I
had an idea for a movie some years back. It would star Hugh Grant, Hugh
Laurie, and Anthony Head as brothers. Honestly, that was it. I had no
real plot or story--I kind of pictured Hugh Grant as the black sheep of
the family, but beyond that, I was never able to come up with
anything. Not working in show business, life outside of show business
always seemed to get in the way.
I
was reminded of this last Friday whilst looking at my Facebook memories
before work. Apparently, nine years ago, I posted this idea. I
remembered the memory and went to work giving it no more thought in the
moment. A few hours later, I got a text from my sister that read,
"Sorry to hear about Anthony Stewart Head." I hadn't heard or read
anything yet so--figuring he either died or had been accused of sexuaul
misconduct (frankly, I don't know which would be worse)--I did a quick
Google search and discovered he had in fact died from complications of
pneumonia at the age of 72.
Like
most Americans, I was first aware of Head's work through his
performance as Rupert Giles on the show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." I
always say that I kind of wanted to be like Spike and I was more like
Xander in real life, but, as the son of a librarian, I kind of
identified with Giles. I also enjoy cross-referencing. Hell, given
half a chance, I might have even slept with Buffy's mom.
I must confess, I watched it on DVD after it went off the air in 2003.
But as the series progressed, I realized what a good actor Head was, not
to mention a musician--more on that in a bit.
(In
the extra features on the DVDs, it was mentioned that Head first came
to prominence in America in a series of commercials for Taster's Choice
coffee in which a romance blossomed between Head and Sharon Maughan over
a mutual love of coffee. These actually aired when I was in high
school and I do remember them as we would sit around as a family and
make fun of them.)
In
the twenty years since I first saw "Buffy" I would tend to notice when
he appeared in something I liked, or even something I wanted to see or
even still want to see. I regret to say that I've still never seen
"Little Britain" and his uncredited appearance in Tim Burton's
adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. And I would have loved to have seen his performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the West End Revival of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the early 1990s.
Also, like
most Americans, I most recently saw him in the show "Ted Lasso," which
my sister gave me as an early birthday present to enjoy while recovering
from hip replacement surgery. (Weirdly, she also gave me the first
three seasons of "Buffy" when I had my previous hip replacement.) I was
delighted by the entire show, but Head's performance stood out to me.
Frankly, the character of Rupert Mannion was a bit of an asshole, which
also quite delighted me. I had never seen him play one before. The
closest I had seen--since no one else is bringing it up--was his
appearance in the last four episodes of the sixth season of the highly
underrated "Monarch of the Glen." His character of Chester Grant was
more of a prick than an asshole and he became relatively likeable by the
end, but he was still not the reserved, charming Englishman to which
I'd been overexposed in over 120 episodes of "Buffy." But Grant was
absolutely nothing compared to Mannion and I'm sorry he won't be around
for the upcoming fourth season, which I assume will be dedicated to him
in some way, shape, or form.
The
one great thing that "Buffy" did was show me--show us all--that not
only was Head a great actor, but he was also quite the impressive singer
and musician. During the show's seven-season run, there were a number
of instances where we got to hear Giles sing and even play the
guitar--most notably in the famous musical episode, "Once More, With
Feeling." The following year, he really showed off his musically
creative side by releasing an album with musician George Sarah. The two
wrote the bulk of the songs (Head wrote the lyrics and Sarah wrote the
music and produced the album). I hadn't listened to it in a long time,
but I felt compelled to do so after finding out about his passing (not
to mention the passing of his long-term partner and mother to his
children in January!). Initially, I thought it was a little
synth-heavy. I still think that, but after twenty years, I've come to
believe it's one of the album's strengths. It gives the whole thing a
nice ambient melancholy that may be best appreciated at certain times.
And who knew that Anthony Head could play the sitar?
Featuring
appearances by "Buffy" costars James Marsters, Amber Benson, and Alyson
Hannigan, this week--since no one else has seemed to mention it in all
the tributes to him--please enjoy the newly late, great Anthony
(Stewart) Head and George Sarah with their 2002 album, aptly titled Music For Elevators.
Until
next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember
that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for
you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock 'n' roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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