SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 25: Actor Anthony Head attends the “Dominion” Press Line during Comic-Con International 2014 at Hilton Bayfront on July 25, 2014 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Anthony Head, a longtime actor whose credits include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Ted Lasso, has died.
Head’s daughters, Daisy and Emily, announced their father’s death from complications of pneumonia in a statement to the U.K.’s Press Association on Friday (via The Independent). He was 72. The news of the actor’s passing comes a little over four months after the death of Head’s wife, Sarah Fisher, who died at 61.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the death of our extraordinary father, Anthony Head,” Daisy and Emily Head said in the statement. “He passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family.”
Promotional portrait of the cast for the television series, ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer,’ c. 1997. L-R: Nicholas Brendon, Anthony Head, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Charisma Carpenter and Alyson Hannigan. (Photo by Fotos International/Courtesy of Getty Images)
Getty Images
Daisy and Emily Head said, “It has been, and forever will be, an honor and a privilege to be his daughters, and to have witnessed firsthand the impact both he and his work have had on so many.”
Anthony Head played Rupert Giles on all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from 1997 to 2003. As a Watcher, Giles helped guide Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) on her Slayer missions to combat demonic forces.
In Ted Lasso, he played Rupert Mannion in 18 episodes over the show’s first three seasons, from 2020 to 2023. Mannion is the former owner of AFC Richmond and the vindictive ex-husband of the club’s current owner, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham).
“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,” Heads’ daughters added in the statement.
Tom Lenk, Emma Caulfield, Alexis Denisof, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Joss Whedon, Michelle Trachtenberg, James Marsters attend the “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” series wrap party at Miauhaus Studios on April 18, 2003 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/WireImage)
WireImage
Anthony Head Had More Than 140 Screen Credits
Born Anthony Stewart Head on Feb. 20, 1954, in Camden Town, North London, England, the actor first screen appearance was in a guest role in two episodes of the London Weekly Television series Enemy at the Door in 1978.
Before Head landed his role as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he appeared in several guest roles in TV series in the U.K. and the U.S., including Highlander and NYPD Blue. During his time on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Head also appeared in guest roles in two Doctor Who miniseries in 2002: Death Comes to Time and Excelis Decays. Head also voiced Baltazar in the 2007 series Totally Doctor Who and Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest.
From 2002 to 2003, Head also had a starring role in the comedy series Manchild, which ran for two seasons on the BBC. Head also starred in the U.K. series Sold, Free Agents, Merlin, You, Me & Them, Dominion and Motherland, and appeared in a guest capacity on Prime Video’s Jack Ryan and Netflix’s Bridgerton.
Head’s film credits included The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep as U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, as well as Imagine Me & You, The Inbetweeners and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
The actor’s last credited screen role was in a guest turn in the 2024 Prime Video series Upgraded.
Head is survived by his daughters Daisy and Emily.