Anthony Stewart Head and Nicholas Brendon

I was shocked to learn that two Buffy the Vampire Slayer alumni, Nicholas Brendon and Anthony Stewart Head, passed away this year.

Flickr user Raven

Nicholas Brendon played Xander, one of the core group around Buffy. He was an ever-faithful friend (though he tried to undermine Buffy’s relationship with Angel), and he even fought the occasional vampire, though he had no inherited slayer abilities. Overall, he was often the fool who provided comic relief.

I also knew Nicholas Brendon from Coherence, a little-known but incredibly smart science fiction film.

Anthony Stewart Head played Giles in Buffy. Also a core character, he played Buffy’s watcher, meaning the person who trained her. Completely British, he was often the straight man for the other characters' American humor, but he also worked in some wry lines himself, based on his being British and also the only adult in the core group.

Giles was my favorite character, as the overworked and often underappreciated scholar. He also became a father figure to Buffy. Many fans wanted him to marry Buffy’s mother, but that never came to pass.

I also knew Anthony Stewart Head from the 2007 version of Persuasion. He played Sir Walter Elliot, father of the main character Anne Elliot, and he is hilarious in a stuffy, vainglorious sort of way.

I was saddened to hear about both their deaths.

P.S. I also caught a couple glimpses of Anthony Stewart Head in VR.5, a failed virtual reality show from 1995. I’m not saying it’s any good, but it was interesting to see him.