Veteran film, stage, screen actor and singer, Valentine Palmer, passes away at 86

 

Valentine Palmer as Monia in the Doctor Who serial, Day of the Daleks

 

 On 10 January 2022, Valentine Palmer, best known for his role as Monia in the Dr Who serial, Day of the Daleks, passed away aged 86, after a short illness.

Valentine studied music and singing at Guildhall School of Music in London and was awarded the King George VI Scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and subsequently appeared in almost 100 of Britain’s best loved TV series, including two episodes of Dr Who, Minder, The Saint, The Professionals, The Sweeney, Emmerdale, Dixon of Dock Green, Crossroads and The Six Wives of Henry VIII.

Valentine as Lord Willoughby in The Six Wives of Henry VIII

He also played leading roles in numerous West End musicals including: Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Tommy Steele, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Dora Bryan, The King and I with Peter Wyngarde and Oliver with Helen Shapiro.

He also wrote, produced, and directed his feature film Fanny Hill which was a commercial success. As a result, he later worked in Hollywood as a script editor and later, in the UK, as a screenwriting coach.

In addition to the performing arts, Valentine also worked in the field of business and communication coaching as head of production for the company, Motivation Video, for 10 years with big-name clients like IBM and BP, and he set up his own company, The Academy of Communication, which he ran for 20 years.

Valentine was also an established writer and was commissioned to write the screenplay for The Singer as a vehicle for Cliff Richard. He was also commissioned to write the book for the West End musical, Zelda, about the wife of Scott Fitzgerald. In 2012, he was commissioned to write a biography of his great uncle, Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller, the only senior officer to survive the sinking of the Titanic. Titanic and The Strange Case of Great Uncle Bertie was published to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the tragedy. A firm believer in the 'Titanic Switch Theory' (that it was actually Titanic's identical sister ship, Olympic, that sank that fateful night and not the Titanic as part of an elaborate insurance fraud scam), Valentine went on to write several books and deliver lectures on the subject of the great ship and the mystery surrounding its loss.

Valentine Palmer, author of Titanic and The Strange Case of Great Uncle Bertie

His final project was working as producer/writer for the documentary The Session Man, about the life and career of legendary rock pianist, Nicky Hopkins, currently in production.

Valentine with Harry Shearer (of Spinal Tap and The Simpsons) at Olympic Studios during the filming of the Nicky Hopkins documentary, The Session Man

Valentine Palmer (24/7/1935-10/1/2022) who was originally from Crouch End, London, went to Brighton College, grew up in Thornborough, Buckinghamshire, lived in Brighton then moved to Malta and latterly lived in Grantham, leaves 5 children and 6 grandchildren.

In the media:

The Brighton Argus: Veteran actor and singer Valentine Palmer dies aged 86, (1 Feb 2022)

 

Ham & High: Prolific actor, writer and voice coach Valentine Palmer dies aged 86, (27 Jan 2022)

 

HertsLive: The amazing life of the Herts star who appeared in 100 British TV shows including Dr Who, Emmerdale and Minder, (26 Jan 2022) 

 

Grantham Journal: Grantham veteran film, stage, screen actor who appeared in Doctor Who, Emmerdale and The Professionals passes away aged 86, (24 Jan 2022)