Guy Standing (actor)

Sir
Guy Standing
KBE CBE
Guy Standing in 1906
Born(1873-09-01)1 September 1873
London, England
Died24 February 1937(1937-02-24) (aged 63)
Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.
Years active1895–1937
Spouses
Children3, including Kay Hammond
ParentHerbert Standing (father)
Relatives

Sir Guy Standing (1 September 1873 – 24 February 1937) was an English-American actor. After fighting in the British Navy in World War I, he became a noted actor in theater and then subsequently in pre-code Hollywood. He is known mainly for his roles playing authority figures, such as Colonel Stone in Lives of a Bengal Lancer. He was the son of Herbert Standing, and a member of the Standing family of actors.

Biography

Standing was born on 1 September 1873 in London.[3] In the 1891 census, he was registered as a stage actor in London.[4] In 1892, he came to New York, where he had his first notable stage appearance in November 1892 at Koster & Bial's Music Hall, alongside Mrs. Bernard Beere.[5] He joined Loie Fuller's theatre company. In 1893, Standing was hired by Charles Frohman with whom he went on tour, starring in Sowing the Wind. In 1897, he appeared in The Little Minister.[5] He worked on Broadway from 1897 to 1899, where he became a favourite with audiences.[6] In 1907, he was joint star alongside Theodore Roberts in The Right of Way at Wallack's Theatre on Broadway.[5] By 1910, Standing had become a well-known stage actor.[7]

In 1911, Standing lived in Chelsea, London.[8] Throughout the First World War, he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, reaching the rank of commander. He was seconded to MI6, but transferred to the Ministry of Information in December 1917.[9] 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.[10]

After becoming a noted actor in American and British 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[11] were also actors, as was his first wife Isabelle Urquhart, and his third wife and mother of his three children, Dorothy Hammond (née Plaskitt), his son Guy Standing Jr.[11] and his daughter, Kay Hammond[11] (née Dorothy Katherine Standing) and grandson John Standing.

Guy Standing sitting next to Janet Beecher (center) and Frances Drake (right), in a production still from I'd Give My Life (1936)

His son, Michael Standing (died 1 December 1984), was the first live cricket commentator for BBC and first live radio commentator, known particularly for his "Standing on the Corner" slot in In Town Tonight.

Though legend holds that Standing died of a rattlesnake or spider bite, he died of a heart attack on 24 February 1937.[12][13] Reportedly, right after he made the claim "I never felt better", he collapsed to the floor in pain, dying shortly after.[3] He was interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.[14]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1933The Eagle and the HawkMajor Dunham
The Story of Temple DrakeGrandfather Judge DrakeFilm is sometimes credited for the increased enforcement of the Hays Code after 1934
Midnight ClubCommissioner Hope
Cradle SongDon Jose - the Doctor
Hell and High WaterRear Admiral
1934Death Takes a HolidayDuke Lambert
The Witching HourJudge Martin Prentice
Double DoorMortimer Neff
Now and ForeverFelix Evans
1935The Lives of a Bengal LancerColonel Tom StoneFilm was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won one for best assistant director
Car 99Professor Anthony
Annapolis FarewellCmdr. Fitzhugh
The Big Broadcast of 1936Doctor
1936Palm SpringsCaptain Smyth
The Return of Sophie LangMax Bernard
I'd Give My LifeGovernor John Bancroft
Lloyd's of LondonJohn Julius Angerstein
1937Bulldog Drummond EscapesCol. Reginald NielsonStanding's final film role

References

  1. 1 2 "Isabelle Urquhart Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. 8 February 1907. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  2. ↑ Walter Browne; Fredrick Arnold Austin (1908). Who's who on the Stage. p. 221.
  3. 1 2 Ellenberger, Allan R. (2 April 2010). "Sir Guy Standing – death by rattlesnake?". allanellenberger.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "Entry for Emily Standing and Guy Standing, 1891". England and Wales, Census, 1891. FamilySearch. 19 January 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 Walter Browne, E. De Roy Koch, ed. (1908). Who's who on the stage (PDF). New York: B. W. Dodge & Company. p. 410-411.
  6. ↑ Noted Young Men of the American Stage. Vol. 28. The Cosmopolitan. November 1899. p. 422.
  7. ↑ The Bookman. Vol. 31. Dodd, Mead and Company. 1910. p. 172.
  8. ↑ "Entry for Guy Standing and Dorothy Frances Standing, 1891". England and Wales, Census, 1911. FamilySearch. 13 February 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Bennett, Gill (2007). Churchill's Man of Mystery: Desmond Morton and the World of Intelligence. Routledge. p. 34.
  10. ↑ "No. 31114". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 January 1919. p. 448.
  11. 1 2 3 "Obituary for Sir Guy Standing (Aged 63)". The Province. 25 February 1937. p. 11. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  12. ↑ "SIR GUY STANDING DROPS DEAD AT 63; Actor Collapses in Hollywood After Telling Garage Man He 'Never Felt Better' KNIGHTED FOR WAR WORK Spent- Most of Life in America and Was in Many Plays Here--With Movies Since 1933 A Native of England Acted in 'Daddy Longlegs' Last Stage Appearance Here". The New York Times. 25 February 1937. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "DEATH TAKES ACTOR GUY STANDING". Santa Ana Journal. 25 February 1937. p. 2.
  14. ↑ Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. p. 103. ISBN 9780786409839.
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