Geoffrey Palmer (actor)

Infobox actor


caption = Geoffrey Palmer performing at "A Breath of Fresh Aid"
imagesize = 175px
name = Geoffrey Palmer
birthdate = birth date and age|1927|6|4|df=yes
birthplace = London, England
deathdate =
deathplace =
othername =
occupation = Actor, Presenter
yearsactive = 1958 - present
spouse = Sally Green (1963 - present)

Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE (born 4 June 1927) is an English actor, known for his role as Lionel Hardcastle in the television series "As Time Goes By".

Biography

Career

Having been demobilised from the Royal Marines, Palmer drifted into theatre, joining a local amateur dramatics society because of a girlfriend. He became assistant stage manager at the Q Theatre, by Kew Bridge, then the Grand Theatre in Croydon. He spent several years touring with a repertory company and was a mainly theatre actor, coming to television and public prominence late in his career. Early television appearances included a variety of roles in Granada Television's "The Army Game" and as a property agent in "Cathy Come Home", a highly influential drama documentary shown on British TV in 1966.

Getting a major break in John Osborne's "West of Suez" at the Royal Court with Ralph Richardson, he then acted in major productions at the Royal Court and the Royal National Theatre. Many of his television parts were as a stuffy, middle class buffoon, or known for deadpan drollery. Two sitcom roles brought him major attention in the 1970s: the hapless brother-in-law of Reggie Perrin in "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin", and the phlegmatic Ben Parkinson in Carla Lane's "Butterflies". He has continued to appear in productions written by Perrin creator David Nobbs, the latest being the radio comedy "The Maltby Collection".

He starred opposite Judi Dench for over a decade in the situation comedy "As Time Goes By"; it has been rerun extensively in the U.S. on PBS and BBC America and may thus be the role for which American audiences remember him the most. In 1997 Palmer once again had the chance to star opposite his close friend and colleague Dench in the James Bond film, "Tomorrow Never Dies" where he portrayed the British admiral, Admiral Roebuck and in the film "Mrs. Brown" as Queen Victoria's scheming Private Secretary Sir Henry Ponsonby.

His distinctive voice has led to a career in advert and television voiceovers, most notably "Grumpy Old Men", and the Audi commercials in which he popularised the phrase "Vorsprung durch Technik". He also narrated the audiobook version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", released in 2005 as a podcast by Penguin Books.

In 2007 he teamed up with Silksound Books to record "The Diary of a Nobody" by George Grossmith as an online audiobook.

In December 2007, Palmer appeared in the role of the Captain in "Voyage of the Damned", 2007 Christmas special of the BBC science-fiction series "Doctor Who" [cite news|title = "Kylie Boards Titanic!"| publisher = BBC| date = 2007-07-11| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/07/11/47099.shtml| accessdate = 2007-07-11] (having previously appeared as separate characters in the Third Doctor serials "Doctor Who and the Silurians" and "The Mutants").

Personal life

Palmer was born in London, England, the son of Norah Gwendolen (née Robins) and Frederick Charles Palmer, who was a chartered surveyor. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/71/Geoffrey-Palmer.html Geoffrey Palmer Biography (1927-) ] ] Palmer lives near Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. He married Sally Green in 1963 and they have two children, Charles and Harriet. [cite web |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=479617&in_page_id=1770 |accessdate=2008-01-02 |title=Bride is the SIXTH in her family to wear 100-year-old wedding dress |work=Daily Mail |author=Levy, Andrew |date=2007]

Awards and recognition

In the New Year's Honours List published 31 December 2004 he was created an OBE for services to drama.

Filmography

Radio

* "At Home With The Snails" (2001-2002)
* "High Table, Lower Orders" (2005-2006)
* "The Maltby Collection" (2007-2008)

Television

*"The Army Game" (1958–1960)
*"The Avengers":"A Surfeit of H2O" (1965)
*"The Wednesday Play":
**"Cathy Come Home" (1966)
*"Doctor Who":
**"Doctor Who and the Silurians" (1970)
**"The Mutants" (1972)
**"Voyage of the Damned" (2007)
*"The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" (1976-1979)
*"Butterflies" (1978)
*"Fawlty Towers":
** "The Kipper and the Corpse" (1979)
*"The Goodies" (1980)
*"Whoops Apocalypse" (1982)
*"Fairly Secret Army" (1984)
*"Executive Stress" (1986)
*"Hot Metal" (1986)
*"Blackadder Goes Forth":
** Episode 6 "Goodbyeee..." (1989); as Field Marshal Haig
*"Inspector Morse":
** "The Infernal Serpent" (1990)
*"As Time Goes By" (1992–2005)
*"The Legacy of Reginald Perrin" (1996)
*"The Savages" (2001)
*"Absolute Power" (2003)
*"He Knew He Was Right" (2004)
*"Ashes to Ashes":
** "Episode 8" (2008); as Lord Scarman
*"The Long Walk to Finchley" (2008); as John Crowder

Film

*"O Lucky Man!" (1973)
*"A Zed & Two Noughts" (1985)
*"Clockwise" (1986)
*"A Fish Called Wanda" (1988)
*"Hawks" (1988)
*"The Madness of King George" (1994)
*"Mrs. Brown" (1997)
*"Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997)
*"Anna and the King" (1999)
*"Peter Pan" (2003)
*"Flushed Away" (2006) (voice)

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0658244|name=Geoffrey Palmer