Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE (4 June 1927 - 5 November 2020) was an English actor known for his roles in British television sitcoms playing Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79), Ben Parkinson in Butterflies (1978–1983) and Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By (1992–2005). His film appearances include A Fish Called Wanda (1988), The Madness of King George (1994), Mrs. Brown (1997), and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE (4 June 1927 - 5 November 2020) was an English actor known for his roles in British television sitcoms playing Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79), Ben Parkinson in Butterflies (1978–1983) and Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By (1992–2005). His film appearances include A Fish Called Wanda (1988), The Madness of King George (1994), Mrs. Brown (1997), and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer was born on 4 June 1927 in North Finchley, Middlesex. He was the son of Frederick Charles Palmer, who was a chartered surveyor, and Norah Gwendolen (née Robins). He attended Highgate School from September 1939 to December 1945. He served as a corporal instructor in small arms and field training in the Royal Marines during his national service from 1946 to 1948, following which he briefly worked as an unpaid trainee assistant stage manager.
Palmer's early television appearances included multiple roles in episodes of The Army Game (Granada Television), two episodes of The Baron and as a property agent in Cathy Come Home (1966). After a major break in John Osborne's West of Suez at the Royal Court with Ralph Richardson, he acted in major productions at the Royal Court and for the National Theatre Company and was directed by Laurence Olivier in J. B. Priestley's Eden End. Palmer found the play so dull, however, that he was deterred from a stage career.
Two BBC sitcom roles brought him attention in the 1970s: the hapless brother-in-law of Reggie Perrin in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79), and the phlegmatic dentist Ben Parkinson in Butterflies (1978–1983).
In 1978, Palmer appeared as organized crimelord Simon Sinclair in London Weekend Television's hard-hitting police drama The Professionals, the episode entitled "Where the Jungle Ends".
Palmer played Doctor Price in the Fawlty Towers episode "The Kipper and the Corpse" (1979), determined to have breakfast amidst the confusion caused by the death of a guest and Fawlty's inept way of handling the emergency. In 1986, Palmer appeared as Donald Fairchild in the first series of an ITV sitcom, Executive Stress, alongside Penelope Keith. He later left, and was replaced by Peter Bowles.
Palmer later starred opposite Judi Dench for over a decade in another BBC sitcom, As Time Goes By (1992–2005). In 1997, he also appeared with Dench in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, in which he portrayed Admiral Roebuck to Dench's M, and Mrs Brown, playing Sir Henry Ponsonby to Dench's Queen Victoria.
Palmer married Sally Green in 1963. They had a daughter, Harriet, and a son, Charles, a television director. Palmer was a longtime resident of Lee Common in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire, and enjoyed fly fishing in his spare time. At the time of his death, he resided in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.
Palmer died peacefully at his home on 5 November 2020, aged 93.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0658244
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q328522
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Filmography (Movies)
To Olivia
Character:
Release Date:19/02/2021
Paddington
Character:Head Geographer
Release Date:24/11/2014
Walrus: Two Tonne Tusker
Character:Narrator
Release Date:01/10/2013
Bert & Dickie
Character:Charles Burnell
Release Date:25/07/2012
Run For Your Wife
Character:Man on Toilet
Release Date:16/05/2012
Queen Victoria's Last Love: Abdul Karim
Character:Narrator
Release Date:25/04/2012
Lost Christmas
Character:Dr. Clarence
Release Date:11/12/2011
W.E.
Character:Stanley Baldwin
Release Date:01/09/2011
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
Character:Self / Dr Price
Release Date:10/05/2009
The Pink Panther 2
Character:Joubert
Release Date:06/02/2009
Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley
Character:Sir John Crowder
Release Date:12/06/2008
Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned
Character:Captain Hardaker
Release Date:25/12/2007
James Bond's Greatest Hits
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:18/11/2006
The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag
Character:Corbett's Ghost
Release Date:02/12/2005
Pope John Paul II: 1920 - 2005
Character:Narrator
Release Date:19/04/2005
Piccadilly Jim
Character:Bayliss
Release Date:01/11/2004
The Young Visiters
Character:Minnit
Release Date:26/12/2003
Peter Pan
Character:Sir Edward Quiller Couch
Release Date:18/12/2003
Rat
Character:The Doctor
Release Date:06/10/2000
Anna and the King
Character:Lord John Bradley
Release Date:16/12/1999
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Character:White King
Release Date:26/12/1998
Mr. Men & Little Miss: The Christmas Letter
Character:Narrator / Santa
Release Date:07/12/1998
Reckless: The Sequel
Character:Robert Crane
Release Date:11/10/1998
Stiff Upper Lips
Character:His Butler's Voice
Release Date:12/06/1998
Tomorrow Never Dies
Character:Admiral Roebuck
Release Date:11/12/1997
Mrs Brown
Character:Henry Ponsonby
Release Date:18/07/1997
The Madness of King George
Character:Warren
Release Date:28/12/1994
Stalag Luft
Character:The Kommandant
Release Date:27/10/1993
A Question of Attribution
Character:Donleavy
Release Date:20/10/1991
Smack and Thistle
Character:Sir Horace Wimbol
Release Date:20/04/1991
Hawks
Character:SAAB Salesman
Release Date:05/08/1988
A Fish Called Wanda
Character:Judge
Release Date:15/07/1988
Season's Greetings
Character:Bernard
Release Date:24/12/1986
Clockwise
Character:Headmaster
Release Date:01/03/1986
The Insurance Man
Character:The Angry Doctor
Release Date:22/02/1986
A Zed & Two Noughts
Character:Fallast
Release Date:04/10/1985
Radio Pictures
Character:Glyn Bryce
Release Date:16/07/1985
Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire
Character:Narrator
Release Date:01/01/1985
Absurd Person Singular
Character:Ronald Brewster-Wright
Release Date:01/01/1985
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Character:Jimmy Anderson
Release Date:03/10/1983
The Honorary Consul
Character:British Ambassador
Release Date:30/09/1983
The Funny Side of Christmas
Character:Jimmy Anderson, Ben Parkinson
Release Date:27/12/1982
The Houseboy
Character:Eric
Release Date:03/07/1982
Mr. Kershaw's Dream System
Character:Psychiastrist
Release Date:01/01/1982
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Character:Quince
Release Date:13/12/1981
Safe at Work?
Character:Narrator
Release Date:01/01/1980
The Outsider
Character:Col. Wyndham
Release Date:26/11/1979
Loyalties
Character:Graviter
Release Date:29/02/1976
A Story to Frighten the Children
Character:Det. Chief Insp. Harris
Release Date:03/02/1976
The Battle of Billy's Pond
Character:First Policeman
Release Date:01/01/1976
Goodbye
Character:Jack
Release Date:06/03/1975
O Lucky Man!
Character:Examination Doctor/Basil Keyes
Release Date:25/03/1973
Only Make Believe
Character:Richard Nicholls
Release Date:12/02/1973
Doctor Who: The Mutants
Character:Administrator
Release Date:13/05/1972
Michael Regan
Character:Chief Superintendent
Release Date:18/11/1971
The High Game
Character:Man at the Clinic
Release Date:03/08/1970
Doctor Who and the Silurians
Character:Masters
Release Date:14/03/1970
The Chequers Manoeuvre
Character:Professor Wybrow
Release Date:30/09/1968
Cathy Come Home
Character:Property Agent
Release Date:16/11/1966
No Place Like Earth
Character:Chief Officer
Release Date:04/10/1965
Ring of Spies
Character:Police Officer (uncredited)
Release Date:23/03/1964
Drama '63: A Well Dressed Man
Character:Basil Mallard
Release Date:28/07/1963
Incident at Midnight
Character:Dr. Tanfield
Release Date:01/01/1963
A Prize of Arms
Character:Cpl. Myers
Release Date:11/12/1962
Television Appearances
The Hollow Crown
Character:Lord Chief Justice
Chateau Monty
Character:
Ashes to Ashes
Character:Lord Scarman
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
Character:Self
The One Show
Character:Self
He Knew He Was Right
Character:Sir Marmaduke Rowley
Absolute Power
Character:
Grumpy Old Men
Character:Narrator
Dickens
Character:Thackeray
Stig of the Dump
Character:Robert
The Savages
Character:Donald
The 1940s House
Character:Narrator (voice)
The Legacy of Reginald Perrin
Character:
Look at the State We're In!
Character:The Ruler
As Time Goes By
Character:Lionel Hardcastle
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Character:Vice Admiral Hamling
Christabel
Character:Mr. Burton
Inspector Morse
Character:Matthew Copley-Barnes
Executive Stress
Character:
Hot Metal
Character:
Oxbridge Blues
Character:Fred
Fairly Secret Army
Character:Major Harry Truscott
Natural World
Character:Narrator
Blackadder
Character:Field Marshal Haig
Dalgliesh
Character:Edwin Lorrimer
Whoops Apocalypse
Character:Foreign Secretary
The Kenny Everett Television Show
Character:Various
The Last Song
Character:
Bergerac
Character:Nigel Carter
Butterflies
Character:Ben Parkinson
Scorpion Tales
Character:Arnold Sparrow
An Audience with...
Character:Self
The Professionals
Character:Avery
The Professionals
Character:Simon Sinclair
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Character:Jimmy Anderson
Bill Brand
Character:Malcolm Frear
Fawlty Towers
Character:Dr. Price
Angels
Character:
The Sweeney
Character:Commander Watson
Mr. Men and Little Miss
Character:
Churchill's People
Character:Samuel Partridge
Colditz
Character:Doc
Crown Court
Character:Kenneth Eden
Van der Valk
Character:Head of Faculty
The Goodies
Character:School Headmaster
Play for Today
Character:
Play for Today
Character:Detetective Chief Inspector Harris
Play for Today
Character:Jack Buckett
Ben Travers Farces
Character:Hugh Stafford
Doomwatch
Character:Major Sims
The Expert
Character:Asst. Chief Constable Rogers
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
Character:Oliver Cromwell
The Revenue Men
Character:Bill Mitchell
Mystery and Imagination
Character:Turner
Softly, Softly
Character:
BBC Play of the Month
Character:Monteith
Out of the Unknown
Character:Chief Officer
The Troubleshooters
Character:Jeremy Martin
The Man in Room 17
Character:Ian McWatt
The Joe Baker Show
Character:
Londoners
Character:Jack Poncey
Gideon's Way
Character:Jeff Grant
The Wednesday Play
Character:Property Agent
Detective
Character:Chief Superintendent Smeed
Doctor Who
Character:Administrator
Doctor Who
Character:Masters
The Human Jungle
Character:Williams
The Saint
Character:Pete Ferguson
Bulldog Breed
Character:
Drama 61-67
Character:Basil Mallard
The Avengers
Character:
The Avengers
Character:Paul Manning
The Avengers
Character:Martin Smythe
The Odd Man
Character:Const. Swift
No Hiding Place
Character:Det. Sgt. Walsh
Armchair Theatre
Character:Rankin
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