Early Life and Career Beginnings
Terence Henry Stamp was born in the East End of London in 1938. His father was a tugboat coal stoker. He was brought up in challenging situations by his mother, whom he attributed to his passion for life. He experienced the bombing of London in the Second World War. He subsequently coded his impoverished and difficult childhood. He took up his first job as a messenger boy in an advertising company, after which he was awarded a scholarship to drama school. Stamp hid his ambitions from his family.“I couldn’t tell anyone I wanted to be an actor because it was out of the question. I would have been laughed at,” he had remarked.
Terence Stamp died on Sunday morning at the age of 87
Rise in British Cinema
Stamp shared a flat with fellow actor Michael Caine in the early 1960s. His break came with the leading role in Peter Ustinov’s 1962 film Billy Budd. This performance earned him an Academy Award nomination. He later recalled the pride that role gave him. “To be cast by somebody like Ustinov was something that gave me a great deal of self-confidence in my film career,” he said in 2019. In the 1960s, Stamp was a very well-known screen personality in Britain. In 1967, he starred with Julie Christie in Far From the Madding Crowd. He referred to model Jean Shrimpton as his love of his life and later on admitted the loss of her tracked with a decline in his career.
Stamp had his breakthrough performance in Billy Budd
Roles in International Films
After missing out on the role of James Bond, Stamp shifted to Italian cinema. He worked with directors like Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini. He starred in Theorem in 1968 and A Season in Hell in 1971. He described Fellini’s casting as a major turning point. “I view my life really as before and after Fellini,” he said.
Spiritual Exploration in India
While based in Rome, Stamp met philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti in 1968. The meeting led him to India to study yoga and meditation. He lived for long periods in an ashram in Pune dressed in orange robes. He grew his hair long and embraced meditation and tantric teachings. “There was a rumour around the ashram that he was preparing me to teach the tantric group,” he recalled in 2015.
Superman and Hollywood Revival
His career resurgence began with the role of General Zod in Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980). He played against Christopher Reeve’s Superman as the Kryptonian villain. He later admitted that he had been out of work for nearly eight years before that opportunity. “I was on the night flight the next day,” he said of learning about the part while in India.
Stamp’s career got a revival with the role of General Zod in Superman (1978)
Landmark Role in Priscilla
Stamp gained new recognition with The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in 1994. He played Bernadette Bassenger, a transgender woman, in the award-winning Australian film. Costume design for the film later won an Academy Award. Stamp received nominations for a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and an AFI Award. He reflected on the experience in later years. “It was only when I got there, and got through the fear, that it became one of the great experiences of my whole career. It was probably the most fun thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he said.
Stamp played the role of a transgender woman in The Adventures of Priscilla
Later Career and International Work
Stamp worked consistently in later decades. He appeared in Valkyrie (2008) alongside Tom Cruise and The Adjustment Bureau (2011) with Matt Damon. He also featured in Tim Burton projects and played Chancellor Valorum in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 1999. His final screen role came in 2021 in Last Night in Soho.
Relationships and Personal Life
Stamp married only once, on New Year’s Eve in 2002. At the age of 64, he wed Elizabeth O’Rourke, a pharmacist 35 years younger. She was of Australian-Singaporean background and the couple divorced in 2008. Stamp also enjoyed a friendship with Princess Diana. He described their meetings as regular and informal. “It wasn’t a formal thing, we’d just meet up for a cup of tea, or sometimes we’d have a long chat for an hour. Sometimes it would be very quick,” he told a newspaper in 2017.
Legacy and Death
Stamp passed away at dawn on Sunday at the age of 87. His family has confirmed that he died, but no cause has been cited. The family said, “He leaves a remarkable legacy, both as an actor and a writer, that will leave its mark on people even through many years. Stamp had a 60-year career performing in a variety of genres, industries and to a range of audiences. He performed on stage, television, film and independent productions. His career stood the test of an actor who could adjust and redefine himself through different periods in the movie industry.
