Anthony Head

Infobox actor


imagesize = 200px
caption = Anthony Head in 2004
birthname = Anthony Stewart Head
birthdate = birth date and age|1954|02|20cite web |url= http://www.anthonyhead.org/FAQ.html|title= Official Anthony Stewart Head FAQ|accessdate=2008-05-26|work=The Official Anthony Head Site]
birthplace = Camden Town, London
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Actor
spouse = Sarah Fisher (1982-present)
website = http://www.anthonyhead.org/

Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February, 1954) is an English actor and musician who has appeared in theatre, television and films. He is widely known for various roles, including Rupert Giles in the American television drama series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", as the Prime Minister in the British comedy show "Little Britain", as Dr. Frank N Furter in the London revival of "The Rocky Horror Show" and for a series of coffee adverts in the United Kingdom and the US. He is credited by his full name on American television, and occasionally as Tony Head elsewhere.

Biography

Early life

Head was born in Camden Town, London. His father was Seafield Head, a documentary filmmaker and the founder of Verity Films, and his mother was actress Helen Shingler. His older brother is actor and singer Murray Head. Both brothers played the part of Freddy Trumper in the musical "Chess" at the Prince Edward Theatre, London, with Murray a part of the original cast in 1986, whilst Anthony was in the final cast in 1989.Head lives near Bath, Somerset with his partner Sarah Fisher and has two daughters, Emily and Daisy.He also owns a home in Los Angeles.

Career

Head was educated at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). His first role was in the musical "Godspell"; this led to roles in television on both BBC and ITV, one of his earliest being an appearance in the series "Enemy at the Door" (ITV, 1978–1980). In the early 1980s he sang with the band Red Box. [http://www.lewisslade.com/redbox/redboxginnyclee.html] In the late 1980s, he appeared in a storyline series of twelve coffee commercials with Sharon Maughan for Nescafé "Gold Blend". (A version made for the US featured the American brand name Taster's Choice.) The soap opera nature of the commercials brought him wider recognition, along with a part in the Children's ITV comedy drama "Woof!".

Success on the stage and a number of brief appearances on American television, such as in the short-lived "VR-5", led to accepting the role of Rupert Giles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in 1997. For this role he lived full-time in the United States during the late 1990s and early 2000s, although his family continued to live in the UK. Head left the regular cast of "Buffy" during the show's sixth season and subsequently appeared several times as a guest star. In many interviews at the time, Head said he left the show in order to spend more time with his family, having realised that he had spent most of the year outside England, which added up to more than half his youngest daughter's life. He now lives in Bath, England with Sarah Fisher. They have two children, Emily Rose, born in December 1988, and Daisy, born in 1991.

In 2002, he co-starred in the BBC Two television series "Manchild", which concerned four fifty-something men who spend all of their time talking about sex. He also appeared in guest roles in various other dramas, such as "Silent Witness", "Murder Investigation Team", and "Spooks". He appeared in the 4th series of the British hit sitcom "My Family" in 2003 playing one of the main characters (Abi's) father in the episode "May the Best Man Win". He was featured as the Prime Minister in the popular BBC comedy sketch show "Little Britain" from 2003 to 2005, and guest starred in several episodes of the 2004 series of popular drama "Monarch of the Glen".

Outside of television work, he has released an album of songs with musician George Sarah entitled "Music for Elevators". Early in his career he provided vocals for some of the tracks on the Chris de Burgh album "The Getaway" and the reading from "The Tempest" on "Don't Pay The Ferryman".

In 2001, he appeared in a special webcast version of the popular British science fiction series "Doctor Who", a story called "Death Comes to Time", in which he played the Time Lord Valentine. He also guest starred in the "Excelis Trilogy", a series of "Doctor Who" audio adventures produced by Big Finish Productions, and in 2005 narrated the two-part documentary "Regeneration", detailing the television revival of the series, for BBC Radio 2. In April 2006 he appeared as an alien school headmaster, Mr. Finch, in an episode of the 2006 season of the Tenth Doctor's adventures entitled "School Reunion". Soon after, he recorded an abridged audio book of the "Doctor Who" novel "The Nightmare of Black Island" by Mike Tucker. He narrated the third and fourth series of "Doctor Who Confidential". He also voiced the character Baltazar, Scourge of the Universe (an evil space pirate searching for the Infinite), in the first ever animated "Doctor Who" special, "The Infinite Quest". Head had previously auditioned for the role of the Eighth Doctor for the 1996 television movie, but lost out to Paul McGann.

In early 2006, he appeared in an episode of "Hotel Babylon", a BBC One drama set in a hotel, in which he played a suicidal man who recovers and lands a music deal. The same year he filmed a pilot for a new show entitled "Him and Us", loosely based on the life of openly gay rock star Elton John, for American TV channel ABC, co-starring Kim Cattrall. In July he appeared as Captain Hook at the "Children's Party at the Palace", a live pantomime staged in the grounds of Buckingham Palace as part of Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday celebrations. In October 2006, he voiced Ponsonby, leader of M16, in "Destroy All Humans! 2".

In 2007, he appeared in the radio comedy "Bleak Expectations", portrayed Stockard Channing's gay brother in the English film "Sparkle" and is currently appearing as Mr Colubrine in the ITV1 comedy drama "Sold". Head also narrated a BBC behind the scenes programme for the American television series "Heroes", "Heroes Unmasked". Recently he has been seen as Maurice Riley in the BBC Drama "The Invisibles" alongside Warren Clarke.

Future work

In March 2008 the BBC announced that Head would be one of the regular cast of their forthcoming drama series "Merlin", based around the adventures of the mythical wizard of the same name. [cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/03_march/17/merlin.shtml|title=Richard Wilson and Anthony Head lead cast in Merlin, a fantasy drama for BBC One|publisher=bbc.co.uk|date=2008-03-17|accessdate=2008-03-19] Head will play Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur.

There is persistent talk of Head starring in a "Buffy" spin-off series for the BBC entitled "Ripper", but so far nothing has come of this. At Comic Con 2007, Joss Whedon confirmed that talks were almost completed for a 90 minute Ripper special on BBC, [ [http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/07/28/comic-con-joss-whedon-panel-report/ Comic-Con: Joss Whedon panel report - TV Squad ] ] with both Head and the BBC completely on board. He is also appearing as Sir Walter Elliot in "Persuasion". [ [http://www.austenblog.com/archives/2006/08/28/persuasion-2007-casting-news/ AustenBlog . . . she’s everywhere » Persuasion 2007 Casting News ] ]

He was originally to have a role in "Sweeney Todd", as a ballad soloist and one of Todd's murder victims, but, due to the ailing of Johnny Depp's daughter, the schedule became tight and Head's character, as well as the characters of 13 other actors, were dropped from the film. Instead, Head made a short cameo appearance as a character who asks whether Sweeney Todd has an establishment of his own.

Filmography

ingles

* Sweet Transvestite (Chrysalis Records)

References

External links

* [http://www.anthonyhead.org/ Official website]
* [http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/144947 Anthony Head] at the British Film Institute
*imdb name|id=372117|name=Anthony Head

Articles and interviews
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2006/12/07/doctor_who_poll_feature.shtml Who's Head of the class] , (December 2006)
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2006/04/14/anthony_head_interview_130406_feature.shtml Interview: Anthony Head] , Helen Otter, (April 2006)
* [http://www.buffyguide.com/players/giles.shtml Biographies of Giles and Head] at "Buffyguide"
* [http://www.altfg.com/blog/film-reviews/repo-the-genetic-opera-darryl-bousman/ Review of Repo! the Genetic Opera] at [http://www.altfg.com/blog/ Alternative Film Guide]

Persondata
NAME=Head, Anthony Stewart
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH=Birth date and age|1954|2|20|df=y
PLACE OF BIRTH=London, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=