British actor Terence Stamp, ‘Superman’ star and famed figure of swinging London, dies at 87

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN

London (CNN) — Terence Stamp, the British actor who became synonymous with Swinging London in the 1960s, has died, his family said Sunday, according to Reuters. He was 87 years old.

Stamp first came to prominence when he took on the titular role in the 1962 film “Billy Budd.” The black and white drama, directed by Peter Ustinov, who also starred, saw Stamp nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor – the only Oscar nomination of his lengthy career.

He went on to star in a host of films in the 1960s, among them John Schlesinger’s Thomas Hardy adaptation “Far From the Madding Crowd” and Ken Loach’s first feature film, “Poor Cow.”

CNN has reached out to his representatives for confirmation of his death.

He was a star who rose from humble beginnings in London’s East End, about as far from Hollywood as you can get. He was born on July 22, 1938, to parents Ethel and Thomas, a merchant seaman.

In a 2013 interview with the British Film Institute (BFI), Stamp revealed that his father tried to deter him from a career in showbiz.

“He genuinely believed that people like us didn’t do things like that,” he said. But his mother, he said, “loved every second of it.”

“In retrospect, my mother must have always wanted me to do it and must have wished that she could have been more supportive. But my dad was the head of the family and I never really knew what he thought of it because he was of that generation.

“He was a merchant seaman, he shovelled coal, and in that confined living quarters any show of emotion would have been considered unbearably flash.”

Stamp would become one of the biggest figures of 1960s London, romantically linked to model Jean Shrimpton and actresses Julie Christie – his “Far From the Madding Crowd” co-star – and Brigitte Bardot.

His only marriage came in 2002 – to an Australian pharmacist 35 years his junior – but that lasted just six years, according to the Guardian.

Stamp famously roomed with fellow actor Michael Caine, who was also a rising star at the time. The pair lost touch, however, as he disclosed in an interview with The Guardian newspaper in 2015.

“We just went different ways. I can understand it: in many ways he was much more mature than me,” he said of Caine, who was five years older.

“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.”

After a few years away from the screen, Stamp appeared in the 1978 blockbuster “Superman” as the superhero’s adversary, General Zod. He reprised the role of the comic book villain in the sequel two years later.

Ironically, more than two decades later Stamp went on to voice the role of Superman’s father Jor-El in the TV series “Smallville.”

His many screen credits also included his role as drag queen Bernadette in the 1990s Australian comedy “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.”

Of his eclectic career – including roles in Hollywood’s “Wall Street” and “The Adjustment Bureau” – he told the Guardian that he had no ambitions, adding: “I’ve had bad experiences and things that didn’t work out; my love for film sometimes diminishes but then it just resurrects itself.

“I never have to gee myself up, or demand a huge wage to get out of bed in the morning. I’ve done crap, because sometimes I didn’t have the rent. But when I’ve got the rent, I want to do the best I can.”

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