Anthony Head Had A Small Role In One Of Tim Burton's Best Movies

Anthony Head, who passed away on June 5, 2026 from complications related to pneumonia at the age of 72, may be best known as the world-weary Rupert Giles from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." While he arguably played one of the show's best secondary characters, Head had a substantial film career as well. One especially tiny role in Tim Burton's well-received adaptation of the musical "Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" amply displays that. Head can only be seen briefly in the film, as a well-dressed gentleman who congratulates the titular Todd (Johnny Depp) on winning a shaving contest, but he still projects authority, calm, and brio.

Originally, Head's chunk of Sweeney's bloody pie was to be much bigger than it is. He, Christopher Lee, Peter Bowles and five other unnamed actors were to play ghosts who narrate the story. The roles were cut, and the actors given different, smaller parts in the production. While his role in "Sweeney Todd" might be brief, he has many more movie credits to his name, building a lasting legacy that fans everywhere will continue to celebrate for decades.

Anthony Head's bit as the Well-Dressed Gentleman in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is just one of many film parts the actor took on. While he made his movie debut in the 1981 version of "Lady Chatterley's Lover" as Anton, he went on to become quite the character actor, with multiple cult films under his belt. 

Head played another Rupert in the thriller "A Prayer for the Dying," also appearing in "Imagine Me and You" and as real-life Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey Howe in "The Iron Lady." But much of his resume would lean toward less serious roles, such as Victor in the very British big screen comedy "Fat Slags." 

His best-known film role is arguably that of Nathan Wallace, the tortured, singing organ repo man for the Geneco conglomerate in the underrated horror rock movie "Repo! The Genetic Opera." He was also Benedict in "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" and Chiron in "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters." His final film role was that of Julian Marx in the romantic comedy "Upgraded." Though Head had a ton of memorable small screen roles to his name, his film career was definitely nothing to sneeze at.