Guy Standing (actor)

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

Sir Guy Standing KBE
Born	(1873-09-01)1 September 1873 London, England
Died	24 February 1937(1937-02-24) (aged 63) Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.
Years active	1914–1937
Spouse(s)	Isabelle Urquhart (1893–1899) (divorced) Blanche Burton Dorothy Hammond (1927–1937) (his death) (3 children)
Children	3

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. He was seconded to MI6, but transferred to the Ministry of Information in December 1917. 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 third 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 on 24 February 1937. He was picking up his car from a garage when the attendant asked him how he felt. "Excellent," he replied, "In fact, I never felt better in my life." Standing then fell to the floor, writhing in pain and clutching his chest. He died at Hollywood Emergency Hospital a few minutes later, never having spoken another word. He was interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. 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.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1914	Alone in New York
1933	The Eagle and the Hawk	Major Dunham
1933	The Story of Temple Drake	Grandfather Judge Drake
1933	Midnight Club	Commissioner Hope
1933	Cradle Song	Don Jose - the Doctor
1933	Hell and High Water	Rear Admiral
1934	Death Takes a Holiday	Duke Lambert
1934	The Witching Hour	Judge Martin Prentice
1934	Double Door	Mortimer Neff
1934	Now and Forever	Felix Evans
1935	The Lives of a Bengal Lancer	Colonel Tom Stone
1935	Car 99	Professor Anthony
1935	Annapolis Farewell	Cmdr. Fitzhugh
1935	The Big Broadcast of 1936	Doctor
1936	Palm Springs	Captain Smyth
1936	The Return of Sophie Lang	Max Bernard
1936	I'd Give My Life	Governor John Bancroft
1936	Lloyd's of London	John Julius Angerstein
1937	Bulldog Drummond Escapes	Col. Reginald Nielson	(final film role)

External links

• Guy Standing at IMDb