RIP Anthony Head, Our Favourite TV Librarian

Anthony Head, the British actor best known to the world as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 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 in a statement (via 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.”

Head got his start in theatre, performing in musicals like Godspell and achieving a curious kind of fame in the ’80s via a series of ads for Nescafe’s Gold Blend coffee. In the early ’90s, he played Frank N. Furter in a West End revival of The Rocky Horror Show and would return to that part several times over the years.

For six years, he played Rupert Giles, the mentor to Buffy Summers who provided that show with heft and heart. Beyond that, he was a stalwart British character actor who did it all: sitcoms, superhero movies, radio shows, biopics, musical comedies, action dramas, and children’s entertainment. Most recently, he was a delicious villain in Ted Lasso.

Head leaves behind two daughters, actresses Emily and Daisy. May his memory be a blessing.