Guy Standing (actor)

For the British economist, see Guy Standing (economist).

Sir Guy Standing
Sir Guy Standing in Lloyd's of London (1936)
Born	(1873-09-01)1 September 1873 London, England
Died	24 February 1937(1937-02-24) (aged 63) Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Myocardial infarction
Years active	1914–1937
Spouse(s)	Isabelle Urquhart (1893–1899) (divorced) Blanche Burton Dorothy Hammond (?–1937) (his death) (3 children)
Children	Kay Hammond Guy Standing Jr. Michael Standing

Sir Guy Standing KBE (1 September 1873 – 24 February 1937) was an English actor.

Biography

Standing served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve throughout the First World War, reaching the rank of commander. In 1918, he was part of the British War Mission to the United States. For this service, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1918 and raised to Knight Commander (KBE) in the 1919 New Year Honours.

After becoming a noted actor in British and American theatre, he moved to Hollywood in the early 1930s appearing in Paramount films. His best-known role is probably that of Colonel Stone, autocratic father of Lieutenant Stone (played by Richard Cromwell), in Henry Hathaway's Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935).

He was the son of Herbert Standing (1846–1923), a noted actor from the stage and in silent films. His brothers Jack Standing, Herbert Standing Jr., Percy Standing and Wyndham Standing were also actors, as was his second wife Dorothy Hammond, (née Plaskitt; died 1950), his son Guy Standing Jr. and his daughter, Kay Hammond (née Dorothy Katherine Standing) and grandson John Standing.

His son by Dorothy Hammond, and brother of Kay Hammond, Michael Standing (died 1 December 1984), was the first live BBC cricket commentator and live radio commentator, known particularly for his "Standing on the Corner" slot in In Town Tonight. After a distinguished war record as Head of Outside Broadcasting, he went on to become Director of Variety. In this role he was responsible for commissioning such classics as The Goon Show, The Navy Lark, Hancock's Half Hour and Round the Horne. His later roles in radio management included the negotiation with the Musicians' Union to provide sufficient airtime for both recorded artists and live orchestras. The agreement he made enabled the start of Radio 1. Michael also wrote The Green Book, a book of rules and principles put into practice by the BBC of Lord Reith.

Standing's first wife was American stage actress Isabelle Urquhart, several years his senior. They divorced and she died in 1907 aged 42. Standing died from a heart attack, with cardiovascular disease as the likely cause. Rumours surrounding Standing's death suggested that he had died from the complications of either a black widow spider or rattlesnake bite, but this has been deemed false.

Partial filmography

• Bulldog Drummond Escapes (1937) - Col. Reginald Nielson
• Lloyd's of London (1936) - John Julius Angerstein
• I'd Give My Life (1936) - Governor John Bancroft
• The Return of Sophie Lang (1936) - Max Bernard
• Palm Springs (1936) - Captain Smyth
• The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935) - Doctor
• Annapolis Farewell (1935) - Cmdr. Fitzhugh
• Car 99 (1935) - John Vilker
• The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) - Colonel Tom Stone
• Death Takes a Holiday (1934) - Duke Lambert
• Now and Forever (1934) - Felix Evans
• Double Door (1934) - Mortimer Neff
• The Witching Hour (1934) - Judge Martin Prentice
• Hell and High Water (1933) - Rear Admiral
• Cradle Song (1933) - Doctor
• Midnight Club (1933) -Commissioner Hope
• The Eagle and the Hawk (1933) - Major Dunham
• The Story of Temple Drake (1933) - Grandfather Judge Drake

External links

• Guy Standing at IMDb
• portrait of Guy Standing NY Public Library (*new url: portrait)
• portrait gallery of Sir Guy Standing(Univ. of Washington/Sayre Collection)