Latest news with #1960sCinema
National Post
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- National Post
Terence Stamp, '60s icon and Superman villain General Zod, dies
London — British actor Terence Stamp, a leading man of 1960s cinema before reinventing himself in a series of striking roles — including as Superman villain General Zod — has died aged 87, U.K. media cited his family announcing Sunday. Article content '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,' media quoted the family saying. Article content Article content Stamp exploded on to the screen in the 1960s as a leading man, even then sometimes playing troubled characters. At one point, he seemed to specialize in playing brooding villains Article content Article content From Pier Paolo Pasolini's Theorem to a villain's role in one of the Star Wars films, the handsome leading man captivated audiences in both art house films and Hollywood blockbusters. Article content He lent his magnetic presence to more than 60 films during a career that spanned a range of genres. Article content The London actor from a working-class background, born on July 22, 1938, had his first breakthrough in in Peter Ustinov's Billy Budd. His performance as a dashing young sailor hanged for killing one of his crewmates, earned him an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for Best New Actor. Article content Carving out a niche for his alluring depictions of broody villains, he won Best Actor at Cannes in 1965 for The Collector, a twisted love story adapted by William Wyler from John Fowles's bestselling novel. Article content His 1967 encounter with Federico Fellini was transformative. The Italian director was searching for the 'most decadent English actor' for his segment in an adaptation of Spirits of the Dead, a collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories. Article content Article content Fellini cast him as Toby Dammit, a drunken actor seduced by the devil in the guise of a little girl. Article content Another Italian great, Pasolini, who cast him in the cult classic Theorem, saw him as a 'boy of divine nature.' In the 1969 film, Stamp played an enigmatic visitor who seduced an entire bourgeois Milanese family. Article content He also had a relationship with Jean Shrimpton — a model and beauty of the sixties — before she left him towards the end of the decade.
News.com.au
a day ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Terence Stamp, 60s icon and Superman villain, dies
British actor Terence Stamp, a leading man of 1960s cinema before reinventing himself in a series of striking roles -- including as Superman villain General Zod -- has died aged 87, UK media cited his family announcing Sunday. "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," media quoted the family saying. Stamp, exploded on to the screen in the 1960s as a leading man, even then sometimes playing troubled characters. At one point, he seemed to specialise in playing brooding villains Later still, he broke out of that typecasting to play a partying transgender woman in "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert". From Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Theorem" to a villain's role in one of the "Star Wars" films, the handsome leading man captivated audiences in both art house films and Hollywood blockbusters. He lent his magnetic presence to more than 60 films during a career that spanned a range of genres. - Heroes and villains - The London actor from a working-class background, born on July 22, 1938, had his first breakthrough in in Peter Ustinov's "Billy Budd". His performance as a dashing young sailor hanged for killing one of his crewmates, earned him an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for Best New Actor. Carving out a niche for his alluring depictions of broody villains, he won Best Actor at Cannes in 1965 for "The Collector", a twisted love story adapted by William Wyler from John Fowles's bestselling novel. His 1967 encounter with Federico Fellini was transformative. The Italian director was searching for the "most decadent English actor" for his segment in an adaptation of "Spirits of the Dead", a collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories. Fellini cast him as "Toby Dammit", a drunken actor seduced by the devil in the guise of a little girl. Another Italian great, Pasolini, who cast him in the cult classic "Theorem", saw him as a "boy of divine nature". In the 1969 film, Stamp played an enigmatic visitor who seduced an entire bourgeois Milanese family. - 'Kneel before Zod!' - He also had a relationship with Jean Shrimpton -- a model and beauty of the sixties -- before she left him towards the end of the decade. "I was so closely identified with the 1960s that when that era ended, I was finished with it," he once told French daily Liberation. But the dry spell did not last long. Stamp revived his career for some of his most popular roles, including in 1980's "Superman II", as Superman's arch-nemesis General Zod. His famous line from that film, "Kneel before Zod!" was spreading online in social media tributes after the news broke of his death. Other roles followed, including that of Bernadette, a transgender woman in "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" (1994), in which Stamp continued his exploration of human ambiguity, this time in fishnet stockings. He continued to pursue a wide-ranging career, jumping between big-budget productions such a villain's role in "The Phantom Menace" one of the Star Wars films to independent films like Stephen Frears's "The Hit".
The Guardian
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Julie Christie is magnetic': on the set of party girl classic Darling
Julie Christie had made little headway as an actor until she was cast in the comedy Billy Liar (after Topsy Jane, the original choice, had to pull out). The film's director John Schlesinger (pictured, right) was impressed with her performance and offered her the lead role in his next film. All images: © 1965 StudioCanal Films Ltd. Images preserved and supplied by the BFI Archive Darling was a then-daring account of a 1960s party girl, Diana Scott, and her seemingly effortless rise to the top – only to find emptiness and disillusion there. Christie was reportedly incredibly nervous about her first lead role, and was often found asleep on the set, exhausted by the demanding schedule Christie got on well with Dirk Bogarde, right, who played her lover, TV presenter Robert Gold. In his memoir Snakes and Ladders, Bogarde wrote: 'She has more magnetism or, if you like, star quality than any actress I have worked with' Laurence Harvey, pictured right, was the film's other male lead, playing sleazy adman Miles Brand, who picks Scott as the 'Happiness girl' and takes her to a live sex show in Paris. Harvey, who had become a major star in 1958 with Room at the Top, was the first big name to commit to the film, ensuring the production could get off the ground Paul Newman, Gregory Peck and Cliff Robertson had already turned down the role of Gold, which was originally written as an American journalist before Bogarde, left, came aboard Schlesinger had a handful of substantial films under his belt before Darling, and was very much identified with the British new wave of the early 1960s. After a brief acting career, he emerged from the BBC as a documentary-maker, winning a Bafta for Terminus, his short film about Waterloo station. A Kind of Loving and Billy Liar were successful examples of the 'kitchen-sink' style, and he would go on to work with Christie again on Far From the Madding Crowd in 1967 Producer Joseph Janni, left, is one of the unsung heroes of the British new wave; born in Italy, he made a string of films with Schlesinger (including Billy Liar, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Yanks) and gave Ken Loach his feature film directing debut with Poor Cow in 1967 Christie went on to win the best actress Oscar in 1966, beating (among others) Julie Andrews for The Sound of Music. Frederic Raphael won the best original screenplay Oscar, and there was a third Oscar for costume designer Julie Harris. The Sound of Music, however, triumphed in its other contests with Darling, winning best picture and best director for Robert Wise Roland Curram (far right at front, in sunglasses) was cast as gay photographer Malcolm, whom Diana takes to Italy when she shoots a chocolate commercial – and they each spend a night with the same good-looking waiter Darling contains some fun casting, including Schlesinger himself as a theatre director auditioning Scott, and academic Hugo Dyson as a writer interviewed by Gold. But possibly the most intruiging is José Luis de Vilallonga, AKA the 9th Marquess of Castellbell (pictured, in tie), a real-life Spanish aristocrat, who played the Italian prince whom Scott eventually marries. Vilallonga had a decent acting career, appearing in Les Amants, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Cléo from 5 to 7, and Juliet of the Spirits among many others Production was nearly abandoned when funding dried up, forcing Janni to ask Bogarde to take a pay cut. However, the shoot was kept afloat after David Lean decided to cast Christie, on the strength of a private viewing of Darling's footage, in the much sought-after role of Lara in Doctor Zhivago. As Christie was under contract to Janni, the producer received 50% of the fee and channelled the money straight back into Darling, thereby saving the day. Bogarde, right, (with Schlesinger, middle) was also up for a role in Zhivago, but wasn't cast Christie was reportedly unhappy at the prospect of the film's climactic nude scene, in which she was called on to smash up the living area of the Italian castle where her character lived, and then throw off her jewellery and clothes. She eventually agreed after both Schlesinger and Raphael convinced her it was necessary
