HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANTHONY!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Anthony!
Happy Birthday to you!
With the talented Anthony Head's birthday coming up, I thought it'd be a good time to take a look back at the man we all know and love. (We're almost birthday buddies, by the way. My birthday is the 11th.)
Anthony was born on February 20, 1954 in Camden Town, London, England. Showbiz seems to be in his blood as his mother was an actress and his father a filmmaker. He has also passed the acting bug onto his daughter's Emily and Daisy.
Anthony has been with his partner, Sarah Fisher, for nearly 30 years and if you've seen any interviews of them together you can plainly see they are perfect for each other. And so in love! I don't know their secret but I wanna know! (According to Anthony it's him traveling a lot. haha)
When Anthony isn't spending time with his family, he's off filming. He's just started filming season two of Dominion for the Syfy channel. A few months ago he wrapped filming for season two of You, Me and Them, a hilarious UK comedy. Oh and did I mention Anthony came out with a CD in September? In case you've been living under a rock, let me bring you up to speed real quick. After years of waiting and asking, the fans now have a full length version of Behind Blue Eyes. There are also nine other tracks of Anthony brilliance. Some are covers (The Way you Look Tonight) and some are Anthony originals (Another Hero). You can download the CD from Amazon, iTunes or his website. The physical CD is only available from his website. Want more info? Check out my review.
Anthony and Sarah started a non-profit in January 2014 called Cool to Be Kind. They sell wristbands to help spread the word about being kind to animals.
NOW THE FUN STUFF.....
I know what you're thinking "I can read all this on Wikipedia, where's the fun stuff?" Have no fear, you are about to bombarded with more pictures and videos of Anthony's many works than you can handle. You have been warned!
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| Photo courtesy of Sarah Fisher |
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| Photo courtesy of Sarah Fisher |
Anthony has been acting since the late 70's although he was 6 when he first knew it was what he wanted to do. Even though he's been acting since before I was born, you probably didn't know who he was until he played the uptight, but secretly bad-ass, Watcher Rupert Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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| Photo courtesy of Sarah Fisher |
Buffy aired from 1997 to 2003, however, I am ashamed to say I didn't watch the full series until this past summer. I know, I know. I'm a terrible geek. Before that, I had seen enough episodes to know Giles was awesome and Spike was gorgeous. When James Marsters (Spike) came to comicon I flipped!
This is how I discovered the talented actor that is Anthony Head. After binge watching all 7 seasons in one weekend, I immediately Googled Anthony to see what other marvels I could find. I was not disappointed.
First up, Rocky Horror Picture Show. Probably every human on the planet has at least heard of this show, either from the live show or the movie. Many people have played the sexy transvestite Frank N Furter but did you know that Anthony played Frank in the live London show in the 1990's?! To say I was shocked to discover Giles dancing around in a wig and heals is an understatement but after watching some videos I was blown away.
I was ecstatic when I found this gem, a FULL recording of one of his performances. Unfortunately, the quality is poor but that doesn't stop Anthony's genius from shining through. I especially love when he picks on the audience.
Fun Fact: Antony had a book of come backs for the audience. He had so many, in fact, that the director told him to cut some out because he added 25 minutes to the show!
It's easy to see why I consider Anthony the BEST Frank n Furter EVER. Yes, even better than Tim Curry. Sorry man.
Fun Fact: Craig Ferguson, the talk show host, played Brad alongside Anthony. Check out the video below where they talk about kissing each other.
If you're from the land of the Brits, your first view of Anthony was probably from the wildly famous Gold Blend Taster's Choice coffee ads in the 1980's. These coffee commercials are unlike any commercials I've ever seen. It's like an entire romantic comedy film split into a dozen 30 second parts. There's the meet-cute, the misunderstanding, the apology, the "this can't work" and the awesome way he gets her back in the end. By the end I was cheering. It's brilliant.
Anthony also plays the PM in Little Britain Abroad and the Live show. Possibly the funniest PM skit made is in Little Britain Abroad when Sebastian and the PM visit with the US president.
Anthony played a magic loving Watcher for 7 years so it's only natural he play a magic hating king, right? Well, that's just what he did in Merlin when he became King Uther. I confess I haven't actually seen Merlin, yet. Now before y'all jump on me for not watching, I'm waiting until summer break so I don't get distracted from my schoolwork. Trying to be a good student y'all!
Repo: The Genetic Opera - sounds like an interesting musical right? Right. Sounds innocent, right? Wrong. This movie is so different from Anthony's past works. At first I didn't understand why he would he in a gore film like this but by the end of the movie I knew he was the perfect choice for the role of Nathan/Repo Man.
Repo is about a father trying to protect his daughter in a dangerous futuristic world where organ repossessions are legal. Anthony plays a bit of a Dr Jekl/Mr Hyde role and totally pulls it off. His singing is impressive. Check out him singing Legal Assassin.
In 2011,Anthony stared alongside the brilliant Meryl Streep in Iron Lady. But just because they've got serious talent doesn't mean they don't have fun.
Manchild is another British comedy that resembles an American show. It's about four friends who are all in their 50's and loving life. It's like the American version of Sex in the City. Anthony's character, James, is a sexy and wealthy player. It's loads of laughs.....and sex. Lots and lots of talk about sex and even some....um....interesting scenes with Anthony.
Is there any role Anthony can't do? Nope! He can sing. He can do serious. He can do comedy. He can do torture scenes. He can even do American, as evident by his latest show Dominion. Anthony is the definition of a versatile actor. |
| Fun Fact from Anthony's twitter "I chomped on chilli pepper when being 'broken' for an immediate physical reaction." |
If Dominion is too much awesome for you, check out Anthony's other recent project You, Me and Them. This British comedy is a hilarious sitcom about a 59 year old man dating a 33 year old woman. As you might suspect, her family isn't happy about it. It's funny. It's sweet. It will make you laugh out loud.
A few fun but not as known roles of Anthony's are from Free Agents UK, Him and Us, and Warehouse 13.
As you can see, Anthony Head has had many great roles over the years and there are even more we don't have time to discuss. With such variety and skill, I can't wait to see what Anthony does next. Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be terrific.
Anthony, on behalf of all your fans,
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY!!
I shall now leave you with some fun facts about Anthony.
1. His nickname growing up was Ping.
2. He does all the ironing at home.
3. He is a Ovopescolactarian (Which means he does not eat meat but does eat eggs, fish and dairy products.)
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