Actor Sarah Michelle Gellar has paid a heartfelt tribute to her former ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ co-star Anthony Head following his death at the age of 72 due to complications from pneumonia, according to E!
News.
Head, best known for portraying Rupert Giles on the hit supernatural drama from 1997 to 2003, was remembered by colleagues, friends and family after his daughters, Emily Head and Daisy Head, confirmed the news of his passing on June 5.
Taking to Instagram, Gellar shared a series of throwback photographs and an emotional message honouring the actor, who played her mentor and father figure on the series.
“‘Tell Giles I figured it out and I’m ok,'” Gellar wrote, referencing a memorable line from the show.
“Well, I don’t have it figured out and I’m not ok.”
“But I know I’m the lucky one because I knew you,” she continued. “Thank you to Daisy and Emily, who not only shared their dad with me, but with the world.”
Actor James Marsters, who portrayed Spike in the series, also paid tribute to Head, according to E! News.
“There’s a hole in the World. Anthony Head has passed on from us. He was an unflaggingly kind and steady presence on the set of Buffy, and the best actor in the cast,” Marsters wrote on Instagram.
“He was the best of us. I was lucky to have known and learned from him. He left the world a better place for his presence. Thank you Tony for all you gave,” he added.
Head’s death also prompted tributes from his colleagues outside the Buffy universe. Actor Brett Goldstein, who worked with him on the acclaimed comedy series ‘Ted Lasso’, remembered him as both a remarkable performer and a compassionate person.
“Anthony Head was a brilliant actor who played the worst person in the world, which was an incredible skill because he was the best person,” Goldstein wrote on Instagram Stories.
Head enjoyed a celebrated career spanning television, film and theatre. In addition to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he appeared in popular productions including ‘Merlin’, ‘Little Britain’ and, most recently, ‘Ted Lasso’.
Confirming his death, daughters Daisy and Emily Head said in a statement to 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.”
“We know how dearly he will be missed by friends, colleagues, and fans of the shows he was in,” they added. “He loved his job very much,” according to E! News.
Head was preceded in death by his longtime partner, animal welfare advocate Sarah Fisher, who died suddenly in December at the age of 61.