Geoffrey Palmer
Acting • Born 1927-06-04 – Died 2020-11-05
Biography
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.
Filmography
145 credits
Anna and the King
Movie • 1999
Lord John Bradley
A Fish Called Wanda
Movie • 1988
Judge
Tomorrow Never Dies
Movie • 1997
Admiral Roebuck
The Madness of King George
Movie • 1994
Warren
Doctor Who and the Silurians
Movie • 1970
Masters
A Zed & Two Noughts
Movie • 1985
Fallast
To Olivia
Movie • 2021
The Pink Panther 2
Movie • 2009
Joubert
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Movie • 1998
White King
Walrus: Two Tonne Tusker
Movie • 2013
Narrator
Mrs Brown
Movie • 1997
Henry Ponsonby
Lost Christmas
Movie • 2011
Dr. Clarence
Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire
Movie • 1985
Narrator
W.E.
Movie • 2011
Stanley Baldwin
The Young Visiters
Movie • 2003
Minnit
Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley
Movie • 2008
Sir John Crowder
Reckless: The Sequel
Movie • 1998
Robert Crane
A Question of Attribution
Movie • 1991
Donleavy
Bert & Dickie
Movie • 2012
Charles Burnell
Doctor Who: The Mutants
Movie • 1972
Administrator
Season's Greetings
Movie • 1986
Bernard
Stalag Luft
Movie • 1993
The Kommandant
Smack and Thistle
Movie • 1991
Sir Horace Wimbol
Mr. Kershaw's Dream System
Movie • 1982
Psychiastrist
The Honorary Consul
Movie • 1983
British Ambassador
Run For Your Wife
Movie • 2012
Man on Toilet
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
Movie • 2009
Self / Dr Price
Safe at Work?
Movie • 1980
Narrator
The Insurance Man
Movie • 1986
The Angry Doctor
Rat
Movie • 2000
The Doctor
A Prize of Arms
Movie • 1962
Cpl. Myers
Paddington
Movie • 2014
Head Geographer
Mr. Men & Little Miss: The Christmas Letter
Movie • 1998
Narrator / Santa
The High Game
Movie • 1970
Man at the Clinic
The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag
Movie • 2005
Corbett's Ghost
Loyalties
Movie • 1976
Graviter
The Houseboy
Movie • 1982
Eric
Clockwise
Movie • 1986
Headmaster
No Place Like Earth
Movie • 1965
Chief Officer
Hawks
Movie • 1988
SAAB Salesman
Cathy Come Home
Movie • 1966
Property Agent
The Battle of Billy's Pond
Movie • 1976
First Policeman
Pope John Paul II: 1920 - 2005
Movie • 2005
Narrator
Stiff Upper Lips
Movie • 1998
His Butler's Voice
Queen Victoria's Last Love: Abdul Karim
Movie • 2012
Narrator
Piccadilly Jim
Movie • 2004
Bayliss
Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned
Movie • 2007
Captain Hardaker
Peter Pan
Movie • 2003
Sir Edward Quiller Couch
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Movie • 1981
Quince
A Story to Frighten the Children
Movie • 1976
Det. Chief Insp. Harris
Only Make Believe
Movie • 1973
Richard Nicholls
Michael Regan
Movie • 1971
Chief Superintendent
The Outsider
Movie • 1979
Col. Wyndham
Ring of Spies
Movie • 1964
Police Officer (uncredited)
O Lucky Man!
Movie • 1973
Examination Doctor/Basil Keyes
Goodbye
Movie • 1975
Jack
Absurd Person Singular
Movie • 1985
Ronald Brewster-Wright
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Movie • 1983
Jimmy Anderson
Incident at Midnight
Movie • 1963
Dr. Tanfield
Drama '63: A Well Dressed Man
Movie • 1963
Basil Mallard
The Funny Side of Christmas
Movie • 1982
Jimmy Anderson, Ben Parkinson
Radio Pictures
Movie • 1985
Glyn Bryce
The Chequers Manoeuvre
Movie • 1968
Professor Wybrow
James Bond's Greatest Hits
Movie • 2006
Narrator (voice)
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
Movie • 2005
Self
The Uninvited
Movie • 1971
Jack Mervyn
1+1=1.5
Movie • 1969
Gosford
As Time Goes By
TV • 1992
Lionel Hardcastle
The Sweeney
TV • 1975
Commander Watson
Out of the Unknown
TV • 1965
Jack Mervyn
Colditz
TV • 1972
Doc
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
TV • 1976
Jimmy Anderson
Executive Stress
TV • 1986
Ashes to Ashes
TV • 2008
Lord Scarman
The One Show
TV • 2006
Self
The Savages
TV • 2001
Donald
Absolute Power
TV • 2003
Butterflies
TV • 1978
Ben Parkinson
Softly, Softly
TV • 1966
Fawlty Towers
TV • 1975
Dr. Price
The Avengers
TV • 1961
The Professionals
TV • 1977
Avery
Inspector Morse
TV • 1987
Matthew Copley-Barnes
The Saint
TV • 1962
Pete Ferguson
Doomwatch
TV • 1970
Major Sims
He Knew He Was Right
TV • 2004
Sir Marmaduke Rowley
Van der Valk
TV • 1972
Head of Faculty
Mr. Men and Little Miss
TV • 1995
Angels
TV • 1975
Play for Today
TV • 1970
The Expert
TV • 1968
Asst. Chief Constable Rogers
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
TV • 2007
Self
The Revenue Men
TV • 1967
Bill Mitchell
Hot Metal
TV • 1986
Natural World
TV • 1983
Narrator
The Last Song
TV • 1981
The Joe Baker Show
TV • 1965
Best Of Enemies
TV
The Avengers
TV • 1961
Paul Manning
The Kenny Everett Television Show
TV • 1982
Various
Bulldog Breed
TV • 1962
Chateau Monty
TV • 2008
The Legacy of Reginald Perrin
TV • 1996
Dalgliesh
TV • 1983
Edwin Lorrimer
The Human Jungle
TV • 1963
Williams
Doctor Who
TV • 1963
Administrator
Doctor Who
TV • 1963
Masters
Oxbridge Blues
TV • 1984
Fred
Fairly Secret Army
TV • 1984
Major Harry Truscott
Play for Today
TV • 1970
Detetective Chief Inspector Harris
Blackadder
TV • 1983
Field Marshal Haig
Bergerac
TV • 1981
Nigel Carter
An Audience with...
TV • 1978
Self
Bill Brand
TV • 1976
Malcolm Frear
Gideon's Way
TV • 1965
Jeff Grant
The Troubleshooters
TV • 1965
Jeremy Martin
The Man in Room 17
TV • 1965
Ian McWatt
Grumpy Old Men
TV • 2003
Narrator
Stig of the Dump
TV • 2002
Robert
The Hollow Crown
TV • 2012
Lord Chief Justice
The Wednesday Play
TV • 1964
Property Agent
The Goodies
TV • 1970
School Headmaster
Crown Court
TV • 1972
Kenneth Eden
Play for Today
TV • 1970
Jack Buckett
The 1940s House
TV • 2001
Narrator (voice)
The Professionals
TV • 1977
Simon Sinclair
Agatha Christie's Poirot
TV • 1989
Vice Admiral Hamling
The Avengers
TV • 1961
Martin Smythe
BBC Play of the Month
TV • 1965
Monteith
Londoners
TV • 1965
Jack Poncey
Ben Travers Farces
TV • 1970
Hugh Stafford
The Odd Man
TV • 1960
Const. Swift
Whoops Apocalypse
TV • 1982
Foreign Secretary
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
TV • 1967
Oliver Cromwell
Scorpion Tales
TV • 1978
Arnold Sparrow
Dickens
TV • 2002
Thackeray
Churchill's People
TV • 1974
Samuel Partridge
Armchair Theatre
TV • 1956
Rankin
Look at the State We're In!
TV • 1995
The Ruler
Detective
TV • 1964
Chief Superintendent Smeed
Drama 61-67
TV • 1961
Basil Mallard
Mystery and Imagination
TV • 1966
Turner
No Hiding Place
TV • 1959
Det. Sgt. Walsh
Frost on Sunday
TV • 1968
Self – Guest
Christabel
TV • 1988
Mr Burton