Anthony Head, the actor best known for the role of Rupert Giles in the series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, died at the age of 72, writes The Guardian on Friday.
“He passed away peacefully from complications of pneumonia surrounded by family,” his daughters, Emily and Daisy Head, said in a statement.
“It was and will forever be an honor and a privilege to be his daughters and to have witnessed firsthand the impact that both he and his work had on so many people,” they added.
In addition to mentoring Sarah Michelle Gellar's character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Head had a recurring role on Little Britain, appeared in the BBC production of Merlin, as well as film roles in The Iron Lady and The Inbetweeners Movie.
More recently, he played former football club owner Rupert Mannion in 'Ted Lasso'.
Born in Camden, London, Anthony Head was raised by artist parents. His father was a documentary filmmaker and founded Verity Films, while his mother was an actress and played Madame Maigret in the 1960s BBC detective series Maigret. His brother was also an actor, best known for his lead role in the 1971 film Sunday Bloody Sunday.
The Head family devoted themselves to the arts and passed this passion on to Anthony. “My Christmas present was always a new fancy dress outfit that my mother – who was a brilliant seamstress – made herself,” Head told The Guardian in 2016.
“At kindergarten, the lady who ran the group took my parents aside one day and said, 'We really like it when Anthony comes in costume, but it would be great to meet Anthony himself one day – he completely identifies with any character he plays.'”
Head began his professional stage career starring in the 1978 revival of “Godspell” opposite Su Pollard. Over the next decade, he participated in various projects, including a role in the 1981 adaptation of the novel Mrs. Chatterley's Lover and a role in the 1987 film A Prayer for the Dying opposite Bob Hoskins and Liam Neeson.
In the early 1980s, Head also sang backing vocals for British pop group Red Box and appeared on their 1986 debut album, The Circle & the Square. Arguably, he became known in the UK and US for his role in the Nescafé Gold Blend TV commercials, which focused on the slow idyll of a British couple.
However, the stage remained Head's focus, with a starring role as Freddie Trumper in the original West End production of ABBA's 'Chess' in 1988, as well as appearances in productions of 'A Patriot for Me' and 'Lady Windermere's Fan'. He also played the title role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1990 production of “The Rocky Horror Show.”
After landing the role of Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Head moved to Los Angeles for five years while his partner Sarah and two young daughters remained in England.
“I was trying to go home to them every three or four weeks,” he told The Guardian. “The production team adjusted their schedule around me, and every time I got a chance to have six days off, I got on a plane… We spent quite a lot of money on plane tickets, but we managed to get by.”
After Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended in 2003, Head accepted a recurring role on the BBC sketch show Little Britain, created by David Walliams and Matt Lucas. The actor played the role of a British Prime Minister who is constantly flattered by a flirtatious assistant (Walliams).
In “Ted Lasso,” he appeared regularly in scenes with series co-creator Jason Sudeikis, and the two were praised for their intuitive on-screen chemistry.
“We know how much he will be missed by his friends, colleagues and fans of the shows he starred in – he loved his job very much and always considered himself incredibly lucky to have worked with such talented people on such wonderful productions over a career that spanned decades,” his daughters said.
“Our pain is far greater than the void he left behind, but we know his legacy will live on in the shows he attended and the audiences who loved them. How lucky we are to know we can see him doing what he loved, even when he is no longer with us,” they added.
