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Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Known for his sophisticated villain roles, he was named by Empire as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades including a Golden Globe Award, Terence Stamp: 2 Nominations, 1 Win. Golden Globe Awards. a Cannes Film Festival Award, and a Silver Bear as well as nominations for an Academy Awards and two BAFTA Awards.
After training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Stamp started his acting career in 1960 in the Wolf Mankowitz production of This Year Next Year at the West End's Vaudeville Theatre. He was called the "master of the brooding silence" by The Guardian. His performance in the title role of Billy Budd, his film debut, earned him an Academy Awards nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer. Associated with the Swinging London scene of the 1960s – during which time he was in high-profile relationships with actress Julie Christie and supermodel Jean Shrimpton – Stamp was among the subjects photographed by David Bailey for a set titled Box of Pin-Ups. He starred opposite Christie in Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), and also had a leading role in Ken Loach's drama Poor Cow (1967).
Stamp gained wider fame for his role as archvillain General Zod in Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980). For his leading role in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) he earned BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations. He then starred in The Limey (1999) earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Other films include Wall Street (1987), Young Guns (1988), (1999), The Haunted Mansion (2003), Elektra (2005), Wanted (2008), Get Smart (2008), Yes Man (2008), Valkyrie (2008), Big Eyes (2014) and Last Night in Soho (2021).
Growing up in London during World War II, Stamp endured the Blitz as a child (he would later aid Valkyrie director Bryan Singer in staging a scene where the von Stauffenbergs hide from the Allied bombings). After leaving school, Stamp worked in a variety of advertising agencies in London, working his way up to earning a reasonable salary. In the mid‑1950s, he also worked as an assistant to professional golfer Reg Knight at Wanstead Golf Club in east London. He describes this period of his life positively in his autobiography Stamp Album.
Stamp collaborated with some of the most revered filmmakers. He starred in The Collector (1965), William Wyler's adaptation of John Fowles' The Collector, opposite Samantha Eggar, and in Modesty Blaise (1966), for director Joseph Losey and producer Joe Janni. Stamp reunited with producer Janni for two more projects: John Schlesinger's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd (1967) starring Julie Christie, and Ken Loach's first feature film Poor Cow (1967).
Stamp was approached to play the role of James Bond when Sean Connery retired from the role, but did not receive a second call from producer Harry Saltzman because, in Stamp's opinion, "my ideas about how put the frighteners on Harry. I didn't get a second call from him."
Stamp then travelled to Italy to star in Federico Fellini's Toby Dammit, a 50-minute portion of the Edgar Allan Poe film adaptation Histoires extraordinaires (1968, aka Spirits of the Dead). Stamp lived in Italy for several years, during which time his film work included Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema (1968) opposite Silvana Mangano, and A Season in Hell (1971). Stamp was considered for the title role of Alfie (1966), but turned it down in favour of Modesty Blaise (1966).
Stamp's subsequent film credits included The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970) where he played an infantile patient, A Season in Hell (1971), Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979), and The Hit (1984), which won a Mystfest Award for Best Actor, shared with John Hurt and Tim Roth. Also in 1984, he had the opportunity to play Satan in a cameo appearance in The Company of Wolves. He also appeared in Link (1986), Legal Eagles (1986), The Sicilian (1987), and a cameo as Sir Larry Wildman in Wall Street (1987). He played the ranch owner, John Tunstall, in Young Guns (1988). His film Beltenebros (1992) (aka Prince of Shadows), was awarded the Silver Bear at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival. Stamp began his fourth decade as an actor wearing some of the choicest of Tim Chappel's Academy Award-winning costumes for the comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) which co-starred Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving.
In 1999, Stamp played a lead role in The Limey to widespread critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival. For his performance, Stamp received nominations for Best Male Lead at the 2000 Independent Spirit Awards and for Best British Actor at the London Film Critics' Circle (ALFS) Awards. Also in 1999, Stamp appeared in the blockbuster as Chancellor Finis Valorum (an experience he later described as 'boring'), followed by Bowfinger (1999) and Red Planet (2000). He also appeared in Damian Pettigrew's award-winning documentary, (2002), offering ideas into the mind and working methods of Italian director Federico Fellini with whom Stamp had worked in the 1960s.
On the occasion of Superman's fiftieth anniversary in 1988, Stamp introduced the BBC Radio special Superman On Trial, which was produced by Dirk Maggs and starred Stuart Milligan as Superman. In 2003, Stamp returned to the Superman franchise in a new role, by portraying the voice of Clark Kent's biological father Jor-El in the WB/CW television series Smallville. He also provided the scream of Zod (being exorcised from the body of Lex Luthor) in the sixth-season premiere episode "Zod". In 2006, he appeared as Zod once again in (a retooled version of the 1980 film which features footage shot by Donner, the film's original director).
Entering in the 2010s, Stamp appeared in The Adjustment Bureau (2011), an American romantic science fiction thriller film loosely based on the Philip K. Dick short story, "Adjustment Team", opposite Matt Damon. In 2012, Stamp appeared in the Peter Serafinowicz-directed music video for the Hot Chip song "Night & Day", portrayed a grumpy husband called Arthur in Paul Andrew Williams' Song for Marion (2012), opposite Gemma Arterton and a heist comedy The Art of the Steal (2013), with Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon and Jay Baruchel.
In 2014, Stamp appeared in Tim Burton's drama film Big Eyes, with Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz. In 2016, Stamp appeared in another Tim Burton film, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, where he played Abe, the grandfather of the film's protagonist Jake.
Stamp's next project was Crooked House (2017), directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner and starring Christina Hendricks, Gillian Anderson and Glenn Close. He also appears in George Mendeluk's Bitter Harvest, opposite Max Irons, Samantha Barks, Barry Pepper, and Aneurin Barnard.
Stamp's voice acting credits include the video game , where he voiced the villainous cult leader Mankar Camoran; and the films Zombie Island and These Foolish Things. Stamp voiced the Prophet of Truth in Halo 3, replacing Michael Wincott. In 2005, Stamp also narrated the BBC Four documentary Jazz Britannia, which chronicles the evolution of British jazz music.
Stamp read the book Perfect Brilliant Stillness by David Carse for SilkSoundBooks. In his introductory reading, Stamp describes his love for this book by saying, "Greater love hath no man". Stamp appeared in the music video for "At the Bottom of Everything" by Bright Eyes. Stamp appeared as the featured 'castaway' on BBC Radio's long-running Desert Island Discs in June 1987, and made a second appearance in March 2006 with a different selection of music.
In 2002 Stamp provided the narration for History of Football: The Beautiful Game, a series on all aspects of the world's most popular sport. Stamp attended every England game (including the final) at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, and in July 2016 he narrated 1966 – A Nation Remembers shown on ITV, marking the 50th anniversary of England's World Cup victory.
On 7 July 2007, Stamp gave a speech on climate change at the British leg of Live Earth in Wembley Stadium before introducing Madonna. His memoir, The Ocean Fell into the Drop, was published by Repeater Books in 2017. Stamp also narrated the BBC's The Story of Only Fools and Horses in 2017.
Stamp received extensive media coverage of his romances in the 1960s with film star Julie Christie and supermodel Jean Shrimpton. He and Shrimpton were one of the most-photographed couples of Swinging London. After Shrimpton ended her relationship with Stamp, he moved to India and spent time at the ashram of Krishnamurti. Read By Terence Stamp.
Stamp's brother Chris Stamp became a rock music impresario credited with helping to bring The Who to prominence during the 1960s and co-founding Track Records.
In 1984, the band the Smiths released their third single, "What Difference Does It Make?" The single cover was a photograph taken on the set of the film The Collector (but not depicted in the film). Originally, Stamp refused permission for the still to be used, and some pressings featured lead singer Morrissey in a re-enacted scene. In the re-enactment Morrissey is holding a glass of milk, as opposed to the chloroform pad of the original. Eventually, Stamp changed his mind, and the original cover was reinstated.
On New Year's Eve 2002, Stamp married for the first time at the age of 64. His 29-year-old bride was Elizabeth O'Rourke, whom Stamp first met in the mid-1990s at a chemist's shop in Bondi, New South Wales. Of Australians and Indian-Singaporeans parentage, O'Rourke was brought up in Singapore before moving to Australia in her early twenties to study pharmacology. The couple divorced on the grounds of his "unreasonable behaviour" in April 2008.
| 1962 | Billy Budd | Billy Budd | Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer |
| Term of Trial | Mitchell | ||
| 1965 | The Collector | Freddie Clegg | Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival) |
| 1966 | Modesty Blaise | Willie Garvin | |
| 1967 | Poor Cow | Dave Fuller | |
| Far from the Madding Crowd | Sgt. Francis 'Frank' Troy | ||
| 1968 | Blue | Blue | |
| Spirits of the Dead | Toby Dammit | ||
| Teorema | The Visitor | ||
| 1970 | The Mind of Mr. Soames | John Soames | |
| 1971 | A Season in Hell | Arthur Rimbaud | |
| 1975 | The Divine Nymph | Dany di Bagnasco | |
| Hu-man | Terence | ||
| 1976 | Striptease | Alain | |
| 1977 | Black-Out | Edgar Poe | |
| 1978 | Superman | General Zod | |
| 1979 | Meetings with Remarkable Men | Prince Lubovedsky | |
| Together? | Henry | ||
| 1980 | Superman II | General Zod | |
| 1981 | Jules Verne's Mystery on Monster Island | J.R. Taskinar/Skinner | |
| 1982 | Morte in Vaticano | Padre Andreani, later Pope Giovanni Clemente I | |
| 1984 | The Hit | Willie Parker | Mystfest for Best Actor (Shared with John Hurt and Tim Roth) |
| The Company of Wolves | Satan | Uncredited | |
| 1986 | Legal Eagles | Victor Taft | |
| Link | Dr. Steven Phillip | ||
| Hud | Edward | ||
| 1987 | The Sicilian | Prince Borsa | |
| Wall Street | Sir Larry Wildman | ||
| 1988 | Young Guns | John Tunstall | |
| Alien Nation | William Harcourt | ||
| 1990 | Genuine Risk | Paul Hellwart | |
| 1991 | Beltenebros | Darman | Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival |
| 1993 | The Real McCoy | Jack Schmidt | |
| 1994 | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | Bernadette Bassenger | Seattle International Film Festival Award for Best Actor Nominated—Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1996 | Limited Edition | Edward Lamb | ( Tiré à Part) |
| 1997 | Love Walked In | Fred Moore | |
| Bliss | Baltazar | ||
| 1999 | The Limey | Wilson | Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Nominated—Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor |
| Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum | |||
| Bowfinger | Terry Stricter | ||
| Kiss the Sky | Kozen | ||
| 2000 | Red Planet | Dr. Bud Chantilas | |
| 2001 | Revelation | Magnus Martel | |
| My Wife Is an Actress | John | ||
| 2002 | Full Frontal | Man on Plane/Himself | |
| Himself | Documentary | ||
| 2003 | My Boss's Daughter | Jack Taylor | |
| The Kiss | Philip Naudet | ||
| The Haunted Mansion | Ramsley | ||
| 2004 | Dead Fish | Samuel Fish | |
| 2005 | Elektra | Stick | |
| These Foolish Things | Baker | ||
| 2006 | September Dawn | Brigham Young | |
| General Zod | |||
| 2008 | Wanted | Pekwarsky | |
| Flowers and Weeds | Storyteller | ||
| Get Smart | Siegfried | ||
| Yes Man | Terrence Bundley | ||
| Valkyrie | Ludwig Beck | ||
| 2010 | Captain Severus | Voice | |
| 2011 | The Adjustment Bureau | Thompson | |
| 2012 | Song for Marion | Arthur | Beijing International Film Festival for Best Actor Nominated—BIFA for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film |
| 2013 | The Art of the Steal | Samuel Winter | |
| 2014 | Big Eyes | John Canaday | |
| 2016 | Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children | Abraham "Abe" Portman | |
| 2017 | Crooked House | Chief Inspector Taverner | |
| Bitter Harvest | Ivan | ||
| 2018 | Viking Destiny | Odin | |
| 2019 | Murder Mystery | Malcolm Quince | |
| 2021 | Last Night in Soho | The Silver Haired Gentleman |
| 1978 | The Thief of Baghdad | Wazir Jaudur | Television film |
| 1983 | Chessgame | David Audley | |
| 1986 | The Cold War Killers | David Audley | Television film |
| 1997–98 | The Hunger | Host | |
| 2003–11 | Smallville | Jor-El | 23 episodes |
| 2003 | Static Shock | Dennis/Professor Menace | Voice, episode: "Blast from the Past" |
| 2020 | His Dark Materials | Giacomo Paradisi | Episode: "Tower of the Angels" |
| 2004 | Narrator | Narrated the behind-the-scenes video for the game | ||
| 2006 | Mankar Camoran | |||
| 2007 | Halo 3 | Prophet of Truth | Replacing Michael Wincott | |
| 2009 | Pekwarsky | |||
| 2025 | Mankar Camoran | Archival recordings |
| 1959 | The Long and the Short and the Tall | Private Samuel 'Sammy' Whitaker | UK TourCaine, Michael. What's It All About? pp. 146-147.Sellers, Robert. Peter O'Toole: The Definitive Biography. pp. 66-7. |
| 1960 | This Year, Next Year | Charlie | Vaudeville Theatre, West End |
| 1964–65 | Alfie! | Alfie | Morosco Theatre, Broadway theatre |
| 1978 | Dracula | Count Dracula | Shaftesbury Theatre, West End pp. 509, 514. |
| 1979 | The Lady from the Sea | A Stranger | Roundhouse, West End |
Fiction
Cooking
| 1962 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Billy Budd | |
| 1994 | AACTA Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | |
| 2013 | AARP Movies for Grownups Awards | Best Grownup Love Story | Song for Marion | |
| 2013 | Beijing International Film Festival | Best Actor | ||
| 1962 | British Academy Film Awards | Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles | Billy Budd | |
| 1994 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | ||
| 2012 | British Independent Film Awards | Best Actor | Song for Marion | |
| 1965 | Cannes Film Festival | Best Actor | The Collector | |
| 1994 | Chlotrudis Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | |
| 1962 | Golden Globe Awards | Most Promising Newcomer – Male | Billy Budd | |
| 1994 | Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | ||
| 1999 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Male Lead | The Limey | |
| 1999 | Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards | Best Actor | ||
| 1962 | Laurel Awards | Top New Male Personality | ||
| 2017 | Movieguide Awards | Most Inspiring Performance in Movies | Bitter Harvest | |
| 1984 | Mystfest | Best Actor | The Hit | |
| 2006 | NAVGTR Awards | Best Supporting Performance in a Drama | ||
| 2011 | San Francisco International Film Festival | Peter J. Owens Award | ||
| 1999 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama | The Limey | |
| 2012 | Mary Pickford Award | |||
| 1994 | Seattle International Film Festival | Best Actor | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | |
| 2012 | Song for Marion |
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