British Actor Anthony Head Has Passed Away

British actor Anthony Head, best known for his roles in TV shows including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ted Lasso, Merlin and Little Britain, has died at the age of 72.

“He passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family,” his daughters Emily and Daisy said.

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.

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.

He went on to have a recurring role in sketch show Little Britain as the prime minister, he played king Uther Pendragon in the BBC’s Merlin, and appeared as former football club owner Rupert Mannion in Ted Lasso.

Head’s other credits included playing Geoffrey Howe in The Iron Lady and appearing in Doctor Who, Persuasion, The Inbetweeners and Manchild.

Head’s last acting credits included Bridgerton in 2022, in which he starred in one episode in series two.

“It has been, and forever will be, an honour and a privilege to be his daughters, and to have witnessed firsthand the impact both he and his work have had on so many,” Emily and Daisy wrote in their statement. “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.”

We are saddened by the loss of this marvelous actor, and obviously beloved father and husband. We offer our condolences to his family and friends in their time of mourning. A great man has passed from this earth.