Anthony Head has died aged 72

British actor and singer Anthony Head has died aged 72.

Head established a career spanning five decades across theatre, television, film, and radio.

Trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, his early professional years were rooted in musical theatre, appearing in the West End production of Godspell at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1978 and later at the Young Vic.

His stage credits also included Peter Shaffer’s Yonadab at the National Theatre, Patrick Hamilton’s Rope at Wyndhams Theatre, and John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation at the Old Vic. He also performed in major musicals, playing Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show across the 1990s and appearing in the musical Chess – notably as Freddie Trumper during the original West End production.

His most recent prominent West End stage appearance came in 2017, when he starred as the cabinet minister John Fletcher opposite Eve Best in Trevor Nunn’s revival of the Terence Rattigan comedy Love in Idleness, which played a limited engagement at the Apollo Theatre following a run at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

His mainstream screen work expanded significantly when he relocated to Los Angeles to play the regular role of Rupert Giles in the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 1997 to 2003. After returning to live in the UK, Head sustained a continuous presence on British television. He played the Prime Minister in the comedy series Little Britain between 2003 and 2006, and portrayed Uther Pendragon in the fantasy drama series Merlin from 2008 to 2012.

Head’s death was attributed to complications arising from pneumonia.