Nicholas Brendon, the actor who played Xander Harris in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has died aged 54 in California, his family confirmed on Friday 20 March. In a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter, they said Nicholas Brendon died in his sleep of 'natural causes', bringing a sudden end to a life that had long been lived in public and often under strain.
The news comes after years in which Brendon's health problems and legal troubles repeatedly pulled him back into the headlines, long after Buffy left television screens in 2003. To many fans he remained frozen in time as the wisecracking, mortal heart of a cult fantasy series; the reality, documented in police reports and TV interviews, was far messier and far more fragile.
