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
Filmography
all 131
TV Shows 71
Movies 60
Narrator 10
self 5
Voice 1

Paddington (2014)

The Last Sparks of Sundown (2014)

Bert & Dickie (2012)

The Hollow Crown (2012)

Run For Your Wife (2012)

Lost Christmas (2011)

W.E. (2011)

Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened (2009)

Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley (2008)

Ashes to Ashes (2008)

Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned (2007)

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag (2005)

Piccadilly Jim (2004)

He Knew He Was Right (2004)

Peter Pan (2003)

Grumpy Old Men (2003)

The Savages (2001)

The 1940's House (2001)

Rat (2000)

Anna and the King (1999)

Mr. Men & Little Miss: The Christmas Letter (1998)

Reckless: The Sequel (1998)

Stiff Upper Lips (1998)

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Mrs Brown (1997)

Monsieur Bonhomme (1997)

Look at the State We're In! (1995)

Full Throttle (1995)

Stalag Luft (1993)

As Time Goes By (1992)

Smack and Thistle (1991)

Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)

Christabel (1988)

Hawks (1988)

Inspector Morse (1987)

Clockwise (1986)

The Insurance Man (1986)

Absurd Person Singular (1985)

Fairly Secret Army (1984)

Natural World (1983)

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1983)

The Honorary Consul (1983)

Blackadder (1983)

Dalgliesh (1983)

Mr. Kershaw's Dream System (1982)

Bergerac (1981)

Safe at Work? (1980)

The Outsider (1979)

Butterflies (1978)

The Professionals (1977)

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976)

Bill Brand (1976)

Loyalties (1976)

A Story to Frighten the Children (1976)

The Battle of Billy's Pond (1976)

Fawlty Towers (1975)

Edward the Seventh (1975)

The Sweeney (1975)

O Lucky Man! (1973)

Only Make Believe (1973)

Crown Court (1972)

Van der Valk (1972)

Doctor Who: The Mutants (1972)

Michael Regan (1971)

The Goodies (1970)

Play for Today (1970)

The High Game (1970)

Doomwatch (1970)

The Expert (1968)

ITV Playhouse (1967)

The Revenue Men (1967)

Cathy Come Home (1966)

The Rat Catchers (1966)

No Place Like Earth (1965)

Out of the Unknown (1965)

The Troubleshooters (1965)

The Man In Room 17 (1965)

Gideon's Way (1965)

The Wednesday Play (1964)

Ring of Spies (1964)

Doctor Who (1963)

The Human Jungle (1963)

A Prize of Arms (1962)

The Saint (1962)

The Avengers (1961)

Garry Halliday (1959)

Bootsie and Snudge

Me Mammy
Gallery



Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1927-06-04
Deathday2020-11-05 (93 years old)
Birth NameGeoffrey Dyson Palmer
Birth PlaceLondon, United Kingdom
ChildrenCharles Palmer
CitizenshipsUnited Kingdom
Also Known AsGeoffrey Dyson Palmer
AwardsOfficer of the Order of the British Empire
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