Guy Standing

Sir Guy Standing (1 September 187324 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. He was the son of Herbert Standing (1846–1923), a noted actor from the stage and in silent films, and a nephew of the operatic baritone William T. Carleton. 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. 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. In 1907, he was joint star alongside Theodore Roberts in The Right of Way at Wallack's Theatre on Broadway.

In 1911, Standing lived in Chelsea, London. 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. 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 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).

Guy Standing's brothers Jack Standing, Herbert Standing Jr., Percy Standing and Wyndham Standing 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. Reportedly, right after he made the claim "I never felt better", he collapsed to the floor in pain, dying shortly after.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1933 The Eagle and the Hawk Major Dunham The Story of Temple Drake Grandfather Judge Drake Film is sometimes credited for the increased enforcement of the Hays Code after 1934 Midnight Club Commissioner Hope Cradle Song Don Jose - the Doctor Hell and High Water Rear Admiral 1934 Death Takes a Holiday Duke Lambert The Witching Hour Judge Martin Prentice Double Door Mortimer Neff Now and Forever Felix Evans 1935 The Lives of a Bengal Lancer Colonel Tom Stone Film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won one for best assistant director Car 99 Professor Anthony Annapolis Farewell Cmdr. Fitzhugh The Big Broadcast of 1936 Doctor 1936 Palm Springs Captain Smyth The Return of Sophie Lang Max Bernard I'd Give My Life Governor John Bancroft Lloyd's of London John Julius Angerstein 1937 Bulldog Drummond Escapes Col. Reginald Nielson Standing's final film role