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France 24
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- France 24
Terence Stamp in five films
Here are five that gained classic or cult status: 'Billy Budd' (1962) Adapted from Herman Melville's short novel about a dashing sailor, Stamp won immediate acclaim for his first major screen performance playing the titular character. British legend Peter Ustinov directed the film and starred as the ship's captain, who has to intervene when drama breaks out between Budd and a comrade. An adaption of Melville's novel had enjoyed a popular run on Broadway in the 1950s before its movie adaptation, which picked up four BAFTAs, a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nod for Stamp. 'The Collector' (1965) Never more handsome or disturbing, Stamp played a kidnapper with a chip on his shoulder and a passion for collecting butterflies who captures a young woman and locks her up in his basement. The adaptation by William Wyler of John Fowles's classic novel brought out all the twisted power and class dynamics explored in the book, and was a triumph at Cannes, picking up best actor for Stamp. 'Theorem' (1968) This near-wordless cult classic by Italian master Pier Paolo Pasolini gets under the skin of bourgeois life through the arrival of a stranger, played by Stamp, into a rich family. Mysterious, attractive, he lures various family members into sex and in doing so unlocks forbidden passions, though what he unleashes is hardly happiness. Pasolini's film, which was initially banned, is "a blistering Marxist treatise on sex, religion, and art and a primal scream into the void," according to the Criterion Collection. It was Stamp's second collaboration with an Italian legend after shooting the short "Toby Dammit" earlier that year with Federico Fellini. "The great experience of my life was working with Fellini. It was a peak in the way I was performing at the time," Stamp said in a 2017 interview. But shooting "Theorem" was a rather different experience -- he had no lines and Pasolini barely spoke to him at all. "He had his own agenda. He was creating an ambience that I was part of." 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' (1994) One of the most madcap and memorable comedies of the 1990s was a surprise popular hit worldwide and brought queer cinema into the mainstream. Stamp played a transgender woman accompanied by two drag queens driving a bus through the Australian outback in hope of meeting new friends. With its array of outlandish outfits and make-up, the film won best costume design at the Oscars and has inspired several stage musicals around the world. "It was only when I got there, and got through the fear, that it became one of the great experiences of my whole career," said Stamp. "It was probably the most fun thing I've ever done in my life." 'Last Night in Soho' (2022) Edgar Wright's British indie hit mixing horror and time travel featured Stamp as a shady but charming barfly with a mysterious connection to Swinging Sixties London. He spooks a fashion student who has flashbacks to the 1960s, when Soho was full of brothels rather than sandwich shops, and the film takes a devilish turn with Diana Rigg as a landlady hiding many skeletons in her cupboard.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Terence Stamp, Luminary of 1960s British Cinema, Dies at 87
Terence Stamp, the magnetic British actor whose film roles included a naïve 18th-century merchant seaman in 'Billy Budd,' a violent 19th-century swordsman in 'Far From the Madding Crowd,' a tyrant from another planet in 'Superman' and a transgender nightclub entertainer in 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,' died on Sunday. He was 87. His family confirmed his death but did not specify where he died or the cause. Mr. Stamp was a boyish 24 when 'Billy Budd' (1962), based on Herman Melville's seafaring novel, was released. He looked into the camera with what one journalist later called his 'heartbreak blue eyes' and let his tousled blond hair fall over his forehead whenever his character was provoked — which was often, since he was being accused of murder. And he could act: The role brought Mr. Stamp an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award for most promising newcomer. He presented a very different image three years later, playing a dark-haired psychopath who loves butterflies but decides to move up to capturing humans in 'The Collector' (1965). As he carried a bottle of chloroform toward a beautiful art student (Samantha Eggar), those startlingly blue eyes now seemed terrifying. In The New York Herald Tribune, the critic Judith Crist called his performance 'brilliant in its gauge' of madness. He received the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. He grew a sinister black mustache to play the sadistic Sergeant Troy, who mistreats the heroine (Julie Christie) in 'Far From the Madding Crowd' (1967), based on Thomas Hardy's novel. Reviews were mixed, but Roger Ebert praised Mr. Stamp's performance as 'suitably vile.' Looking back in 2015, a writer for The Guardian observed, 'Stamp has an animation and conviction in this role that he never equaled elsewhere.' Not long after that, Mr. Stamp largely disappeared for almost a decade. He came back as a character actor. When he made his entrance in Richard Donner's 'Superman' (1978), boldly crashing through a White House roof, audiences saw the young man who had been called the face of the '60s, now with a seriously receding hairline, devilish facial hair and a newly mature persona. His character, Zod, an alien supervillain with a burning desire to rule the world, returned in 'Superman II' (1980). Mr. Stamp had a busy career for the next half-century, perhaps most memorably in 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' (1994), with yet another new on-screen look. His character, Bernadette, a middle-aged transgender woman, wore dangly earrings, a grayish-blond pageboy, tasteful neutrals and not quite enough makeup to hide the age lines. 'I've got a kind of more developed feminine side of my nature,' he said in 2019 when asked about the role in a Reuters interview, 'so it was a chance to knowingly explore that.' 'I had to think about what it would be like to be born into the wrong body,' he added, 'and born into a body that wasn't the same as one's emotions.' Terence Henry Stamp was born on July 22, 1938, in London, one of five children of Thomas Stamp, a tugboat stoker with the Merchant Navy, and Ethel (Perrott) Stamp. In the low-income neighborhoods of the East End where the Stamps lived, expectations were low. 'When I asked for career guidance at school, they recommended bricklaying as a good, regular job,' Mr. Stamp recalled in a 2011 interview with the Irish newspaper The Sunday Business Post, 'although someone did think I might make a good Woolworths' manager.' After leaving school, Mr. Stamp worked in advertising agencies, but he secretly wanted to become an actor and began lessons at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. 'Billy Budd' is usually referred to as his first film, but in England, 'Term of Trial,' in which he appeared as a young tough alongside Laurence Olivier and Simone Signoret, was released a month earlier. (In the United States, 'Billy Budd' opened first.) He did theater work in England but had only one Broadway experience — a disaster. He played the title role in 'Alfie!,' a play about a callous young South London bachelor, which opened in December 1964 and closed three weeks later. Shawn Levy, in his book 'Ready, Steady, Go!,' had an explanation: 'It was so dark and frank and mean and true and generally disharmonious with the optimistic, up-tempo tenor of the moment.' But moments pass. Mr. Stamp turned down the same role in the 1966 film version, and Michael Caine — who happened to be his flatmate — took it instead. It made him a star. Mr. Stamp did star in 'Modesty Blaise' (1966), as a secret agent's Cockney sidekick; Ken Loach's 'Poor Cow' (1967), as a sensitive working-class guy; and Pier Paolo Pasolini's 'Theorem' (1968), as a mysterious stranger who beds every single member of a household, including the maid. Federico Fellini directed him as a self-destructive, alcoholic actor in 'Spirits of the Dead' (1968). In 1969, Mr. Stamp moved to an ashram in India and became a swami. Some said it was because of a romantic breakup, but he professed a simpler motive: He couldn't find work. Although he was barely in his 30s, casting agents were already looking for 'a young Terence Stamp.' Around eight years later, he received a message from his agent about the 'Superman' movie. He accepted, he often said, because he wanted to work with Marlon Brando, who played Jor-El, Superman's father. Between 1978 and 2019, Mr. Stamp appeared in more than 50 films. He received particular praise for Steven Soderbergh's 'The Limey' (1999), in which he played an ex-con on the trail of a drug-trafficking record producer (Peter Fonda) as he avenges his daughter's death. He also had roles in 'Legal Eagles' (1986), 'Wall Street' (1987), 'Young Guns' (1988), 'Alien Nation' (1988), and 'Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace' (1999), as chancellor of the Galactic Republic. In 'Unfinished Song' (2012, originally 'Song for Marion'), he played a gruff pensioner with a dying wife (Vanessa Redgrave). After having been a Superman-franchise villain, Mr. Stamp was the voice of the superhero's noble Kryptonian father in the television series 'Smallville.' His final film was the horror thriller 'Last Night in Soho' (2021). A Times review called his entrance alone 'a master class in minimalist menace.' In the 1960s, Mr. Stamp had highly publicized romances with the British supermodel Jean Shrimpton and with Ms. Christie. In 2002, at age 64, he married Elizabeth O'Rourke, a 29-year-old Australian pharmacist; they divorced in 2008. Information on survivors was not immediately available. Looking back philosophically in 2017 on his life's ups and downs, Mr. Stamp told The Telegraph, 'The thing that has been constant is that from the very beginning I always seemed to be the opposite to everybody else.'
Boston Globe
31-07-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Fishing around for fun things to do? Use the South Coast commuter rail to explore New Bedford.
From the commuter rail station, you'll have to walk 15 minutes to reach Fisherman's Wharf. You'll pass the fish processing plants and cold storage facilities that support the nation's highest-grossing commercial fishing port. True to its name, Fisherman's Wharf is lined by vessels that range up to 100 feet long and tower above the mere human beings along the dock. The vast majority are rigged as scallop dredgers or groundfish boats, although offshore lobster boats, clammers, and deep-sea crabbers also call New Bedford home. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up According to the most recent Advertisement Plaques along the waterfront illuminate New Bedford's maritime history. David Lyon Advertisement That mentality was already part of New Bedford's cultural DNA. From 1830 to 1860, most American whaling ships sailed from New Bedford. Commercial fishing took hold when the whaling industry waned around 1900. Simply put, New Bedford had the infrastructure — why let all those piers go to waste? But the whaling industry has not been forgotten. The cobblestone streets, granite US Custom House, 'double″ bank building, and old candleworks recall that mid-19th-century heyday. Even the visitor center of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park occupies a handsome Greek Revival red sandstone structure. It was built in 1853 as a bank during the height of New Bedford's whaling fortunes. Stop in to pick up a map and get a swift overview of how whaling transformed New Bedford. Whale skeletons seem to float in the two-story atrium of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. David Lyon A block away, the This half-scale model of the whaling bark Lagoda is a prime exhibit in the New Bedford Whaling Museum. David Lyon On the museum's main level, a half-size model of the whaling bark Lagoda gives an idea of the complexity of a typical whaling vessel. An adjacent gallery holds the skeleton of a 48-foot sperm whale, the chief prey of New Bedford whalers. This 30-year-old male was found stranded on Nantucket in 2002. The toothed leviathan dwarfs the six-man whaleboat installed on a back wall in the same room. It is amazing that any whalers survived. Advertisement The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Visitor Center occupies a former bank building from the city's whaling heyday. David Lyon That sense of imminent mortality weighed on many a whaler. Central to the The Seamen's Bethel, established in 1832, offered solace and comfort to whalers and other sailors. David Lyon Herman Melville visited the Advertisement The Nathan and Polly Johnson House was a key location in New Bedford's anti-slavery struggle. David Lyon The Abolition movement burned bright in New Bedford, which had the highest percentage of African Americans in the Northeast. Among Rotch's neighbors in what is now called the County Street Historic District were Nathan and Polly Johnson, who owned a block on 7th Street. As free African American businesspeople, the Johnsons were leading anti-slavery activists. They also opened their home to harbor men and women fleeing bondage. On Sept. 17, 1838, they took in a fugitive who would assume the name Frederick Douglass along with his wife, Anna. The Johnson house at 21 7th St. is now owned by the The fried scallop plate at Moby Dick Brewing Co. comes with cole slaw and fried potato wedges. David Lyon From the park, it's only a 10-minute walk back to New Bedford's central historic district. Before leaving town, be sure to sample some New Bedford scallops. At If you go … One-way weekday fare on the MBTA commuter rail is $12.25 for adults, $6 for seniors and students. The MBTA offers a $10 Commuter Rail Weekend Pass for unlimited travel. On weekdays, 15 trains per day leave South Station for New Bedford (536 Acushnet Ave.) Advertisement New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center 38 Bethel St. 508-993-8894, Thurs.-Mon. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Adults $8, seniors and students $5, under age 12 free New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Visitor Center 33 William St. 508-996-4095, Wed.-Sun. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Check for schedule of tours. Free New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill 508-997-0046, Open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Adults $23, seniors $21, youth $13 Seamen's Bethel 15 Johnny Cake Hill 508-992-3295, Open Tues.-Sun. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Donation requested Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum 396 County St. 508-997-1401, Wed.-Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., also Sun. noon-4 p.m. (closed Sun. after Oct. 13). Adults $8, seniors and students $6, ages 7-17 $3, under age 7 free Moby Dick Brewing Co. 16 South Water St. 774-202-6961, Mon.-Thu. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. noon-8 p.m. sandwiches and entrees $13-$45 The Whale's Tail Clam Bar Advertisement 52 Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 3 774-425-8980, Open daily 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. sandwiches and baskets $12-$28 Patricia Harris and David Lyon can be reached at . Patricia Harris can be reached at
TimesLIVE
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
Amare brings the Med to Bantry Bay with winter feasts and trendy beats
If you want a taste of sunshine in Cape Town as the rainy winter sets in, the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant Amare in Bantry Bay promises that. A culinary antidote to what Herman Melville calls the 'damp, drizzly (winter) in my soul'. With starters such as grilled white anchovies, there is no need to travel to Mozambique or Portugal to find this fresh, authentic flavour. With a DJ playing her set in the upstairs cocktail bar Artisté and the hint of the ocean across the street, Amare attracts patrons beyond residents of the wealthy suburb. Invited by Amare to do a review, I was accompanied by a friend whose talents, unlike mine, include gourmet cooking. The waiter let us pick a table among the many open, but the restaurant filled up fast as the evening went on. The conversation of diners young and old, perhaps enhanced by the extensive wine list (every option was not, however, available that night) gave the uncluttered style of the restaurant more of a festive atmosphere. South African craft gins were among the spirits listed and I chose one of the Cape's first, the Inverroche Amber, while my friend had a glass of the Pincushion sauvignon blanc from Lomond estate. We relished the anchovies with marinated lemons and smoked almonds, and colourful Panzanella tomato, basil and olive salad with croutons we had to start. For mains we ordered the Amare signature spaghetti all'Assassina, and chargrilled sea bass with capers, confit tomatoes and herbs, with side orders of white beans with Parmesan and herbs and fried green beans with sesame seeds. Our over-enthusiastic waiter arrived with the charred spaghetti, sea bass and bean dishes before we were done with entrées, giving our table the look of a Roman feast with dishes competing for space on our table. Undeterred we took our time and found the pan-cooked spicy pasta, a dish from southern Italy, stood out for its almost crispy texture and unusual flavour. The sea bass was delicious and the white and green beans complemented the heaps of pasta on our plates. Ideal comfort food for a cold day. Choosing a dessert took time given the alluring selection. Nostalgic about summer and unable to resist anything with lemons, I ordered the lemon posset with mint and lemon grass granita, which was outstanding. Even the coconut lime pannacotta with roasted grapes couldn't compare to it. While we enjoyed our mains, we felt the starters and desserts were the most memorable. *Claire Keeton and her friend were hosted by Amare. Amare, which is open from breakfast, is offering winter specials valid until August 31. Diners can choose from two- or three-course meals. The two‑course price is R 380 (or R 550 with wine pairing) and the three‑course price is R 500 (or R 750 with pairing).
New York Times
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A New ‘Billy Budd' Is a Pressure Cooker of Gay Desire
Billy Budd is a beautiful mystery. He is young, with a smooth and feminine face, but he doesn't know his background; all he can say is that, as a baby, he was found in a silk-lined basket, hanging from the knocker of a door. One thing is certain in Herman Melville's novella 'Billy Budd': This handsome sailor is good, gentle by nature and loyal to his shipmates, who call him Baby and find peace just by being in his presence. To Billy's 'good' Melville adds allegorically pure evil in the ship's master-at-arms, John Claggart, and unbending virtue in Captain Vere. Like the legs of a stool, those characteristics hold up the drama of 'Billy Budd,' which was left unfinished at Melville's death in 1891 and wasn't published until the 1920s. The story of Billy Budd, stammering and precious, then sacrificed to a strict idea of justice after he accidentally but fatally strikes Claggart, has intrigued readers ever since with its opacity and open-endedness. E.M. Forster called the novella 'an easy book, as long as we read it as a yarn.' But tug at the thread, and it unravels into a pile of unanswerable questions: about desire, about morality, about the microcosmic world of a ship at sea. Perhaps that is why adaptations of 'Billy Budd,' onstage and onscreen, have been so different. Each is as much an act of interpretation as translation, adopting a specific perspective, examining Billy's tragedy through a particular character or idea. The latest version, a sexy and ingenious one-act called 'The Story of Billy Budd, Sailor,' ran at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France earlier this month. It's an adaptation of an adaptation: a chamber treatment, by the director Ted Huffman and the composer Oliver Leith, of Benjamin Britten's 1951 opera 'Billy Budd.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
