Terence Stamp
There was nobody else quite like the recently deceased Terence Stamp. One of the most visible British actors of the 1960s, he amassed an impressive filmography that included classics like BILLY BUDD (1962), THE COLLECTOR (1965) and POOR COW (1967). He was also a swinging sixties fixture, romancing icons of the scene like Julie Christie, Brigitte Bardot and supermodel Jean Shrimpton (he also claimed to be “really good chums” with Princess Diana). That was until Stamp decided to move to Italy, where he acted for Federico Fellini in TOBY DAMMIT and Pier Paolo Pasolini in TEOREMA (both 1968) and lived for several years. But then it all came to an unceremonious end, as according to the man himself, “When the 1960s ended, I just ended with it.”
In the early 1970s Stamp decamped to India and became a student of the spiritual guru Jiddu Krishnamurti. He returned to acting in 1975 with the French made vanity project HU-MAN, a bizarre sci-fi drama that consisted of Stamp performing various death-defying feats as part of a barely-there narrative involving time travel and new agey overtones.
HU-MAN (1975) Trailer
Unsurprisingly, HU-MAN failed to set the box office aflame, with Stamp apparently primed to quit acting and become a tantric sex teacher at an Indian ashram when he got a most unexpected offer: he was asked by director Richard Donner to play General Zod in SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978) and its 1981 sequel.
Terence Stamp as General Zod
Even more unexpected was the fact that Zod became Stamp’s most famous role, making him an integral part of the SUPERMAN universe (he later provided the voice of Jor-El in SMALLVILLE).
SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978) Trailer
From SUPERMAN onward, Terence Stamp, in common with his former roommate Michael Caine (who according to Stamp “gave me all my early values, like making sure you were doing good stuff, waiting for the right things,”) abandoned the exactitude he displayed in his earlier years and become a journeyman actor in more ways than one, never bothering to buy a home and giving up all pretentions to art. He admitted to the GUARDIAN that “I don’t have any ambitions,” which was evident in his post-SUPERMAN filmography, in which he appeared in everything from MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE MEN (1979) to LEGAL EAGLES (1986), ALIEN NATION (1988) and LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (2021), which marked his final screen appearance.
Yet for all his indifference Stamp still managed to notch another iconic role: Bernadette the drag queen in THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT (1994). Neither the role nor the film it graced appear to have affected his career much, as he soldiered on for another 20-plus years. During that time Stamp, in direct contrast to his former status as the epitome of 1960s decadence, became a distinguished elder statesman, on hand to lend a touch of old school class to films like the WWII set VALKYRIE (2008), in which Stamp reportedly helped stage certain scenes based on his childhood memories of early 1940s London.
THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT (1994) Trailer
Stamp was famous for his good looks (which drive TEOREMA), with the chiseled facial features of a Greek god and a screen presence that riveted attention even when he wasn’t saying anything (which was often). As LAST NIGHT IN SOHO director Edgar Wright has stated, “Terence was a true movie star: the camera loved him, and he loved it right back.”
Terrence Stamp, Priscilla
At times he transcended the star label to deliver a true performance for the ages. That occurred in THE HIT (1984), in which Stamp was so strong as a laconic ex-gangster he (together with his co-stars John Hurt and Tim Roth) nearly rescued the film from director Stephen Frears’ obnoxiously arch and self-conscious staging. Another standout Stamp turn occurred in THE LIMEY (1999), a highly self-referential exercise that functioned as both a commentary on and continuation of Stamp’s 1960s roles (complete with footage from POOR COW to illustrate his character’s early years).
THE HIT (1984) Trailer
Unique though Stamp may have been, he was also something of a trailblazer. The practice of quitting show business to embark on a spiritual retreat has become quite popular with movie and TV folk, having been done by Rainn Wilson, Jim Carrey and THREE’S COMPANY star Joyce DeWitt (who claimed that “after the show, I took 15 years off and…studied with different teachers around the world”). Stamp’s career trajectory, with its beginnings in carefully chosen roles giving way to paycheck whoredom, likewise proved quite influential, with fellow actors ranging from Anthony Hopkins to Malcolm McDowell replicating it.
Terence Stamp, The Hit
The above suggests that either Stamp’s preferences weren’t as eccentric as they might seem, or that they were indeed plenty eccentric and Hollywood is following the same path (it’s not called “Hollyweird” for nothing). Either way, Terence Stamp was a one-of-a-kind talent who will be missed.
Terrence Stamp RIP