Capt. Proctor
TVLongitude
2000
as Captain Proctor
MovieMad Cows
1999
as Politician
MovieRogue Trader
1999
as Peter Baring
Movie8 ½ Women
1999
as Philip Emmenthal
TVJoan of Arc
1999
as Archbishop
TVThe Vice
1999
as Paul Weir
MovieThe Woman In White
1997
as Mr. Gilmore
TVThe Woman In White
1997
as Mr. Gilmore
MovieThe Man Who Knew Too Little
1997
as Embleton
TVA Dance to the Music of Time
1997
as Nicholas Jenkins (older)
MovieMrs. Dalloway
1997
as Richard Dalloway
TVLexx
1997
as Count Dracul
TVMidsomer Murders
1997
as Charles Rust
TVGulliver's Travels
1996
as Admiral Bolgolam
Look at the State We're In!
1995
as Dr Smith
TVThe Choir
1995
as Bishop Robert Young
MovieRiders
1993
as Malise Gordon
MovieChaplin
1992
as Butler
The Old Boy Network
1992
MovieThe Count of Solar
1992
as Coudray
MovieDrug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel
1992
as Whitfield
TVCivil Wars
1991
as Terrence Hemnings
TVEerie, Indiana
1991
as Professor Nigel Zirchon
TVTonight at 8.30
1991
as Toby Cartwright
MovieNight of the Fox
1990
as Alan Stacey
MovieChameleons
1989
as Henry
TVPaddington Bear
1989
as Mr. Brown
MovieThe Endless Game
1989
as Belfrage
TVThe Endless Game
1989
as Belfrage
MovieDark Holiday
1989
as Charnaud
TVAgatha Christie's Poirot
1989
as Colonnel Toby Luttrell
TVMurphy's Law
1988
MovieFlapjack Floozie
1988
as Dr. Kipper
MovieNightflyers
1987
as D'Branin
MovieVisitors
1987
as Jack
TVL.A. Law
1986
as Nigel Morris
TVLime Street
1985
as Edward Wingate
TVScreen Two
1985
as Jack
MovieThe Biko Inquest
1984
as Van Rensburg
TVMurder, She Wrote
1984
as Arthur Constable
TVHunter
1984
as George Franklin
MovieTo Catch a King
1984
as The Duke of Windsor
MoviePygmalion
1983
as Colonel Pickering
MoviePrivates on Parade
1983
as Captain Sholto Savory
MovieInvitation to the Wedding
1983
TVHotel
1982
TVShillingbury Tales
1981
as Dick Firman
MovieThe Elephant Man
1980
as Fox
MovieThe Sea Wolves
1980
as Finley
TVThe Other 'Arf
1980
TVHart to Hart
1979
TVTinker Tailor Soldier Spy
1979
as Sam Collins
MovieThe Class Of Miss MacMichael
1978
as Charles Fairbrother
MovieThe Legacy
1978
as Jason Mountolive
TVBeryl Reid
1977
MovieThe Sinking of the HMS Victoria
1977
as Captain Winsloe
TVBBC2 Play of the Week
1977
as Captain Winsloe
Nanny's Boy
1977
as John Tallwatch
Jubilee 1977
1977
as John Tallwatch
MovieThe Eagle Has Landed
1976
as Father Verecker
MovieRogue Male
1976
as Major Quive-Smith
TVSpace: 1999
1975
as Pasc
TVVan der Valk
1972
as Ehrlich
TVThe Frighteners
1972
as Tony Wardle
MovieAu Pair Girls
1972
as Buster
MovieZee and Co.
1972
as Gordon
TVThe Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
1971
as Lord Amberley
MovieAll the Right Noises
1970
as Bernie
Wine of India
1970
as Russ
Charley's Aunt
1969
as Jack Chesney
TVThe First Churchills
1969
as Sidney Godolphin
MovieA Touch of Love
1969
as Roger
TVThe Main Chance
1969
as Lord Radchester
TVITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
as Captain Bluntschli
MovieTorture Garden
1967
as Leo Winston (segment 3 "Mr. Steinway")
TVITV Playhouse
1967
MovieWalk Don't Run
1966
as Julius D. Haversack
MovieThe Psychopath
1966
as Mark Von Sturm
MovieKing Rat
1965
as Daven
TVBBC Play of the Month
1965
as Jack Chesney
TVThe Wednesday Play
1964
as Russ
MovieHot Enough for June
1964
as Men's Room Attendant
Sharp at Four
1964
as Sutcliffe
MovieThe Iron Maiden
1963
as Humphrey Gore-Brown
MovieThe Wild and the Willing
1962
as Arthur
TVThe Saint
1962
as Gendarme
MovieA Pair of Briefs
1962
as Hubert Shannon
Drama 61-67
1961
as Ronald Brook
TVThe Avengers
1961
TVArmchair Theatre
1956
as Sutcliffe
