Geoffrey Palmer height - How tall is Geoffrey Palmer?

Father of director Charlie Palmer (they worked together on Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Clocks (2009)) and ex-father-in-law of Claire Skinner.

In 2007 he returned to Doctor Who as a guest star in the David Tennant era. An instantly recognisable actor with jowly features and a trademark deadpan expression, Palmer's stock-in-trade persona was of a world-weary, disenchanted, droll or sarcastic disposition. Conversely, in private life, he was said to be rather more lighthearted and humorous. He once declared "I'm not grumpy. I just look this way.

He was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the order of the British Empire) in the 2005 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Drama.

" Nonetheless, he was great value in the BBC series Grumpy Old Men (2003) as one of several middle-aged narrators complaining about assorted irritations in modern life. In addition to several audio books, Palmer also lent his familiar voice to radio and to Audi TV ads. In his spare time he was an avid fly fisherman and a longstanding member of the Garrick Club in London.

Palmer appeared opposite Judi Dench again in the James Bond thriller Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and in Mrs.

Brown (1997) as Queen Victoria's chief secretary Sir Henry Ponsonby.

He played Frank Middlemass's son in As Time Goes By (1992) even though he is actually only eight years younger than him.

Alan Bennett, who worked with Palmer on Screen Two: The Insurance Man (1986), calls him in his diary, "A splendid actor with an absolutely deadpan face... an English Walter Matthau". John Cleese also spoke highly of Palmer's abilities on his DVD commentary for Fawlty Towers: The Kipper and the Corpse (1979).

He was considered for the roles of Dr. Armstrong and Sir Percy Heseltine in Lifeforce (1985).

He also starred as Major Harry Kitchener Wellington Truscott in Fairly Secret Army (1984), playing a buffoonish, reactionary ex-army man attempting to shape a disparate bunch of characters into a secret paramilitary organisation.

Smaller (but memorable) guest spots have included his sausage-loving doctor in Fawlty Towers: The Kipper and the Corpse (1979), the Foreign Secretary in Whoops Apocalypse (1982) and Field Marshal Haig in Blackadder Goes Forth (1989).

From there, he went on to co-starring success as Leonard Rossiter's hapless brother-in-law in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976), Wendy Craig's perpetually aloof and gloomy husband in Butterflies (1978) and as Lionel Hardcastle in the hugely popular sitcom As Time Goes By (1992) (opposite Judi Dench).

He is the only actor to appear in all of the top three of the British Film Institute's 100 Greatest British Television Programmes: Fawlty Towers (1975), The Wednesday Play: Cathy Come Home (1966) and Doctor Who (1963).

He made two appearances in Doctor Who (1963) in the early 1970s (most notably as the ill-fated Edward Masters, Permanent Under-Secretary to the Minister of Science, in "The Silurians").

During much of the early and mid-60s, Palmer cut his teeth on prolific dramatic roles that came his way in seminal crime and mystery shows (The Saint (1962), The Avengers (1961), The Baron (1966), Z Cars (1962)), in which he often appeared as military types, politicians, or as legal or medical professionals. His personal credo was to never turn down a part. By the 70s, Palmer was becoming well-established as a supporting actor in British television.

Lugubrious-faced English actor Geoffrey Palmer was born in London, the son of a chartered accountant. After leaving school, he did his national service with the Royal Marines where he became a field training and small arms instructor. He then briefly tried his hand at accountancy before his girlfriend talked him into joining the local amateur dramatics society. Palmer started as an unpaid assistant stage manager at Croydon's Grand Theatre and afterwards spent several years touring in repertory. In 1955, he made the transition to television, at first as diverse straight supporting characters in popular early comedies like Bootsie and Snudge (1960) and The Army Game (1957), a series detailing the exploits and misadventures of a group of national service conscripts at a surplus ordnance depot.

He is one of 33 performers who have acted in both the 20th Century and 21st Century Doctor Who TV Series.