Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Since starting his acting career in 1962, he has appeared in over 60 films. His performance in the title role of Billy Budd, his film debut, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer.Stamp's other major roles include butterfly collector Freddie Clegg in The Collector, archvillain General Zod in Superman and Superman II, tough guy Wilson in The Limey, Supreme Chancellor Valorum in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, transsexual Bernadette Bassinger in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, ghost antagonist Ramsley in The Haunted Mansion, Stick in Elektra, Pekwarsky in Wanted, Siegfried in Get Smart, Terrence Bundley in Yes Man, the Covenant Hierarch "Prophet of Truth" in Halo 3, and General Ludwig Beck in Valkyrie.Stamp has won a Golden Globe, a Mystfest, a Cannes Film Festival Award, a Seattle International Film Festival Award, a Satellite Award, and a Silver Bear.
Cannes Best Actor Award, Satellite Mary Pickford Award
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, British Independent Film Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer...
Movies
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Superman, Superman II, Song for Marion, The Limey, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Yes Man, Big Eyes, Theorem, The Haunted Mansion, The Adjustment Bureau, Get Smart, Poor Cow, Far from the Mad...
TV Shows
Chessgame, The Hunger
Star Sign
Cancer
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Trademark
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Calm reserved performances
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Often plays sinister villains
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Rich smooth voice
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Quote
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When the 1960s ended, I just ended with it. I remember my agent telling me: 'They are all looking for a young Terence Stamp.' And I thought: 'I am young.' I was 31, 32. I couldn't believe it. It was tough to wake up in the morning, and the phone not ringing. I thought: this can't be happening now, it's only just started. The day-to-day thing was awful, and I couldn't live with it. So I bought a round-the-world ticket and left.
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[on being directed by John Schlesinger in Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)] He didn't strike me as a guy who was particularly interested in film. Plus I wasn't his first choice: he really wanted Jon Voight. He wasn't exactly hostile, but he really didn't help me. I was working on my own, really. "I'll say this for Schlesinger, when he got in the cutting room and realized he had all this extra footage, he used it. He understood it then. But I didn't have a lot of time for him."
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[on his former flatmate Michael Caine] Caine gave me all my early values, like making sure you were doing good stuff, waiting for the right things - then as soon as he got away he did exactly the opposite. Went from one movie to another.
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[on Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)] He may be a great visionary, Lucas [George Lucas], and he may be great with toys and effects and stuff, but he doesn't really strike me as someone who was really interested in acting.
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[on Man of Steel (2013)] When I heard they were remaking it, or they were doing a version of it, I was kind of sad in a way. Superman (1978) was the benchmark for all of these comic book movies. There's never been anything quite as good as those Dick Donner [Richard Donner] movies. Since then, big movies have become computer generated. They've become unemotional, and so I was sad. I thought it would be diluted, in other words.
Turned down the title role in Alfie (1966) and suggested that they cast his roommate Michael Caine. Caine got the part, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. (Source: Robert Osborne on TCM 1/31/10).
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Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Supporting Actor category for his performance in the film Elektra (2005). However, he failed to receive a nomination.
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Was originally considered for the role of John Ryder in The Hitcher (1986), which went to Rutger Hauer.
Went from playing Superman's adversary (General Zod in Superman II (1980)) to playing Superman's most loving parent (the voice of Jor-El on Smallville (2001)).
A publicity shot from The Collector (1965) showing Stamp holding a chloroform pad was used for the cover of The Smiths single "What Difference Does It Make." After some copies were printed, Stamp decided he did not want his photo to be used, and the rest of the copies appeared with Morrissey in the exact same pose, looking very much like him but holding a glass of milk instead. Later, Stamp relented and his photo was reinstated on the 12-inch single cover.
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Stamp has been wheat and dairy intolerant since the 1960s and launched "The Stamp Collection" range of organic wheat and dairy free products in 1994.
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Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#59) (1995).
$100,000
