The actor died due to complications from pnemonia, according to his daughters.

Anthony Head, Buffy and Ted Lasso star, dies at 72

The actor died due to complications from pnemonia, according to his daughters.

By Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly is a staff editor at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Wired, GQ, and Ars Technica.

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June 5, 2026 12:06 p.m. ET

Anthony Head in 2016. Credit:

Karwai Tang/WireImage

- Anthony Head, who is best known for his role as Rupert Giles on *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*, has died.

- Head's daughters confirmed the news in a statement shared with media outlets.

- The 72-year-old died due to complications from pneumonia, his daughters said.

Anthony Head, known for playing Rupert Giles on *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*, has died at 72. The news was confirmed by his family members, who shared a statement to media outlets.

"He passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family," Head's daughters, Emily and Daisy, said in a statement shared with the BBC.

"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," they added.

** has reached out to Head's reps for additional comment.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Anthony Head on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Everett Collection

Born on Feb. 20, 1954, in Camden Town, London, Head grew up in a family that worked in the entertainment industry. His father, Seafield Laurence Stewart Murray Head, was a documentary filmmaker, and his mother, Helen Shingler, was a film and TV actress. His brother, Murray Head, is also an actor and singer. Head began his career by acting in several musicals, including a West End revival of *The Rocky Horror Show *in 1990, in which he played Frank N. Furter.

His big break came in 1997 when he took on the role of Rupert Giles on Joss Whedon's *Buffy the Vampire Slayer *TV series, which is based on Whedon's 1992 film of the same name. While working as the librarian at her school, Giles becomes a mentor to Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) as her Watcher. The show ran for seven seasons, but Head was only a guest star in the last two seasons.

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In 2020, Head started recurring on Apple TV's *Ted Lasso*, as Rupert Mannion, the ex-husband of Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham). Bill Lawrence told EW at the time that naming the character Rupert, like his *Buffy* character, was a coincidence.

"We thought he would be great, playing a little against type as a truly villainous, reprehensible character that you would still believe could charm people," Lawrence said.

Head also appeared on several other TV shows throughout his career, including *Merlin*, *Motherland*, and *Jack Ryan*. His last credited film role was in the 2024 Prime Video rom-com *Upgraded*.

Sarah Fisher, Head's longtime partner and the mother of the couple's daughters, died in December 2025.

Anthony Head on 'Ted Lasso'.

The *Buffy* cast has been hit with a wave of tragedies over the past couple of years. Nicholas Brendon, who played Xander on the supernatural drama, died in March at 54. Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy's sister Dawn, died in February 2025 at 39.

"This business is very tough, and we've had — it feels like we've had more tragedy than other shows," Gellar said at an event earlier this year.

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