Obituary
Actor who also appeared in Ted Lasso was beloved for playing Buffy’s mentor and “Watcher” Rupert Giles
Anthony Head, the actor who played Rupert “Ripper” Giles on TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, died of complications due to pneumonia at the age of 72.
His daughters Emily and Daisy Head announced their father’s death in a statement to the BBC, writer the actor “passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family.”
Outside of the Buffyverse, Head played crucial roles in the British sketch comedy show Little Britain, the fantasy drama Merlin, and the sports comedy Ted Lasso. But the role of Rupert Giles, Buffy Summers’ mentor and “Watcher,” looms large over his legacy. Outside of the TV series, for which he appeared in 121 episodes, he lent his voice to two Buffy video games, a four-minute Buffy: The Animated Series pilot short, and on the podcast Slayers: A Buffyverse Story. Head’s character was so popular that the show’s creator, Joss Whedon, once considered making a Ripper spinoff movie all about Giles but it never materialized. Head’s Buffy costar, Nicholas Brendan, died in March.
