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Anthony Stewart Head

Anthony Stewart Head was born on February 20, 1954 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. Head lives near Bath, Somerset with his partner Sarah Fisher and has two daughters, Emily and Daisy.

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. In the early 1980s he sang with the band Red Box. In the late 1980s, he appeared in a series of coffee commercials with Sharon Maughan for Nescafé Gold Blend. The commercials brought him wider recognition, along with a part in the CITV comedy drama Woof!.

Success on the stage and a number of brief appearances on American television, led to him accepting the role of Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997. 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.

In 2002, he co-starred in the BBC Two television series Manchild. 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 and 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 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 in an episode of the 2006 season of the Tenth Doctor's adventures and, soon after, he recorded an abridged audio book of the Doctor Who novel The Nightmare of Black Island. He narrated the third and fourth series of Doctor Who Confidential. He also voiced the character Baltazar, Scourge of the Universe, in the first ever animated Doctor Who special, "The Infinite Quest".

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.

In 2008 he appeared in the BBC's production of Merlin, where he played King Uthor Pendragon Father to the future King Arthur. The series ran for 13 episodes.

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