Geoffrey Palmer (actor)

Geoffrey Dyson Palmer(4 June 1927 – 5 November 2020) was an English actor. His roles in British televisionsitcomsinclude Jimmy Anderson inThe Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin(1976–79), Ben Parkinson inButterflies(1978–1983) and Lionel Hardcastle inAs Time Goes By(1992–2005).

Geoffrey Palmer OBE
Palmer in 2008
Born	Geoffrey Dyson Palmer (1927-06-04)4 June 1927 North Finchley,Middlesex,England
Died	5 November 2020(2020-11-05)(aged 93) Berkhamsted,Hertfordshire,England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1955–2020
Spouse	Sally Green ​ (m.1963)​
Children	2, includingCharles Palmer

His film appearances includeA Fish Called Wanda(1988),The Madness of King George(1994),Mrs Brown(1997),Tomorrow Never Dies(1997) andPaddington(2014). He also made guest appearances in television series such asThe Avengers,Doctor Who,Fawlty Towers,andBergerac.

Early life and education

Geoffrey Dyson Palmer was born on 4 June 1927 inNorth Finchley,Middlesex.He was the son of Frederick Charles Palmer, who was achartered surveyor,and Norah Gwendolen (née Robins).He attendedHighgate Schoolfrom September 1939 to December 1945.He served as a corporal instructor in small arms and field training in theRoyal Marinesduring hisnational servicefrom 1946 to 1948, following which he briefly worked as an unpaid trainee assistant stage manager.

Career

Palmer's early television appearances included multiple roles in episodes ofThe Army Game(Granada Television), two episodes ofThe Baronand as a property agent inCathy Come Home(1966). After a major break inJohn Osborne'sWest of Suezat theRoyal CourtwithRalph Richardson,he acted in major productions at the Royal Court and for theNational Theatre Companyand was directed byLaurence OlivierinJ. B. Priestley'sEden 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 inThe Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin(1976–79), and the phlegmatic dentist Ben Parkinson inButterflies(1978–1983).

In 1978, Palmer appeared asorganized crimelordSimon Sinclair inLondon Weekend Television's hard-hitting police dramaThe Professionals,the episode entitled "Where the Jungle Ends."

Palmer played Doctor Price in theFawlty Towersepisode "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,alongsidePenelope Keith.He later left, and was replaced byPeter Bowles.

Palmer later starred oppositeJudi Denchfor over a decade in another BBC sitcom,As Time Goes By(1992–2005). In 1997, he also appeared with Dench in theJames BondfilmTomorrow Never Dies,in which he portrayed Admiral Roebuck to Dench'sM,andMrs Brown,playing SirHenry Ponsonbyto Dench'sQueen Victoria.

Palmer's voice-over skills led to frequent work in commercials. Campaigns he was involved with include the 'Slam in the Lamb' ads for the Meat & Livestock Commission and theAudicommercials in which he was heard using the phrase "Vorsprung durch Technik".As a narrator, he worked on the BBC series'Grumpy Old MenandGrumpy Old Holidays,as well as narrating theaudiobookversion of Dickens'A Christmas Carol,released in 2005 as apodcastbyPenguin Books.He narrated the documentary seriesLittle England,and he continued to appear in productions written byReggie PerrincreatorDavid Nobbs,the last of these being the radio comedyThe Maltby Collectionbroadcast from 2007.

In the 2006 DVD seriesThe Compleat Angler,Palmer partnered Rae Borras in a series of episodes based onIzaak Walton's 1653The Compleat Angler.In 2007, he recordedThe Diary of a NobodybyGeorge GrossmithandWeedon Grossmithas an online audiobook. In December 2007, Palmer appeared in the role of the Captain in "Voyage of the Damned",the Christmas special episode of the BBC science-fiction seriesDoctor Who;Palmer previously appeared in the classic era of the show in theThird DoctorserialsDoctor Who and the Silurians(1970) (as Masters) andThe Mutants(1972) (as the Administrator). In March 2009, he joined in a sketch with the two double actsArmstrong and MillerandMitchell and WebbforComic Relief.In 2011, he played the reactionary father-in-law of the eponymous clergyman ofRev.in its Christmas episode.

Personal life and death

Palmer married Sally Green in 1963.They had a daughter, Harriet, and a son,Charles,a television director.Palmer was a longtime resident ofLee Commonin theChiltern Hills,Buckinghamshire,and enjoyedfly fishingin his spare time.At the time of his death, he resided inBerkhamsted,Hertfordshire.

Palmer died peacefully at his home on 5 November 2020, aged 93.

Awards and recognition

In the New Year's Honours List published 31 December 2004 he was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire(OBE) for services to drama.A drawing of Palmer byStuart Pearson Wrightis in the collection of theNational Portrait Gallery,London.

Appearances

Stage

• Sabrina FairbySamuel Taylorat theTheatre Royal, Nottingham(1955).
• Eden EndbyJ. B. Priestleyat theRoyal National Theatre(1974).
• Kafka's DickbyAlan Bennettat theRoyal Court Theatre(1986).
• West of SuezbyJohn Osbourne.

Radio

• At Home with the Snails(2001–2002)
• Les MisérablesasInspector Javert(2002)
• The Man Who Was Thursday(2005)
• High Table, Lower Orders(2005–2006)
• The Maltby Collection(2007–2009)
• A Murder of Quality(2009)
• The Screwtape LettersasC. S. Lewis(2009)
• North by Northamptonshire(2011–2012)
• Two Pipe Problems: The Case of the Missing Meerschaumas Mortimer Tregennis (2011)

Television

• The Army Game(1958–1960) as Various Characters
• The Strange World of Gurney Slade(1960) as Television Studio Floor Manager in Episode 1
• ’’Interpol Calling(1960) in Episode "Desert Hijack"
• The Avengers:
  • "Propellant 23"(1962) as Paul Manning
  • "Man with Two Shadows"(1963) as Dr. Terence
  • "A Surfeit of H₂O "(1965) as Martin Smythe
• The Human Jungle
• The Saint:
  • "The Rough Diamonds"(1963) as Pete Ferguson
• Gideon's Way(TV Series)
  • "The Alibi Man"(1965) as Jeff Grant
• Out of the Unknown
  • "No Place Like Earth" (1965) as Chief Officer
• The Baron:
  • "Masquerade" (1966) as Anstruther
  • "The Killing" (1966) as Anstruther
• The Wednesday Play:
  • Cathy Come Home(1966) as Property Agent
• Mrs Thursday(1966) as Henry Baxter
• Best of Enemies(1968) as Johnson
• Doctor Who
  • "Doctor Who and the Silurians"(1970) as Masters
  • "The Mutants"(1972) as Administrator
  • "Voyage of the Damned"(2007)as Captain Hardaker
• Colditz – Gone Away Part 1(1972) as Doc
• Whodunnit!(1975) as Suspect
• The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin(1976–1979) as Jimmy Anderson
• Butterflies(1978–1983) as Ben Parkinson
• The Sweeney(1978) as Commander Watson in "Feet of Clay"
• The Professionals(1978) as Sinclair in "Where the Jungle Ends"
• Fawlty Towers- "The Kipper and the Corpse"(1979) as Dr. Price
• The Goodies(1980) as School Headmaster
• The Last Song(1981) as Leo Bannister
• Whoops Apocalypse(1982) as Foreign Secretary
• Death of an Expert Witness(1983) as Dr. Edwin Lorrimer
• The Professionals(1983) as Avery in "The Ojuka Situation"
• Fairly Secret Army(1984–1986) as Major Harry Kitchener Wellington Truscott
• Executive Stress(1986 first series only) as Donald Fairchild No. 1
• Season's Greetings(1986) as Bernard
• Hot Metal(1986) as Harold Stringer
• Christabel(1988) as Mr. Burton
• Blackadder Goes Forth
  • "Goodbyeee"(1989) asField Marshal Douglas Haig
• Inspector Morse
  • "The Infernal Serpent"(1990) as Matthew Copley-Barnes
• Bergerac
  • "Roots of Evil"(1990) as Nigel Carter
• As Time Goes By(1992–2005) as Lionel Hardcastle
• Mr. Men and Little Missas the Narrator and Santa Claus (in "The Christmas Letter" )
• The Legacy of Reginald Perrin(1996) as Jimmy Anderson
• Alice through the Looking Glass(1998) as White King
• The Savages(2001) as Donald
• The 1940s House(2001) as Narrator
• Stig of the Dump(2002) as Robert
• Absolute Power(2003) as Lord Harcourt
• Grumpy Old Men(2003–2004, 2006) as Narrator
• He Knew He Was Right(2004) as Sir Marmaduke Rowley
• Grumpy Old Holidays(2006) as Narrator
• Ashes to Ashes:
  • "Episode 8"(2008); asLord Scarman
• The Long Walk to Finchley(2008); asJohn Crowder
• Agatha Christie's Poirot:
  • "The Clocks"(2011) as Vice Admiral Hamling
• Grandpa in My Pocket
  • "Captain Dumbletwit's Toughest Mission Yet!" (2010) as Grandad Gillbert
• Rev
  • "Christmas Special" Series 2, episode 7 (2011) as Martin
• Henry IV, Part II(2012); asLord Chief Justice
• Royal Variety Performance(2014); as the Announcer (voice only)

Film

• A Prize of Arms(1962) as Cpl. Myers
• Incident at Midnight(1963) as Dr. Tanfield
• Ring of Spies(1964) as Police Officer (uncredited)
• Cast a Giant Shadow(1966) as David (uncredited)
• O Lucky Man!(1973) as Examinator Doctor / Basil Keyes
• The Battle of Billy's Pond(1976) as First Policeman
• The Outsider(1979) as Colonel Wyndham
• Mr. Kershaw's Dream System(1982) as Psychiatrist
• The Honorary Consul(1983) as Belfrage: British Ambassador
• A Zed & Two Noughts(1985) as Fallast
• Clockwise(1986) as Headmaster
• A Fish Called Wanda(1988) as Judge
• Hawks(1988) as SAAB Salesman
• The Madness of King George(1994) as Warren
• Mrs. Brown(1997) as Henry Ponsonby
• Tomorrow Never Dies(1997) as Admiral Roebuck
• Stiff Upper Lips(1998) as His Butler's Voice
• Anna and the King(1999) as Lord John Bradley
• Rat(2000) as The Doctor
• Peter Pan(2003) as Sir Edward Quiller Couch
• Piccadilly Jim(2004) as Bayliss
• The Pink Panther 2(2009) as Joubert
• W.E.(2011) asStanley Baldwin
• Lost Christmas(2011) as Dr. Clarence
• Run for Your Wife(2012) as Man on Bus
• Bert and Dickie(2012) as Charles Burnell
• The Last Sparks of Sundown(2014) as Sir Buster Sparks (voice)
• Paddington(2014) as The Boss Geographer
• To Olivia(2021) as Geoffrey Fisher (final film role)

Recordings (spoken word)

• Welcome to the Pleasuredome (Fruitness Mix)(1985)
• Esio Trot(1990)
• The BFG(1989)
• A Christmas Carol(2005)
• The Diary of a Nobody(2007)

External links

• Geoffrey PalmeratIMDb
• Geoffrey Palmerat theBFI'sScreenonline
• Geoffrey Palmerdiscography atDiscogs
• Selected performances in Theatre Archive University of Bristol
• Geoffrey PalmeratBritish Comedy Guide
• Portraits of Geoffrey Palmerat theNational Portrait Gallery, London