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| Terence Stamp as General Zod in Superman 2. |
With a career that spanned six decades, Terence Stamp was one of the great luminaries of British cinema. He died this morning, Sunday 17 August, at the age of 87.
Stamp's extraordinary career began in the theatre, where he worked alongside his flatmate Michael Caine, before he wowed audiences and critics alike with his screen début in Peter Ustinov's take on Billy Budd, securing a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. In that first decade he would go on to star in thriller Modesty Blaise, John Schlesinger's version of Far From The Madding Crowd and Ken Loach's Poor Cow. Later hits included The Sicilian, Young Guns, The Limey, Wall Street and The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert.
Once considered for the role of James Bond, Stamp won a legion of new fans as General Zod in the first two Christopher Reeve Superman films, whom Total Film named as the 32nd greatest screen villain of all time. Empire lauded him as one of the sexiest stars of all time, and he won no shortage of accolades for his craft, including a Best Actor award from the Cannes Film Festival for his work in The Collector. He shared his swansong with Diana Rigg - 2021's Last Night In Soho.
Alongside his screen work, Stamp wrote several books, contributed his vocal talents to the Elder Scrolls and Halo computer games series, and studied towards a career as a tantric sex coach - but it was a long career in acting, he said, that was all her ever really wanted.
"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," said his family in a statement.
