Geoffrey Palmer
Acting
Born: June 4, 1927 · Finchley, Middlesex, England, UK
Died: November 5, 2020 (aged 93)
Highest Rated
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.
Known for
Paddington
2014
Tomorrow Never Dies
1997
Peter Pan
2003
A Fish Called Wanda
1988
The Pink Panther 2
2009
Fawlty Towers
1975
Anna and the King
1999
Doctor Who
1963
Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989
Blackadder
1983
W.E.
2011
The Madness of King George
1994
Photos (2)
Movies (59)
Paddington
Head Geographer
Tomorrow Never Dies
Admiral Roebuck
Peter Pan
Sir Edward Quiller Couch
A Fish Called Wanda
Judge
Anna and the King
Lord John Bradley
The Pink Panther 2
Joubert
The Madness of King George
Warren
W.E.
Stanley Baldwin
The Honorary Consul
British Ambassador
Mrs Brown
Henry Ponsonby
O Lucky Man!
Examination Doctor/Basil Keyes
A Zed & Two Noughts
Fallast
Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley
Sir John Crowder
The Uninvited
Jack Mervyn
Alice Through the Looking Glass
White King
Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned
Captain Hardaker
Clockwise
Headmaster
The Insurance Man
The Angry Doctor
Stiff Upper Lips
His Butler's Voice
Rat
The Doctor
Piccadilly Jim
Bayliss
The Young Visiters
Minnit
To Olivia
2021
Bert & Dickie
Charles Burnell
Cathy Come Home
Property Agent
Goodbye
Jack
The Chequers Manoeuvre
Professor Wybrow
1+1=1.5
Gosford
Lost Christmas
Dr. Clarence
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Quince
Reckless: The Sequel
Robert Crane
Run For Your Wife
Man on Toilet
A Question of Attribution
Donleavy
Doctor Who: The Mutants
Administrator
The Outsider
Col. Wyndham
Only Make Believe
Richard Nicholls
Radio Pictures
Glyn Bryce
Ring of Spies
Police Officer (uncredited)
The Funny Side of Christmas
Jimmy Anderson, Ben Parkinson
Mr. Kershaw's Dream System
Psychiastrist
A Prize of Arms
Cpl. Myers
Stalag Luft
The Kommandant
Michael Regan
Chief Superintendent
Safe at Work?
Narrator
Doctor Who and the Silurians
Masters
Absurd Person Singular
Ronald Brewster-Wright
Incident at Midnight
Dr. Tanfield
Hawks
SAAB Salesman
Smack and Thistle
Sir Horace Wimbol
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Jimmy Anderson
Season's Greetings
Bernard
A Story to Frighten the Children
Det. Chief Insp. Harris
James Bond's Greatest Hits
Narrator (voice)
Queen Victoria's Last Love: Abdul Karim
Narrator
The Battle of Billy's Pond
First Policeman
No Place Like Earth
Chief Officer
Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire
Narrator
Drama '63: A Well Dressed Man
Basil Mallard
Mr. Men & Little Miss: The Christmas Letter
Narrator / Santa
TV Shows (78)
Play for Today
1 eps
Play for Today
Detetective Chief Inspector Harris · 1 eps
Play for Today
Jack Buckett · 1 eps
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Vice Admiral Hamling · 1 eps
The Avengers
Dr. Terence · 1 eps
The Avengers
Paul Manning · 1 eps
The Avengers
Martin Smythe · 1 eps
Doctor Who
Administrator · 1 eps
Doctor Who
Masters · 3 eps
BBC Play of the Month
Monteith · 1 eps
The Wednesday Play
Property Agent · 2 eps
Natural World
Narrator · 1 eps
The Saint
Pete Ferguson · 1 eps
Crown Court
Kenneth Eden · 3 eps
The Professionals
Avery · 1 eps
The Professionals
Simon Sinclair · 1 eps
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Mac · 1 eps
ITV Playhouse
Harper · 1 eps
ITV Playhouse
Oscar · 1 eps
ITV Playhouse
Bradley Fawcett · 1 eps
ITV Playhouse
Man at the clinic · 1 eps
ITV Playhouse
Eric · 1 eps
Inspector Morse
Matthew Copley-Barnes · 1 eps
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Professor Wybrow · 1 eps
Blackadder
Field Marshal Haig · 1 eps
Bergerac
Nigel Carter · 1 eps
No Hiding Place
Det. Sgt. Walsh · 1 eps
Angels
3 eps
The Sweeney
Commander Watson · 1 eps
Churchill's People
Samuel Partridge · 1 eps
The Hollow Crown
Lord Chief Justice · 1 eps
The Troubleshooters
Jeremy Martin · 1 eps
Fawlty Towers
Dr. Price · 1 eps
Softly, Softly
1 eps
Screen One
Donleavy · 1 eps
The Goodies
School Headmaster · 1 eps
As Time Goes By
Lionel Hardcastle · 67 eps
Gideon's Way
Jeff Grant · 1 eps
Ashes to Ashes
Lord Scarman · 1 eps
Out of the Unknown
Jack Mervyn · 3 eps
Detective
Chief Superintendent Smeed · 1 eps
Van der Valk
Head of Faculty · 1 eps
Dalgliesh
Edwin Lorrimer · 2 eps
The Expert
Asst. Chief Constable Rogers · 2 eps
Suspense
Newspaper Reporter · 1 eps
The Kenny Everett Television Show
Various · 1 eps
Mr. Men and Little Miss
104 eps
The Human Jungle
Williams · 1 eps
Doomwatch
Major Sims · 2 eps
Londoners
Jack Poncey · 1 eps
The Man in Room 17
Ian McWatt · 1 eps
Colditz
Doc · 2 eps
Absolute Power
12 eps
Butterflies
Ben Parkinson · 28 eps
Happy Ever After
Mr Critchley · 1 eps
Happy Ever After
Bob Holsgrove · 1 eps
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Jimmy Anderson · 7 eps
He Knew He Was Right
Sir Marmaduke Rowley · 3 eps
Mystery and Imagination
Turner · 1 eps
Six Days of Justice
Mr. Nicholas · 1 eps
The Odd Man
Const. Swift · 4 eps
Hot Metal
Harold Stringer · 6 eps
Oxbridge Blues
Fred · 1 eps
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
Oliver Cromwell · 2 eps
Grumpy Old Men
Narrator · 14 eps
Whoops Apocalypse
Foreign Secretary · 4 eps
Bill Brand
Malcolm Frear · 4 eps
Scorpion Tales
Arnold Sparrow · 1 eps
Armchair Theatre
Rankin · 1 eps
Dickens
Thackeray · 3 eps
Executive Stress
19 eps
The Strange World of Gurney Slade
Floor manager · 1 eps
The Savages
Donald · 6 eps
The Last Song
13 eps
Stig of the Dump
Robert · 6 eps
Death of an Expert Witness
Edwin Lorrimer · 3 eps
The Legacy of Reginald Perrin
7 eps
The 1940s House
Narrator (voice) · 5 eps
