Sarah Michelle Gellar<\/strong><\/a> paid tribute to her late Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/em><\/a> costar Anthony Stewart Head<\/strong> following his death at age 72<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Tell Giles I figured it out and I\u2019m ok\u2019 Well I don\u2019t have it figured out and I\u2019m not ok,\u201d Gellar, 49, wrote via Instagram<\/a> on Friday, June 5. \u201cBut I know I\u2019m the lucky one because I knew you. Thank you to Daisy and Emily who not only shared their dad with me, but with the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Alongside her heartfelt words, Gellar shared a series of throwback photos of herself and Head with the Buffy<\/em> cast, as well as with her husband, Freddie Prinze Jr., <\/strong>and their daughter, Charlotte. She also added a scene from the pair\u2019s cult classic series. \u201cDoes it ever get easy, life?\u201d Buffy, played by Gellar, asks, to which Head\u2019s Giles replies, \u201cWhat do you want me to say?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLie,\u201d Buffy demands, so Giles humors her. \u201cYes. It\u2019s terribly simple. The good guys are stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats and we always defeat them and save the day. Nobody ever dies and everybody lives happily ever after.\u201d<\/p>\n Anthony\u2019s daughters, Emily<\/strong> and Daisy Head, announced on Friday, June 5, that the acclaimed British actor \u2014 who played Gellar\u2019s mentor and watcher on Buffy<\/em>\u2014 died following a battle with pneumonia. (Anthony also made memorable appearances on Ted Lasso<\/em>, Doctor Who<\/em> and Bridgerton<\/em> throughout a near 50-year career.)<\/p>\n \u201cIt is with heavy hearts that we announce the death of our extraordinary father, Anthony Head,\u201d they said. \u201cHe passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family.\u201d<\/p>\n Emily and Daisy continued, \u201cIt has been, and forever will be, an honor and a privilege to be his daughters, and to have witnessed firsthand the impact both he and his work have had on so many. We know how dearly he will be missed by friends, colleagues, and fans of the shows he was in \u2014 he loved his job very much, and he always considered himself incredibly lucky, to have been able to work alongside such exceptionally talented people, in such wonderful productions, across a career that spanned several decades.\u201d<\/p>\n While Anthony portrayed Gellar\u2019s onscreen mentor on Buffy<\/em>, he revealed that they actually grew closer off screen in the years after the supernatural drama ended.<\/p>\n \u201cI hung out with everyone, pretty much,\u201d Head recalled in 2020. \u201cI spent a lot of time with Nicky<\/strong> [Brendon<\/strong>] and Alyson<\/strong> [Hannigan<\/strong>], and Emma<\/strong> [Caulfield<\/strong>, who played Anya]. Couldn\u2019t really spend much time with Sarah Michelle \u2014 I\u2019ve spent a lot of time since, whenever I visit [her in the U.S.] \u2014 but because she was working all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Head was a mainstay on Buffy<\/em> for its first five seasons before stepping back into a recurring role for its final two years.<\/p>\n The Buffy<\/em> cast has dealt with multiple tragedies<\/a> in recent years, as Michelle Trachtenberg<\/strong> \u2014 who played Buffy<\/em>\u2019s sister Dawn Summers \u2014 died from complications<\/a> of diabetes mellitus at age 39 in February 2025. (Per the Mayo Clinic<\/a>, diabetes mellitus is the name of a \u201cgroup of diseases that affect how the body uses blood sugar.\u201d)<\/p>\n
\n Anthony Stewart Head and Sarah Michelle Gellar on \u201cBuffy.\u201d<\/span> Courtesy 20th Century Fox Film Corp \/ Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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