1927-06-04 Finchley, Middlesex, England, UK
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.
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To Olivia | 2021-02-19 | |
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Paddington | Head Geographer | 2014-11-24 |
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Walrus: Two Tonne Tusker | Narrator | 2013-10-01 |
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Run For Your Wife | Man on Toilet | 2012-05-16 |
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Bert & Dickie | Charles Burnell | 2012-07-25 |
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Queen Victoria's Last Love: Abdul Karim | Narrator | 2012-04-25 |
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Lost Christmas | Dr. Clarence | 2011-12-11 |
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W.E. | Stanley Baldwin | 2011-09-01 |
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The Pink Panther 2 | Joubert | 2009-02-06 |
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Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened | Self / Dr Price | 2009-05-10 |
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Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley | Sir John Crowder | 2008-06-12 |
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Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned | Captain Hardaker | 2007-12-25 |
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Pope John Paul II: 1920 - 2005 | Narrator | 2005-04-19 |
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The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag | Corbett's Ghost | 2005-12-02 |
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Piccadilly Jim | Bayliss | 2004-11-01 |
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Peter Pan | Sir Edward Quiller Couch | 2003-12-18 |
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The Young Visiters | Minnit | 2003-12-26 |
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Rat | The Doctor | 2000-10-06 |
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Anna and the King | Lord John Bradley | 1999-12-16 |
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Stiff Upper Lips | His Butler's Voice | 1998-06-12 |
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Mr. Men & Little Miss: The Christmas Letter | Narrator / Santa | 1998-12-07 |
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Alice Through the Looking Glass | White King | 1998-12-26 |
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Reckless: The Sequel | Robert Crane | 1998-10-11 |
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Tomorrow Never Dies | Admiral Roebuck | 1997-12-11 |
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Mrs Brown | Henry Ponsonby | 1997-07-18 |
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The Madness of King George | Warren | 1994-12-28 |
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Stalag Luft | The Kommandant | 1993-10-27 |
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A Question of Attribution | Donleavy | 1991-10-20 |
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Smack and Thistle | Sir Horace Wimbol | 1991-04-20 |
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A Fish Called Wanda | Judge | 1988-07-15 |
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Hawks | SAAB Salesman | 1988-08-05 |
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Clockwise | Headmaster | 1986-03-01 |
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The Insurance Man | The Angry Doctor | 1986-02-22 |
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Season's Greetings | Bernard | 1986-12-24 |
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Absurd Person Singular | Ronald Brewster-Wright | 1985-01-01 |
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A Zed & Two Noughts | Fallast | 1985-10-04 |
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Radio Pictures | Glyn Bryce | 1985-07-16 |
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Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire | Narrator | 1985-01-01 |
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The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin | Jimmy Anderson | 1983-10-03 |
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The Honorary Consul | British Ambassador | 1983-09-30 |
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Mr. Kershaw's Dream System | Psychiastrist | 1982-01-01 |
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The Funny Side of Christmas | Jimmy Anderson, Ben Parkinson | 1982-12-27 |
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The Houseboy | Eric | 1982-07-03 |
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A Midsummer Night's Dream | Quince | 1981-12-13 |
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Safe at Work? | Narrator | 1980-01-01 |
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The Outsider | Col. Wyndham | 1979-11-26 |
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A Story to Frighten the Children | Det. Chief Insp. Harris | 1976-02-03 |
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The Battle of Billy's Pond | First Policeman | 1976-01-01 |
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Loyalties | Graviter | 1976-02-29 |
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Goodbye | Jack | 1975-03-06 |
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Only Make Believe | Richard Nicholls | 1973-02-12 |
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O Lucky Man! | Examination Doctor/Basil Keyes | 1973-03-25 |
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Doctor Who: The Mutants | Administrator | 1972-05-13 |
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Michael Regan | Chief Superintendent | 1971-11-18 |
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Doctor Who and the Silurians | Masters | 1970-03-14 |
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The High Game | Man at the Clinic | 1970-08-03 |
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The Chequers Manoeuvre | Professor Wybrow | 1968-09-30 |
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Cathy Come Home | Property Agent | 1966-11-16 |
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No Place Like Earth | Chief Officer | 1965-10-04 |
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Ring of Spies | Police Officer (uncredited) | 1964-03-23 |
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Drama '63: A Well Dressed Man | Basil Mallard | 1963-07-28 |
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Incident at Midnight | Dr. Tanfield | 1963-01-01 |
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A Prize of Arms | Cpl. Myers | 1962-12-11 |
