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 theatre 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.
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 (1846âÂÂ1923), 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 first wife Isabelle Urquhart, and his third wife and mother of his three children, Dorothy Hammond (née Plaskitt), his son Guy Standing Jr. and his daughter, Kay Hammond (née Dorothy Katherine Standing) and grandson John Standing.
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. He had just told someone "I never felt better in my life" when he fell to the floor in pain. He died soon after. He was interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.