Star lineage: John Standing with his wife Sarah, daughter of Nanette Newman
John Standing (Sir John Ronald Leon, 4th Baronet) is an actor who’s been appearing on stage, television and the silver screen for more than 60 years, writes York Membery.
Most recently, the 89-year-old starred alongside Michael Caine in The Great Escaper – the true story of a veteran who broke out of his nursing home to attend the 70th anniversary D-Day commemorations in Normandy.
His grandfather, Sir Guy Standing, was a Hollywood star in the 1930s, and his actress mother Kay Hammond starred in Blithe Spirit in the West End during the war.
He lives in London with his second wife Sarah, the daughter of actress Nanette Newman, and has four children.
What did your parents teach you about money?
They told me never to worry about it – but that was a crass attitude. My stockbroker dad, Sir Ronald Leon, was enormously rich as a young man and bought my actress mother a flat in London’s Park Lane, but the marriage ended in divorce and he frittered his money away on drink.
When he died aged 60, he left my late brother and I just 60 quid each – but in a way that was a good thing because it forced me to stand on my own two feet.
My stepfather, Sir John Clemens, also an actor, told me never to just think about the money but to go for good writing when taking a part – sound advice. That’s why I jumped at the chance to appear with Michael Caine in The Great Escaper. Both of us were disappointed it didn’t get a nod at this year’s award ceremonies, particularly as it was Michael’s last film.
Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
Yes, during my early days as an actor when I was in rep and staying in digs in the 1950s. I was paid £6-7 a week and had to eat some of the most disgusting food in the history of eating. And even after becoming more established, I lived on an overdraft from time to time.
Have you ever been paid silly money?
Yes, when I appeared in the US television drama series Lime Street with Robert Wagner [playing insurance assessors] in the mid-1980s.
‘I don’t really deserve this!’ I thought to myself, but in America it’s the norm. I landed the role after Robert saw me in a play at the National Theatre and said he’d love to do a television series with me – so off I went to California.
We Brits are always surprised by just how much money you can make on American TV, as Ricky Gervais, for instance, has discovered more recently.
What was the best year of your financial life?
One of my best years financially was 1975 when I toured the US with the adorable Maggie Smith in Noel Coward’s Private Lives. Doing my cabaret show for a month in the bar of New York’s Carlyle Hotel was also very remunerative. But that’s show business: you’re either up there ringing bells, or you’re thinking: ‘When’s it going to happen again?’
The most expensive thing you bought for fun?
A second-hand Mercedes 190 SL convertible which was underpowered, but ravishing to look at, for £200-300 in the late 1960s when I was living in Chelsea. It was my pride and joy but one night there was a storm and I woke up to find that it had been hit by a water tower that had fallen down. The windows were smashed and the body covered in dents – it looked like someone had attacked it with a baseball bat.
What is your biggest money mistake?
I spent a small fortune wining and dining an incredibly pretty girl between my marriages – she was on heroin, and I was trying to get her off heroin and into bed, but it didn’t pay off.
However, it was clearly a blessing in disguise because several years later I met my darling wife Sarah – and I’ve just treated her to a ruby necklace to mark our 40th wedding anniversary.
Double act: John Standing in The Great Escaper with Michael Caine
Best money decision you have made?
I’ve always subscribed to Noel Coward’s belief that wearing smart clothes makes you look more successful than you really are. I bought my first tailor-made suit for 30 quid as a young man, though to buy a similar suit now would probably cost a four-figure sum. However, I think his advice still holds true. Sadly, the moths have got to a lot of my older suits.
Do you have a pension?
Yes, I get a generous [US] Screen Actors Guild pension.
Do you own any property?
I got my current home terribly cheap in the early 1990s for £120,000 which had been owned by someone who was bankrupt. It’s a former stable house in Pimlico and I’ve no idea what it’s worth now though. A lot of MPs live in the smarter end of Pimlico.
If you were Chancellor what would you do?
I’d swap jobs with another Cabinet minister because I’m not very good with money and I’m terrible at maths.
I’d much rather be the Minister of the Arts, so I could ensure that all our great galleries remain free to visit.
Also, I’d give the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre enough money every year to ensure that their productions remain of the highest standard.
What is your number one financial priority?
Just to keep going…I’m only too happy to work if I’m offered a decent part in a TV drama or a film. My theatre days, alas, are behind me.
- The Great Escaper is available to stream online.
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This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
