Terence Stamp, English actor known for ‘Superman' and ‘The Limey,' dies at 87

Washington Post

3 hours ago

Terence Stamp, who famously played the arch-villain General Zod in the first two 'Superman' films, died Sunday at the age of 87.
His death was confirmed by a representative, after his family released a statement.
Stamp, was an acclaimed English leading man turned character actor, whose intense, sky-blue gaze sizzled on the silver screen for decades.
His performance in the 1962 film 'Billy Budd,' based on the Herman Melville novel 'Moby Dick,' earned him an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for 'Best Newcomer.' Just 24 when the film was released, Stamp managed to stand out in a year that saw an uncanny number of cinema classics released, including 'Lawrence of Arabia,' 'The Manchurian Candidate' and 'Cape Fear.'
The son of a tugboat stoker, Stamp emerged as one of the defining stars of British cinema throughout the 1960s, known as much for his offscreen romances with actress Julie Christie and Englishsupermodel Jean Shrimpton as he was for his brilliant, leading roles.
But for international audiences, the ultimate Stamp villain was the ultra-ambitious alien General Zod in 'Superman' (1978). Stamp said he accepted the part because he wanted to work opposite Marlon Brando. Before then, he had stepped away from acting to become a swami in India.
'When the 1960s ended, I just ended with it,' Stamp told the Guardian in 2015 about his pre- 'Superman' acting drought. 'I remember my agent telling me: 'They're all looking for a young Terence Stamp.''
The first Superman film was something of a rebirth for the actor, who had become used to being a leading man. 'I just decided I was a character actor now and I can do anything,' he said. Stamp would reprise his turn as General Zod in 1980, for 'Superman II.'
For the next 40 years, Stamp and his 'unsettlingly intense stare' appeared on film. In 1994′s 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,' he played a middle-aged transgender woman named Bernadette. The movie drew mixed reviews at the time, but Stamp was widely considered the film's 'chief asset.'
Stamp also starred in Steven Soderbergh's 'The Limey' alongside Peter Fonda. 'Terence Stamp builds up such a head of angry steam … it's a wonder the theater ceiling doesn't blister,' a Washington Post review declared in 1999.
More recently, Stamp appeared in the 2021 Edgar Wright-directed horror thriller 'Last Night in Soho' — fittingly, an homage to 1960s London.