Anthony Head, ‘Buffy’ and ‘Ted Lasso’ star, dies at 72
Anthony Head, the English actor best known for roles in “Ted Lasso” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” has died. He was 72.
Head died from “complications due to pneumonia” and “surrounded by his family,” his daughters Emily and Daisy Head confirmed to BBC Friday, June 5. USA TODAY has reached out to Head’s reps for more information.
The actor played Buffy’s Watcher, Rupert Giles, across all seven seasons of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” from 1997 to 2003, and opposite Hannah Waddingham as Rebecca’s cheating ex-husband and football club owner Rupert Mannion in “Ted Lasso” from 2020 to 2023.
In 2011’s “The Iron Lady,” Head played opposite Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher’s longest-serving cabinet member and deputy, Geoffrey Howe. He also had roles as Uther Pendragon in the British fantasy series “Merlin,” and the musical “Repo! The Genetic Opera,” as well as appearances in “Dominion,” “Little Britain,” “Manchild,” “Doctor Who,” “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” and “Bridgerton,” as Lord Sheffield in Season 2.
A native of Camden, London, he also starred in the U.K. theater productions of “Julius Ceaser,” ‘The Rocky Horror Show,” “Godspell,” “Chess” and “Six Degrees of Separation.”
Head was the son of actress Helen Shingler and documentary filmmaker Seafield Head, and the brother of “One Night in Bangkok” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” singer Murray Head. His daughters are also actors.
“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,” his daughters told BBC. They acknowledged “how dearly he will be missed by friends, colleagues and fans of the show he was in,” adding that he “loved his job very much” and “always considered himself incredibly lucky.”
Head was preceded in death by his longterm partner, Sarah Fisher, in December at 61.