Born on December 15th 1970 at The Mothers' Hospital, Hackney, East London, Stanley is the second child of four and grew up in the care system as a young boy from the age of five. After a troubled childhood alongside his struggles growing up in care, Stanley missed out on mainstream education and discovered his passion for acting at the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington at the age of twenty-three, a drama school set up for working-class students which he attended for three years before landing an acting agent. Facing despondency from playing type casting roles, Stanley took a break from acting for almost eleven years, during that time he trained as a counsellor, working with prisoners and primary school children with behavioural issues. Stanley would go on to perform Shakespeare's "Othello" (2011), touring Ireland for three months. In addition to his accomplishments as an actor, Stanley has a passion for music and art. He is a painter and charcoal artist and has a portfolio of work. Having been a singer-songwriter for over twenty years, performing at various acoustic venues across the UK.

In 2021, Stanley was signed to Jacaranda Books for his memoir "Little Big Man", due to be published on October 14th 2022.