The 72-year-old’s career stretched from West End musicals and television adverts to pantomime, comedy and supernatural drama.

Actor Anthony Head, known for his roles in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Ted Lasso, has died at the age of 72.

His career began on stage but he gained wider fame when he became the face of the suave, attractive neighbour in the 1980s television coffee ads for Nescafe Gold Blend opposite actress Sharon Maughan.

Anthony Head at Collectormania
Anthony Head during a signing session at the Collectormania 4 film festival and collectors’ fair in Milton Keynes in 2003 signing a picture of him as Buffy star Rupert Giles (Yui Mok/PA)

Anthony Head and his familyScooby Doo 2 Premiere
Head and his family at the UK premiere of Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed starring his Buffy co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar in 2004 (Yui Mok/PA)

Anthony Head and Sarah Fisher
Anthony Head and his late partner Sarah Fisher at charity gala screening of The Devil Wears Prada at the Odeon Leicester Square, central London (Joel Ryan/PA)

Dress rehearsal of The Pirates of Penzance
Head (right) performs onstage during a dress rehearsal of the musical The Pirates of Penzance, at the Savoy Theatre, central London (Myung Jung Kim/PA)

Anthony Head (second right) starring in The Pirates of Penzance
Head (second right) starred in The Pirates of Penzance at the Savoy Theatre (Myung Jung Kim/PA)

In 1997, Head took on the role of Buffy Summers’ mentor Rupert Giles in Buffy The Vampire Slayer opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar, bringing him to the attention of a new younger audience.

 David Walliams and Matt Lucas, who received a best comedy award for Little Britain, with co-star Anthony Head and presenter of the award Brigitte Nielsen
David Walliams and Matt Lucas, who received a British Comedy Awards in 2004 for Little Britain, with co-star Anthony Head and presenter of the award Brigitte Nielsen (Ian West/PA)

Anthony Head and Carol Vorderman
Head and TV presenter Carol Vorderman backstage during the British Comedy Awards 2002 (Ian West/PA)

International dressage rider Emile Faurie with Anthony Head
International dressage rider Emile Faurie with Anthony Head during the last leg of International League for the Protection of Horses Transportation Awareness Ride in Parliament Square in central London (PA)

Anthony Head at the British Soap Awards in 2001
Head at the British Soap Awards in 2001 (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)

Anthony Head
Head during his guest appearance on Graham Norton’s The Bigger Picture show (Anthony Harvey/PA)

Anthony Head with Sharon Horgan and Stephen Mangan
Anthony Head with Sharon Horgan and Stephen Mangan during the filming of the Channel 4 sitcom Free Agents (Yui Mok/PA)

Anthony Head
Head played Stephen in comedy Free Agents (Yui Mok/PA)

Anthony Head
Head arriving for the Woman’s Own Children of Courage Awards at Westminster Abbey (Lewis Whyld/PA)

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