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Geoffrey Palmer
From The TV IV
| Geoffrey Palmer | |
| |
| Birth name | Geoffrey Dyson Palmer |
| Born | June 4, 1927 in London, England, UK |
| Died | November 5, 2020 |
| Notable Roles | Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By |
| Notable Episodes | Fawlty Towers: 2x04 - The Kipper and the Corpse |
| Awards | Other: Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Geoffrey Palmer is a British actor best known for his work opposite Judi Dench in the British sitcom As Time Goes By, as well as his appearances in dozens of TV shows and movies, including A Fish Called Wanda, The Madness of King George and the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies.
Contents |
Biography
As a young man, he served as a corporal in the Royal Marines. After his discharge, he worked for a while at an imports office and as an accountant, until a girlfriend convinced him to work with her at an amateur dramatics society.
He soon found plenty of stage work, eventually serving as assistant stage manager, first at the Q Theatre, then at Croydon's Grand Theatre. He was especially sought after in comedies, where his deadpan delivery served him well. TV and film work soon followed, and he was constantly working throughout the 1960s and '70s. In 1976, he began the role which would make him a celebrity in Britain when he played Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.
In 1992, he found his greatest international success opposite Dame Judi Dench in the British sitcom As Time Goes By. In 2005, he was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his work in British theater. He lives with his wife, Sally Palmer, with whom he has had two children.
Roles
Starring Roles
| Series | Role | Year(s) | Season(s) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Army Game | Soldier | 1958–1959 | 3 | ||||||||
| Best of Enemies | Johnson | 1968 | 1 | ||||||||
| Edward the King | Sir Edward Clarke | 1975 | 1 | ||||||||
| Bill Brand | Malcolm Frear | 1976 | 1 | ||||||||
| The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin | Jimmy Anderson | 1976–1982 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||
| Butterflies | Ben Parkinson | 1978–2000 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||
| The Last Song | Leo Bannister | 1981–1983 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| Whoops Apocalypse | Foreign Secretary | 1982 | 1 | ||||||||
| Death of an Expert Witness | Dr. Edwin Lorimer | 1983 | 1 | ||||||||
| Fairly Secret Army | Major Harry Kitchener Wellington Truscott | 1984–1986 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| Hot Metal | Harry Stringer | 1986 | 1 | ||||||||
| Executive Stress | Donald Fairchild | 1986 | 1 | ||||||||
| After the War | Major General Sir Robert Godolphin | 1989 | 1 | ||||||||
| As Time Goes By | Lionel Hardcastle | 1992–2005 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| The Legacy of Reginald Perrin | Jimmy Anderson | 1996 | 1 | ||||||||
| Tales from the River Bank | Narrator | 1997 | 1 | ||||||||
| Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl | Narrator | 2001 | 1 | ||||||||
| The Savages | Donald | 2001 | 1 | ||||||||
| Stig of the Dump | Robert Tollworth | 2002 | 1 | ||||||||
| Grumpy Old Men | Narrator | 2003–2005 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||
| He Knew He Was Right | Sir Marmaduke Rowley | 2004 | 1 | ||||||||
Guest Starring Roles
| Series | Role | Episode | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Police Surgeon | Peter Hughes | 1x04 - Smash but No Grab | October 1, 1960 |
| The Avengers | Philip Anthony | 1x12 - Dance with Death | April 15, 1961 |
| Top Secret | Captain Felipe | 2x07 - The Eagle of San Gualo | June 20, 1962 |
| The Avengers | Paul Manning | 2x02 - Propellant 23 | October 6, 1962 |
| Suspense | Newspaper Reporter | 2x20 - The Edge of Discovery | May 13, 1963 |
| The Avengers | Dr. Terence | 3x03 - Man with Two Shadows | October 12, 1963 |
| The Saint | Pete Ferguson | 2x10 - The Rough Diamonds | November 21, 1963 |
| Gideon's Way | Jeff Grant | 1x15 - The Alibi Men | June 24, 1965 |
| Public Eye | Donald Halston | 1x08 - 'And a Very Fine Fiddle Has He' | March 13, 1965 |
| The Avengers | Martin Smythe | 4x08 - A Surfeit of H2O | November 20, 1965 |
| Public Eye | Dr. Pringle | 2x10 - No, No, Nothing Like That | September 3, 1966 |
| The Baron | Anstruther | 1x06 - Masquerade | November 2, 1966 |
| The Baron | Anstruther | 1x07 - The Killing | November 9, 1966 |
| The Wednesday Play | Property Agent | 11/16/66 - Cathy Come Home | November 16, 1966 |
| Mrs Thursday | Headmaster Baxter | 2x11 - The Old School Tie Up | March 6, 1967 |
| The Troubleshooters | Jeremy Martin | 4x07 - And the Walls Came Tumbling Down | December 1, 1967 |
| The Troubleshooters | Jeremy Martin | 4x26 - The Minister of the Crown... And the Very Compromising Photograph | May 3, 1968 |
| Thirty-Minute Theatre | Professor Whybrow | 09/30/68 - The Chequers Manoeuvre | September 30, 1968 |
| George and the Dragon | PC Footer | 4x02 - Episode Two | October 3, 1968 |
| Z Cars | Barney French | 6x208 - Special Duty (2) | March 11, 1969 |
| The Expert | Asst. Chief Con. Rogers | 2x02 - The Visitors (2) | April 11, 1969 |
| Fraud Squad | Arthur New | 1x12 - Two Kinds of Crash | August 5, 1969 |
| Detective | Chief Superintenden Smeed | 3x06 - Hunt the Peacock | October 12, 1969 |
| Paul Temple | Det. Insp. Dean | 1x03 - There Must Be a Mr. X | December 7, 1969 |
| Softly Softly | Professor Brett | 6x16 - The Lie Direct | December 30, 1970 |
| Doctor Who | Masters | BBB - Doctor Who and the Silurians | January 31, 1970—March 14, 1970 |
| Play for Today | Chief Superintendent | 2x06 - Michael Regan | November 18, 1971 |
| Doomwatch | Major Sims | 2x02 - Invasion | December 21, 1971 |
| Doctor Who | Administrator | NNN - The Mutants | April 8, 1972—May 13, 1972 |
| Doomwatch | Chief Supt. Mallor | 3x03 - Say Knife, Fat Man | June 19, 1972 |
| Fly into Danger | Air Traffic Controller | 1x07 - Final Approach | July 12, 1972 |
| Colditz | Doc | 1x10 - Tweedledum | December 21, 1972 |
| Colditz | Doc | 1x14 - Gone Away (1) | January 18, 1973 |
| Colditz | Doc | 1x15 - Gone Away (2) | January 25, 1973 |
| Play for Today | Richard Nicholls | 3x16 - Only Make Believe | February 12, 1973 |
| Menace | Major Ryder | 2x01 - Judas Goat | March 22, 1973 |
| The Liver Birds | Doctor | 4x10 - Follow That Ring | March 6, 1974 |
| Angels | Lawrence Rutherford | 1x01 - Arrival | September 1, 1975 |
| Play for Today | 6x15 - A Story to Frighten the Children | February 3, 1976 | |
| Angels | Lawrence Rutherford | 2x10 - Home Sweet Home | June 8, 1976 |
| Sutherland's Law | Athol Fairfax QC | 5x07 - The Hot Water Boat | August 24, 1976 |
| Angels | Lawrence Rutherford | 3x04 - Decision | September 27, 1976 |
| Van der Valk | Head of Faculty | 3x09 - The Professor | October 31, 1977 |
| The Professionals | Simon Sinclair | 1x06 - Where the Jungle Ends | February 3, 1978 |
| Scorpion Tales | 1x04 - The Ghost in the Pale Blue Dress | May 20, 1978 | |
| The Sweeney | Commander Watson | 4x09 - Feet of Clay | November 2, 1978 |
| Fawlty Towers | Dr. Price | 2x04 - The Kipper and the Corpse | March 12, 1979 |
| Bless Me Father | Freddie Williams | 2x05 - All at Sea | December 16, 1979 |
| The Goodies | School Headmaster | 8x06 - War Babies | February 18, 1980 |
| The Professionals | Avery | 5x09 - The Ojuka Situation | January 23, 1983 |
| Hot Metal | Harry Stringer | 2x07 - The Satellite Years | March 10, 1989 |
| Blackadder Goes Forth | Field Marshal Haig | 1x06 - Goodbyeee | November 2, 1989 |
| Inspector Morse | Matthew Copley-Barnes | 4x01 - The Infernal Serpent | January 3, 1990 |
| Bergerac | Nigel Carter | 8x04 - Roots of Evil | February 4, 1990 |
| Alleyn Mysteries | Harold Cartell | 2x01 - Hand in Glove | January 10, 1994 |
| Look at the State We're In! | The Ruler | 1x05 - Nanny Knows Best | June 3, 1995 |
| Absolute Power | Lord Harcourt | 1x05 - Country Life | December 8, 2003 |
| Ashes to Ashes | Lord Scarman | 1x08 - Episode 8 | March 27, 2008 |
Specials and Made-for-TV Movies
| Title | Role | Airdate | Series/Banner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Going, Going, Gone... Free? | Ralph | July 9, 1975 | |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | Quince | December 13, 1981 | The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare |
| The Insurance Man | The Angry Doctor | February 22, 1986 | |
| Season's Greetings | Bernard | December 24, 1986 | |
| Christabel | Mr. Burton | November 16, 1988 | |
| A Question of Attribution | Donleavy | October 4, 1992 | |
| Stalag Luft | Commander | October 27, 1993 | |
| Full Throttle | Sir Stanley Birkin | February 2, 1995 | Heroes and Villains |
| Reckless: The Movie | Robert Crane | October 11, 1998 | |
| Butterflies Reunion Special | Ben Parkinson | November 17, 2000 | Butterflies |
| Judi Dench: A BAFTA Tribute | Himself | January 12, 2002 | A BAFTA Tribute |
| Dickens | William Makepeace Thackeray | May 11, 2002 | |
| Looking for Victoria | Narrator | October 27, 2003 | |
| The Young Visiters | Minnit | December 26, 2003 | |
| The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag | Corbett's Ghost | December 2, 2005 |
Talk, News and Game Show Appearances
Memorable Moments
- Fawlty Towers:
- 2x04 - The Kipper and the Corpse: As Dr. Price, Palmer has been called away from his breakfast of sausages to declare a dead man's time of death. He has waited through constant delays for his sausages. At last, he catches Basil Fawlty trying to hide the body in the kitchen. He chews Basil out and demands that Basil makes "sure this area is scrubbed before any more food is prepared in here." When Basil promises to do so, Price adds, "Sausages excepted, you may cook them immediately. I'll take the risk."
Awards and Accolades
- Order of the British Empire
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire (2005) - For work in drama
