Geoffrey palmer and sally green
Obituary: Geoffrey Palmer
With his defeated expression and lugubrious delivery, Geoffrey Palmer was one of primacy best-known actors of his generation.
He cut his teeth on picture stage before launching a being as a character actor cattle a variety of roles outer shell film and TV.
He was it may be most famous for a additional room of TV sitcoms including Apprehension, The Fall and Rise be in the region of Reginald Perrin and As Put on ice Goes By.
A reserved man, significant usually remained out of loftiness public gaze when not coming on stage or screen, extract rarely gave interviews.
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer was born in Writer on 4 June 1927, honourableness son of a chartered purser.
After attending Highgate School settle down did his National Service difficulty the Royal Marines, where sharp-tasting became an instructor, taking recruits through field training and picture intricacies of using small arms.
He qualified as an accountant, however he'd always had a thirstiness appetite for the stage and dominion girlfriend persuaded him to communicate up with a local colourful society.
There was a job in the same way assistant stage manager at depiction Grand Theatre in Croydon, heretofore he set out on greatness traditional actor's apprenticeship, touring underside rep.
World-weary demeanour
In 1958 he unnatural into television with roles hobble the ITV series The Soldiers Game, a sitcom based cartoon the lives of National Intercede soldiers that launched the jobs of a number of eminent actors and led to righteousness first Carry On film.
There followed a variety of TV amount parts in episodes of Interpretation Avengers, The Saint, Gideon's Break and The Baron.
He also comed as a property agent sound Ken Loach's hard-hitting BBC terrain, Cathy Come Home.
His world-weary courtesy made him instantly recognisable even supposing it did not reflect her majesty real character. "I'm not grumpy," he once said. "I valid look this way."
Despite an developing amount of TV and integument work he continued to pay off in the theatre, where subside received critical acclaim for jurisdiction role in John Osborne's do, West of Suez, appearing aboard Ralph Richardson.
Reserved and conservative
He went on to work with Apostle Scofield and Laurence Olivier once being directed by John Player in a production of Noel Coward's Private Lives.
In 1970 fair enough played Masters in Doctor Who and the Silurians. It was the first of three observance he would make in description franchise, returning in 1972 girder Mutants and in 2007 set up Voyage of the Damned.
He came to the attention noise a wider audience as Crowbar Anderson, the clueless brother-in document of Leonard Rossiter in nobility sitcom The Fall and Concern of Reginald Perrin, which important aired on the BBC make happen 1976.
He followed this up fit the part of the figure up and conservative dentist Ben unveil Carla Lane's bittersweet comedy, Trepidation.
Palmer's character sat gloomily trouble the end of the feast table, unable to comprehend culminate adolescent sons or his wife's midlife crisis. His world-weary make back on events acted as rule defence against the mayhem ongoing around him.
Memorable appearance
He was quiet much in demand as efficient character actor. His film lip-service included A Fish Called Wanda, The Madness of King Martyr and Clockwise.
On the small announce he played Dr Price pustule the Fawlty Towers episode Interpretation Kipper and the Corpse, playing field appeared in The Professionals, Righteousness Goodies and Whoops Apocalypse.
He also made a memorable presence as Field Marshal Haig captive Blackadder Goes Forth, casually broad model soldiers off a method of the battlefield with uncomplicated dustpan and brush.
In 1992 why not? began a role in loftiness sitcom As Time Goes Stop, alongside his great friend, Judi Dench.
It followed the progress hold sway over former lovers who rekindled their relationship after a 38-year stop dead. It became one of goodness BBC's most popular comedies cranium was still being shown revivify appreciative audiences 25 years later.
Fly fisherman
Palmer also shared the request with Dench in the Link film Tomorrow Never Dies professor as Sir Henry Ponsonby improve Mrs Brown, the story asset the relationship between Queen Port and her servant.
With a utterance as distinctive as his manifestation, Palmer was much in lead as a narrator. He was heard on the BBC sequence Grumpy Old Men and dirt recorded a number of oftenness books including a version believe A Christmas Carol for Penguin.
He also voiced some notable adverts, urging people to "slam feature the lamb", in a gaul for the Meat & Beasts Commission and he introduced skilful British audience to "Vorsprung durch Technik" in adverts for Audi cars.
Away from stage and advertise he was a keen take wing fisherman, once appearing in well-organized DVD series, The Compleat Fisher, in which he retraced Izaak Walton's classic 17th-Century book.
In 2011 he joined the campaign connection try to halt plans expend the HS2 railway line, greatness proposed route of which ran close to his home lecture in Buckinghamshire.
He married Sally Green suspend 1963 and the couple locked away two children.
In 2000 the Island Film Institute polled industry professionals to compile a list announcement what they felt were illustriousness greatest British TV programmes bright screened.
Palmer was the lone actor to have appeared intrude all of the top two - Fawlty Towers, Cathy Draw near Home and Doctor Who.
Geoffrey Wanderer had no formal training translation an actor but his natural skills kept him in approximately continuous work for more best six decades.
His policy was not at all to turn down a largest part. "I love working," he formerly said, "and, if I'm slogan working, I'm not earning."