Anthony Head and the Villain He Played in ‘Ted Lasso’

Anthony Head is the English actor who played Rupert Mannion in the Apple TV+ series ‘Ted Lasso’. From 2020 to 2023, he played the villainous former Richmond F.C. owner opposite Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham. Mannion was often mentioned but mostly kept off screen in the early going, and Head was later promoted to the main cast and received a name credit in the opening titles.

For viewers asking who Anthony Head is in ‘Ted Lasso’, the answer now carries a more somber weight. His daughters Emily and Daisy Head announced that he died at 72 and said he passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family. The details below look at the character, the performer and the way the ‘Ted Lasso’ cast has remembered him.

Who Rupert Mannion Is in ‘Ted Lasso’

On ‘Ted Lasso’, Head played Rupert Mannion, the grumpy former owner of AFC Richmond who cedes ownership of the club to his wife during their divorce. That wife is Rebecca Welton, played by Hannah Waddingham. The relationship between the two characters sits at the center of why Mannion matters to the story.

Chortle described the character as a villainous presence and noted that Waddingham played his former wife. The Ted Lasso fan wiki describes Mannion as an oft-mentioned antagonist billionaire. That framing helps explain how a character who spent so much time in the background could still shape the show’s main conflict.

Head was a guest star when he first embodied Mannion and only later moved into the main cast. The upgrade in billing suggests how much the production came to value the role over time. It also reflects the way a well cast antagonist can grow beyond the size of his original assignment.

The Anthony Head Career Before the AFC Richmond Owner

Head began his career in the theater and appeared in the musical ‘Godspell’ in the late 1970s. He later performed in productions of ‘Chess,’ ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘Rocky Horror Show Live.’ His final West End performance came in 2017, when he starred in a revival of the Terence Rattigan comedy ‘Love in Idleness.’

Head first rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s in the Nescafe Gold Blend television adverts, which ran from 1987 to 1993. He played one half of the on screen Gold Blend couple alongside Sharon Maughan, whose slow burning romance played out over a cup of coffee. Those commercials gave British audiences a familiar face long before Richmond came along.

Head achieved wider fame as librarian Rupert Giles, mentor to the title character in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ which ran from 1997 to 2003. He also performed songs in the musical episode of the sixth season, and he covered a song by The Who in an episode of the fourth season. That range between warmth and menace is part of what he brought to Mannion.

Anthony Head Beyond ‘Ted Lasso’ on Screen

Head sustained a continuous presence on British television, playing the Prime Minister in ‘Little Britain’ from 2003 to 2006 and Uther Pendragon in ‘Merlin’ from 2008 to 2012. He also made multiple brief stints on ‘Doctor Who.’ Other appearances included ‘Motherland,’ ‘Manchild,’ ‘Silent Witness,’ ‘Spooks’ and ‘My Family.’

On the film side, he played Geoffrey Howe, deputy to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in the Oscar winning ‘The Iron Lady.’ Other film credits included ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera,’ ‘Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance’ and ‘Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters.’ On television he also guested on ‘Bridgerton,’ ‘Jack Ryan,’ ‘Drunk History’ and ‘Galavant.’

In 2018 he joined the cast of the long running BBC Radio 4 drama ‘The Archers’ as Robin Fairbrother. Head was also a singer who appeared in the West End and recorded music, including the album for the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ musical episode. The breadth of that résumé shows why his late career turn as Mannion felt like the work of a seasoned performer.

‘Ted Lasso’ Cast Tributes and Lasting Reception

Head’s antagonistic performance was well received across the show’s three seasons, and it earned him and the cast a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for outstanding ensemble performance in a comedy series. That recognition suggests the industry saw Mannion as an important part of what made the series work. It also shows that the role connected with a new generation of viewers.

Brett Goldstein, his co-star and a writer on the show, said Head was a brilliant actor who played “the worst person in the world.” Goldstein added that this was an incredible skill because Head was the best person. Goldstein also remembered Head as charming, kind and fun in a tribute shared on Instagram.

Sarah Michelle Gellar led tributes from the ‘Buffy’ side and thanked Head’s daughters for sharing their father with the world. His daughters said his legacy will live on in the shows he was part of and in the audiences who love them. Having seen how a role like Rupert Mannion can leave such an imprint, which scene of his in ‘Ted Lasso’ will you keep coming back to when you think of Anthony Head, and does the character’s arc with Rebecca still feel like the show’s sharpest rivalry in the comments?