Anthony Stewart Head has enjoyed a successful acting career in his native England for many years, but before his role as Rupert "Ripper" Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it was a popular series of coffee commercials that brought him his greatest recognition in the United States. Head starred as the intriguing romantic lead in a dozen Taster's Choice commercials.
He was a regular cast member on the sci-fi television series VR.5. He also guest starred on the series Highlander and NYPD Blue. Additional credits include the cable movie Royce with Jim Belushi and the feature films A Prayer for the Dying, Devil's Hill and Lady Chatterley's Lover.
Head also starred in the original cable movie Best Actress, as well as the original television movie Silent Witness.
Head has appeared in many British productions, most recently in Manchild, described as a British version of Sex and the City, albeit from the male perspective, and in the critically acclaimed Spooks, with Matthew MacFadyen, Peter Firth and Jenny Agutter, about the British spy organization, MI5.
Born in Camdentown, England, Head grew up in a "show business family." His mother is an actress and is best known for her role as Madame Maigret in the British television series Maigret. His father was a documentary producer who created the British production company known as Verity Films. Head attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and got his first show business break playing Jesus in Godspell. He went on to star in a number of West End theater productions, including The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Julius Caesar, The Heiress, Chess, Rope and Peter Shaffer's Yonadab at the Royal National Theater.
