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

Geoffrey Dyson Palmer^[1] (4 June 1927 – 5 November 2020) was an English actor. His roles in British televisionsitcoms include 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).

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,Bergerac andBlackadder.

Geoffrey Dyson Palmer was born on 4 June 1927 inNorth Finchley,Middlesex.^[2] He was the son of Frederick Charles Palmer, who was achartered surveyor, and Norah Gwendolen (née Robins).^[3] He attendedHighgate School from September 1939 to December 1945.^[4] He served as a corporal instructor in small arms and field training in theRoyal Marines during hisnational service from 1946 to 1948, following which he briefly worked as an unpaid trainee assistant stage manager.^[1]

Palmer's early television appearances included multiple roles in episodes ofThe Army Game (Granada Television), two episodes ofThe Baron and as a property agent inCathy Come Home (1966). After a major break inJohn Osborne'sWest of Suez at theRoyal Court withRalph Richardson, he acted in major productions at the Royal Court and for theNational Theatre Company and was directed byLaurence Olivier inJ. B. Priestley'sEden End. Palmer found the play so dull, however, that he was deterred from a stage career.^[5]

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).^[2]

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

Palmer played Doctor Price in theFawlty 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.^[2] 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.^[2]

Palmer later starred oppositeJudi Dench for over a decade in another BBC sitcom,As Time Goes By (1992–2005). In 1997, he also appeared with Dench in theJames Bond filmTomorrow Never Dies, in which he portrayed Admiral Roebuck to Dench'sM, andMrs Brown, playing SirHenry Ponsonby to 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 theAudi commercials in which he was heard using the phrase "Vorsprung durch Technik". As a narrator, he worked on the BBC series'Grumpy Old Men andGrumpy Old Holidays, withPrunella Scales onLooking for Victoria in 2003, as well as narrating theaudiobook version of Dickens'A Christmas Carol, released in 2005 as apodcast byPenguin Books.^[6] He narrated the documentary seriesLittle England, and he continued to appear in productions written byReggie Perrin creatorDavid Nobbs, the last of these being the radio comedyThe Maltby Collection broadcast 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 Nobody byGeorge Grossmith andWeedon Grossmith as 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;^[7] Palmer previously appeared in the classic era of the show in theThird Doctor serialsDoctor 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 Miller andMitchell and Webb forComic Relief. In 2011, he played the reactionary father-in-law of the eponymous clergyman ofRev. in its Christmas episode.

Palmer married Sally Green in 1963.^[8] They had a daughter, Harriet, and a son,Charles, a television director.^[9] Palmer was a longtime resident ofLee Common in theChiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire,^[10] and enjoyedfly fishing in his spare time.^[1][8] At the time of his death, he resided inBerkhamsted, Hertfordshire.^[2][11]

Palmer died peacefully at his home on 5 November 2020, aged 93.^{[2][12][13][14]}

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.^[15] A drawing of Palmer byStuart Pearson Wright is in the collection of theNational Portrait Gallery, London.^[16]

• Geoffrey Palmer atIMDb
• Geoffrey Palmer at theBFI'sScreenonline
• Geoffrey Palmer discography atDiscogs
• Selected performances in Theatre Archive University of Bristol
• Geoffrey Palmer atBritish Comedy Guide
• Portraits of Geoffrey Palmer at theNational Portrait Gallery, London

• 1927 births
• 2020 deaths
• 20th-century English male actors
• 21st-century English male actors
• Actors from Berkhamsted
• Actors from the London Borough of Barnet
• Audiobook narrators
• Deaths from blood cancer in England
• English male film actors
• English male radio actors
• English male stage actors
• English male television actors
• English male voice actors
• Male actors from Buckinghamshire
• Male actors from Hertfordshire
• Male actors from London
• Military personnel from the London Borough of Barnet
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• People educated at Highgate School
• Royal Marines ranks
• 20th-century Royal Marines personnel

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