Actor Geoffrey Palmer has died at the age of 93, it has been announced.
He was best known for appearing in BBC sitcom As Time Goes By opposite Judi Dench.
On Friday, Geoffrey’s agent told the BBC that he had died peacefully at home the previous day. His cause of death has not been confirmed.
Prior to his role in As Time Goes By, Geoffrey had appeared in sitcom The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin from 1976 to 1979 in the role of Jimmy Anderson.
He also played Ben Parkinson in comedy Butterflies from 1978 to 1983, as well as having smaller guest roles in the likes of The Avengers, Doctor Who, The Sweeney, Fawlty Towers and Blackadder Goes Fourth.
However, Geoffrey was known to millions as Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By – a sitcom about two former lovers who meet unexpectedly years later and go on to marry.
With Judi Dench as his on-screen partner Jean, the pair starred in nine series of the show between 1992 and 2005.
The pair also appeared together in the 1997 film Mrs Brown, in which she played Queen Victoria and he appeared as Henry Ponsonby.
In 2004, Geoffrey was awarded an OBE for his services to drama.
Geoffrey’s last credited TV role aired in 2012, when he appeared in BBC mini series Parade’s End as a Bishop.
According to IMDB, he had also filmed scenes for upcoming drama An Unquiet Life – a story about children’s author Roald Dahl’s first wife Patricia Neal – prior to his death.
In 2014, he also voiced the Head Geographer in the film Paddington.
Geoffrey is survived by his wife Sally Green, with whom he had a daughter and a son.
