Obituary: Anthony Head

Uniquely among his generation of stage and screen actors, Anthony Head first impressed himself upon the British public in a TV commercial for Nescafé Gold Blend. So intrigued were we by the slow-burning, coffee-fuelled romance between Head and Sharon Maughan, which aired between 1987 and 1993, that it inspired a novel, a video compilation, a TV spoof and two CDs.

It came at a time when he was at a career crossroads, unsure whether to follow his mother, Helen Shingler, and his brother, Murray Head, into an acting career or to pursue his other great passion – music.

Growing up in Hampton in south-west London in the 1950s and 1960s, with a documentary-maker father, a mother best known for playing Madame Maigret in the 1960s TV detective series, and an older actor-musician brother, Head was fascinated early on by the trappings of stardom.

After completing a course at LAMDA, his first break came in 1981 in a revival of the 1971 musical Godspell at London’s Young Vic, playing the leading role of Jesus. Coincidentally, his brother Murray sang the role of Judas in the original pre-show recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. Their careers intersected once again later in the 1980s, when Anthony took over the lead role of Freddie Trumper in the musical Chess from his brother.

While Godspell undoubtedly launched his career, it took a while for Head to establish himself as a serious actor, with small roles at the National Theatre in The Prince of Homburg and Danton’s Death (both 1982), followed by a featured role in a revival of John Osborne’s A Patriot for Me (1983), starring Alan Bates, at Chichester, which later transferred to the West End.

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The two turning points for Head, showcasing his versatility, were playing the full-on role of Frank N Furter in a 1990 revival of The Rocky Horror Show in the West End, and Keith Baxter’s highly praised 1994 Chichester revival of Patrick Hamilton’s suspense classic Rope, in which Head played Rupert Cadell, the charismatic lecturer who acts as the play’s moral compass. In his review for The Stage, Peter Hepple said Head’s performance was “remarkably subtle”.

Head took over the role of Frank N Furter from Tim McInnerny at the Piccadilly Theatre and, unlike his predecessor, relished the unabashed audience participation and responding to the hecklers. He told The Stage in 2015: “Chris Malcolm [co-producer] came up to me at the end of the first week and said: ‘Well, you’ve got the put-downs okay, could you maybe answer just a few less? Because you’ve put about 25 minutes on the show.’”

There were several stage appearances in the 2000s and 2010s – notably Simon Gray’s Otherwise Engaged (2005) with Richard E Grant, Six Degrees of Separation (2010) with Lesley Manville and Ticking, with Niamh Cusack and Tom Hughes (2015) – but from 1997 onwards Head was heavily committed to the long-running American TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playing the title character’s mentor and father figure, Rupert Giles.

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Anthony Head and Richard E Grant in Otherwise Engaged at the Criterion Theatre, London (2005). Photo: Tristram Kenton

Niamh Cusack, Tom Hughes and Anthony Head in Ticking at Trafalgar Studios, London (2015). Photo: Tristram Kenton

Writing in the Guardian, the US critic Jesse Hassenger said: “Head played Giles as a man offering both book-smart authority and hard-lived experience chased with obvious regrets, sometimes playing out in his eyes even when exposition wouldn’t allow for it.”

Buffy spawned a series of comics and graphic novels and is still watched worldwide on the Disney+ streaming channel.

For Head, it led to appearances in Doctor Who, The Inbetweeners, Manchild, Motherland and, more recently, Ted Lasso, as well as the role of Geoffrey Howe, the former chancellor, in the 2011 film The Iron Lady. He also played a Tony Blair-like prime minister in the comedy series, Little Britain.

Anthony Head was born on 20th February 1954, and died on 1st June, aged 72. He is survived by his daughters, Emily and Daisy, and his brother, Murray. His long-term partner, Sarah Fisher, died last year.