Anthony Head, the British actor best known for his roles in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Ted Lasso,” has died. He was 72.
His daughters Emily and Daisy Head announced his death in a statement to the BBC, saying their father “passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family.”
Head played Rupert Giles — the Watcher and father figure of the Slayer Buffy Summers — on all seven seasons of “Buffy” alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar. On “Ted Lasso,” he played Rupert Mannion, the grumpy former owner of AFC Richmond who cedes ownership of the club to his wife, played by Hannah Waddingham, during their divorce.
Head’s other credits include playing the Prime Minister in the sketch comedy series “Little Britain” and Uther Pendragon in the fantasy adventure program “Merlin.”
While he was mostly recognized for his work on television, Head began his career in the theater, acting in the musical “Godspell” in the late 1970s. He’d go on to perform in productions of “Chess,” “Peter Pan” and “Rocky Horror Show Live.” Before he broke out on screen, Head gained recognition in the U.K. as the star of a series of Nescafé commercials that ran from 1987 to 1993.
