John Standing

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John Standing (John Ronald Leon, now Sir John Leon, 4th Baronet, but does not use the title, born 16 August 1934 in London) is an English actor.

He was educated at Eton College and Millfield School, Somerset. He then served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant, before going to study at the Byam Shaw School of the Arts, London.

1 Career
2 Personal life
3 Filmography
- 3.1 Film roles
- 3.2 Television roles
4 External link

[edit] Career

From a distinguished acting dynasty which includes his great-grandfather Herbert Standing (1846-1923) and his grandfather Sir Guy Standing (1873-1937) and his mother, the actress Kay Hammond.

Standing has worked productively on both the London and New York stage, with leading parts in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Ring Around the Moon, A Sense of Detachment by John Osborne, and Noel Coward's Private Lives, with Maggie Smith. He made his film debut in The Wild and the Willing (1962), going on to appear in King Rat (1965), The Psychopath (1966), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), The Elephant Man (1980), Nightflyers (1987), Mrs. Dalloway (1997), and A Good Woman (2004).

His television roles have included the mini-series The First Churchills (1969), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), and The Choir (1995), and King Solomon's Mines (2004). In the U.S., he has graced numerous weekly programmes including L.A. Law, Civil Wars and Murder She Wrote, and co-starred briefly with Robert Wagner and the late Samantha Smith in the action series Lime Street (1985).

Standing has also made numerous appearances on electronica duo Lemon Jelly's album Lost Horizons.

[edit] Personal life

He succeeded his father Sir Ronald Leon, as the 4th baronet in 1964. He married Jill Melford in 1961, but they divorced in 1972. They have a son. In 1984 he married Sarah Kate Forbes, the daughter of film director Bryan Forbes and actress Nanette Newman. They have three children.