Photo: J. Quinton/WireImage
Terence Stamp, star of such films as The Limey and Billy Budd, has died. He was 87. “He leaves behind an extraordinary body of work, both as an actor and as a writer that will continue to touch and inspire people for years to come,” his family said in a statement obtained by BBC News. “We ask for privacy at this sad time.”
Stamp was born in 1938, in London’s East End. The son of a tugboat stoker, Stamp won a scholarship to the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts. He received an Academy Award nomination for his film debut, starring in Billy Budd in 1962. Stamp spent the rest of the sixties starring in films in both England and Italy, sharing a flat with Michael Caine, and being one half of a mod power couple with Jean Shrimpton. His one-year relationshp with Julie Christie was immortalized in The Kinks song “Waterloo Sunset.” Stamp was approached to play James Bond, but freaked out producer Harry Saltzman with his take on the character. “I think my ideas about it put the frighteners on Harry,” he said. “I didn’t get a second call from him.”
Stamp found himself in something of a slump during the 70s, telling the Guardian in 2015 “It’s a mystery to me. I was in my prime. When the 1960s ended, I just ended with it.” He went to India to study Yoga, which is where he got the call for Superman in 1976. Stamp played General Zod in Superman and Superman II.
Stamp had yet another career resurgence in the 90s. He received the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for Beltenbros; his role as Bernadette in The Adevntures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was nominated for a BAFTA and Golden Globe; and he was nominated for an Indie Spirit award for Steven Soderberg’s The Limey. His final film role was in Last Night in Soho, a throwback to his 60’s star power.
Stamp credited his time away from the spotlight, and in India, with helping obliterate his swinging 60’s persona and ego. “During that time away from the screen, I had transmuted myself. I no longer saw myself as a leading man,” he said. “What had happened inside of me enabled me to take the role, and not feel embarassed or depressed about playing the villain. I just decided I was a character actor now and I can do anything.” That “anything” would go on to include roles in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Elektra, The Haunted Mansion, Murder Mystery, and Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie. “I don’t have any ambitions. I’m always amazed there’s another job, I’m always very happy,” he said. “ I’ve done crap, because sometimes I didn’t have the rent. But when I’ve got the rent, I want to do the best I can.”
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