Anthony Head Jason Kempin/Getty Images Anthony Head, the British actor who guided Buffy the Vampire Slayer as the heroine’s Watcher, Rupert Giles, has died.
Head, 72, died of complications from pneumonia, his daughters Daisy and Emily said in a statement to the Press Association in the U.K.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the death of our extraordinary father, Anthony Head,” their statement says. “He passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family.
“It has been, and forever will be, an honour and a privilege to be his daughters, and to have witnessed firsthand the impact both he and his work have had on so many. We know how dearly he will be missed by friends, colleagues, and fans of the shows he was in — he loved his job very much, and he always considered himself incredibly lucky, to have been able to work alongside such exceptionally talented people, in such wonderful productions, across a career that spanned several decades.”
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Head’s breakout role came in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the TV adaptation by creator Joss Whedon of the 1992 movie of the same name. As Giles, the bookish but steely Watcher, he helped guide Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) as she came to terms with being the Slayer and supported her missions. More recently, he played Rupert Mannion, the philandering ex-husband of AFC Richmond owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) in Apple TV’s Ted Lasso. His credits also included Little Britain and Merlin in the U.K. and a number of stage roles.
Anthony Stewart Head was born Feb. 20, 1954, in London to documentary filmmaker Seafield Head and actress Helen Shingler; his older brother is actor and singer Murray Head (“One Night in Bangkok” from Chess). He attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and had early roles in a 1978 production of Godspell in London, the film Lady Chatterley’s Lover and a number of guest appearances in British TV series.
An early breakthrough came in a series of TV commercials for Gold Blend coffee in the U.K., where he and Sharon Maughan played a man and woman who began a slow-burn romance over a series of coffee dates. Versions of the ads were also made in the United States for Taster’s Choice, with Head and Maughan again playing the couple.
His role in Buffy won him legions of fans in the U.S. — but also meant he was away from his family for long stretches as he filmed the show in Los Angeles. “My partner Sarah [Fisher] and the girls — Daisy was four and Emily was six — stayed in England,” he told The Guardian in a 2016 interview. I’d try to go home to them every three or four weeks. The production team would work dates around me, and every time I got the chance to have six days clear, I’d get on a plane. Anything less than six days was disruptive — I’d have to leave as soon as they were getting used to having me around. I’d hit the ground running, take over from Sarah, take the girls to school and do as much as I could before I had to go back.”
Post-Buffy, Head also starred in the BBC dramedy Manchild and Channel 4’s Free Agents (along with its short-lived NBC remake) in the U.K. and Syfy’s Dominion and ABC’s Still Star-Crossed in the U.S., along with The Iron Lady opposite Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent a host of guest and recurring roles on TV.
Head is survived by his daughters. Fisher, and animal welfare advocate, died in late December.
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