Terence Stamp

Birthday: 22 July 1938, Stepney, London, England, UK

Birth Name: Terence Henry Stamp

Height: 183 cm

Terence Henry Stamp was born and lived in Canal Road, Bow, until German bombers forced his family to move to Plaistow. An icon of the 1960s, he dated the likes of Julie Christie, Brigitte Bardot and Jean Shrimpton. After an extremely successful early career, starring in Modesty Blaise (1966), Poor Cow (1967) and Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), Stamp withdrew from mainstream films after his girlfriend, supermodel Jean Shrimpton, left him, and he and went on a 10-year sabbatical in India. He returned home in the late 1970s to star as the evil General Zod in Superman II (1980), and in 1984, delivered what many consider his finest performance as the supergrass in Stephen Frears' The Hit (1984). A few minor but colourful roles, topped by his performance as the transsexual Bernadette in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), have put Stamp back in the British consciousness. His role of a vengeful gangster in The Limey (1999) was created especially for him by its director. Show less «

[on Man of Steel (2013)] When I heard they were remaking it, or they were doing a version of it, I w...Show more »

[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. Show less «

A lot of newspapers say Terence Stamp is playing himself and we're as bored as he is.

[on declining to appear in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episod...Show more »

[on declining to appear in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)] Actors prefer to work with actors. Show less «

A lot of people only see me as a villain.

[on his former flatmate Michael Caine] Caine gave me all my early values, like making sure you were ...Show more »

[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. Show less «

I would have liked to be James Bond.

When the 1960s ended, I just ended with it. I remember my agent telling me: 'They are all looking fo...Show more »

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. Show less «

[on Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)] He may be a great visionary, Lucas [George Luc...Show more »

[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. Show less «

My favorite film is Gene Tierney and Tyrone Power in The Razor's Edge (1946).

[on being directed by John Schlesinger in Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)] He didn't strike me as ...Show more »

[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." Show less «

As a boy, I believed I could make myself invisible. I'm not sure I ever could, but I certainly had t...Show more »

As a boy, I believed I could make myself invisible. I'm not sure I ever could, but I certainly had the ability to pass unnoticed. Show less «

[on death] Few people understand it and live when it comes.

All actors are incredibly insecure.

Terence Stamp

Terence Stamp's FILMOGRAPHY

Terence Stamp'S roles

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