Geoffrey Palmer
Known for: Acting
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
Series
Play for Today
1970
Series
Play for Today
Detetective Chief Inspector Harris
1970
Series
Play for Today
Jack Buckett
1970
Series
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Vice Admiral Hamling
1989
Series
Doctor Who
Administrator
1963
Series
Doctor Who
Masters
1963
Series
The Avengers
Dr. Terence
1961
Series
The Avengers
Paul Manning
1961
Series
The Avengers
Martin Smythe
1961
Series
The One Show
Self
2006
Series
The Saint
Pete Ferguson
1962
Series
Crown Court
Kenneth Eden
1972
Series
The Wednesday Play
Property Agent
1964
Series
Natural World
Narrator
1983
Series
Bergerac
Nigel Carter
1981
Series
BBC Play of the Month
Monteith
1965
Series
Inspector Morse
Matthew Copley-Barnes
1987
Series
The Professionals
Avery
1977
Series
The Professionals
Simon Sinclair
1977
Series
ITV Playhouse
Harper
1967
Series
ITV Playhouse
Oscar
1967
Series
ITV Playhouse
Bradley Fawcett
1967
Series
ITV Playhouse
Man at the clinic
1967
Series
ITV Playhouse
Eric
1967
Series
Blackadder
Field Marshal Haig
1983
Series
Gideon's Way
Jeff Grant
1965
Series
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Professor Wybrow
1965
Series
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Mac
1969
Series
Van der Valk
Head of Faculty
1972
Series
No Hiding Place
Det. Sgt. Walsh
1959
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
Self
2007
Series
The Sweeney
Commander Watson
1975
Film
Tomorrow Never Dies
Admiral Roebuck
1997
Series
Angels
1975
Series
Softly, Softly
1966
Series
An Audience with...
Self
1978
Series
The Goodies
School Headmaster
1970
Film
Peter Pan
Sir Edward Quiller Couch
2003
Series
As Time Goes By
Lionel Hardcastle
1992
Series
The Hollow Crown
Lord Chief Justice
2012
Series
Churchill's People
Samuel Partridge
1974
Series
Fawlty Towers
Dr. Price
1975
Film
Paddington
Head Geographer
2014
Film
A Fish Called Wanda
Judge
1988
Series
Dalgliesh
Edwin Lorrimer
1983
Series
Screen One
Donleavy
1989
Series
The Expert
Asst. Chief Constable Rogers
1968
Series
The Troubleshooters
Jeremy Martin
1965
City '68
Robins
1967
Series
Detective
Chief Superintendent Smeed
1964
Series
Mr. Men and Little Miss
1995
Series
Ashes to Ashes
Lord Scarman
2008
Drama 61-67
Basil Mallard
1961
Series
Out of the Unknown
Jack Mervyn
1965
Series
Doomwatch
Major Sims
1970
Series
Suspense
Newspaper Reporter
1962
Film
The Pink Panther 2
Joubert
2009
Series
Mystery and Imagination
Turner
1966
Series
Colditz
Doc
1972
Film
Anna and the King
Lord John Bradley
1999
Series
The Kenny Everett Television Show
Various
1982
Series
The Human Jungle
Williams
1963
Series
Londoners
Jack Poncey
1965
Series
Happy Ever After
Mr Critchley
1974
Series
Happy Ever After
Bob Holsgrove
1974
Series
The Man in Room 17
Ian McWatt
1965
Series
Butterflies
Ben Parkinson
1978
Family Solicitor
Hugh Cowley
1961
Series
Absolute Power
2003
Film
The Honorary Consul
British Ambassador
1983
Series
Six Days of Justice
Mr. Nicholas
1972
Series
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
Oliver Cromwell
1967
Series
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Jimmy Anderson
1976
Menace
Major Ryder
1970
Series
Bill Brand
Malcolm Frear
1976
Series
Oxbridge Blues
Fred
1984
Trapped
Doctor Clay Morrow
1967
Series
He Knew He Was Right
Sir Marmaduke Rowley
2004
Series
The Odd Man
Const. Swift
1960
Series
Hot Metal
Harold Stringer
1986
The Revenue Men
Bill Mitchell
1967
Film
Ring of Spies
Police Officer (uncredited)
1964
Frost on Sunday
Self – Guest
1968
Series
Grumpy Old Men
Narrator
2003
Film
W.E.
Stanley Baldwin
2011
Film
Mrs Brown
Henry Ponsonby
1997
Series
Whoops Apocalypse
Foreign Secretary
1982
Film
The Madness of King George
Warren
1994
Film
O Lucky Man!
Examination Doctor/Basil Keyes
1973
Film
A Zed & Two Noughts
Fallast
1985
Series
Scorpion Tales
Arnold Sparrow
1978
Look at the State We're In!
The Ruler
1995
Series
Death of an Expert Witness
Edwin Lorrimer
1983
Ben Travers Farces
Hugh Stafford
1970
Series
The Strange World of Gurney Slade
Floor manager
1960
Series
The Savages
Donald
2001
Away from It All
Ashe
1973
Looking for Victoria
Narrator
2003
Film
The Uninvited
Jack Mervyn
1971
Series
Executive Stress
1986
Fairly Secret Army
Major Harry Truscott
1984
Film
Clockwise
Headmaster
1986
Film
Alice Through the Looking Glass
White King
1998
Series
Armchair Theatre
Rankin
1956
Christabel
Mr Burton
1988
Film
Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley
Sir John Crowder
2008
Film
Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned
Captain Hardaker
2007
Maidens' Trip
Wilfred
1977
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
Self
2005
Film
Cathy Come Home
Property Agent
1966
Series
Stig of the Dump
Robert
2002
Film
Rat
The Doctor
2000
Film
To Olivia
2021
Film
Piccadilly Jim
Bayliss
2004
Film
Run For Your Wife
Man on Toilet
2012
Series
The Last Song
1981
Series
Dickens
Thackeray
2002
Series
The Legacy of Reginald Perrin
1996
Film
Stiff Upper Lips
His Butler's Voice
1998
Film
Goodbye
Jack
1975
Plays for Pleasure
Alec Boot
1981
Film
Reckless: The Sequel
Robert Crane
1998
Film
The Young Visiters
Minnit
2003
Three Comedies of Marriage
Dennis
1975
The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag
Corbett's Ghost
2005
Series
The 1940s House
Narrator (voice)
2001
Film
Bert & Dickie
Charles Burnell
2012
Film
1+1=1.5
Gosford
1969
Film
Lost Christmas
Dr. Clarence
2011
Film
Radio Pictures
Glyn Bryce
1985
Film
A Prize of Arms
Cpl. Myers
1962
Film
Stalag Luft
The Kommandant
1993
Film
A Question of Attribution
Donleavy
1991
The Joe Baker Show
1965
Film
The Insurance Man
The Angry Doctor
1986
Film
The Outsider
Col. Wyndham
1979
Film
Doctor Who: The Mutants
Administrator
1972
Chateau Monty
2008
Film
Hawks
SAAB Salesman
1988
Film
Only Make Believe
Richard Nicholls
1973
Series
Best Of Enemies
Film
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
Self / Dr Price
2009
Film
Season's Greetings
Bernard
1986
Film
The Funny Side of Christmas
Jimmy Anderson, Ben Parkinson
1982
Film
Doctor Who and the Silurians
Masters
1970
Waters of the Moon
Robert Lancaster
1983
Bulldog Breed
1962
Film
The Battle of Billy's Pond
First Policeman
1976
Film
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Quince
1981
Film
Michael Regan
Chief Superintendent
1971
Film
Smack and Thistle
Sir Horace Wimbol
1991
Film
Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire
Narrator
1985
Film
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Jimmy Anderson
1983
Film
Queen Victoria's Last Love: Abdul Karim
Narrator
2012
Film
Safe at Work?
Narrator
1980
Film
The Chequers Manoeuvre
Professor Wybrow
1968
Film
A Story to Frighten the Children
Det. Chief Insp. Harris
1976
Film
No Place Like Earth
Chief Officer
1965
Loyalties
Graviter
1976
Pope John Paul II: 1920 - 2005
Narrator
2005
Film
Mr. Kershaw's Dream System
Psychiastrist
1982
Film
Drama '63: A Well Dressed Man
Basil Mallard
1963
Film
Mr. Men & Little Miss: The Christmas Letter
Narrator / Santa
1998
Film
Absurd Person Singular
Ronald Brewster-Wright
1985
Film
Incident at Midnight
Dr. Tanfield
1963
The High Game
Man at the Clinic
1970
The Houseboy
Eric
1982
Walrus: Two Tonne Tusker
Narrator
2013
Film
James Bond's Greatest Hits
Narrator (voice)
2006