Geoffrey Dyson Palmer OBE 4 June 1927 5 November 2020 was an English actor known for his roles in British television sitcoms playing Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin 197679 Ben Parkinson in Butterflies 19781983 and Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By 19922005 His film appearances include A Fish Called Wanda 1988 The Madness of King George 1994 Mrs Brown 1997 and Tomorrow Never Dies 1997 Description above from the Wikipedia article Geoffrey Palmer licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia