British actor Terence Stamp, who played the arch-villain General Zod in the ‘Superman’ and ‘Superman II’ movies, died today aged 87.

The Oscar-nominated actor featured in a variety of films from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s ‘Theorem’ in 1968 and ‘A Season in Hell’ in 1971, to ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ in 1994, where he portrayed a transgender woman.

His family released a statement this afternoon, saying: ‘He leaves behind an impressive body of work as both an actor and writer that will continue to inspire and touch people for many years. We request privacy during this difficult time.’

Stamp, who made his name as an actor in 1960s London, died this morning but his cause of death was not immediately known.

Born in London’s East End in 1938, the son of a tugboat stoker, he experienced the city’s bombings during World War II before dropping out of school to initially work in advertising and eventually won a scholarship to study drama.

Known for his striking looks and impeccable fashion sense, he was part of one of Britain’s most glamorous couples alongside Julie Christie, with whom he shared the screen in ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’ in 1967.

Stamp is also remembered for his role in the 1999 movie The Limey, had a relationship with model Jean Shrimpton, and was selected as a muse by photographer David Bailey.

After missing the opportunity to become the next James Bond after Sean Connery, he transitioned to Italian cinema and collaborated with Federico Fellini in the late 1960s.

Terence Stamp at the premiere of ‘Valkyrie’ in Los Angeles on December 18, 2008

(From left) Sarah Douglas, Terence Stamp and Jack O’Halloran in Superman II in 1980 

Terence Stamp and Julie Christie in the 1967 film Far From The Madding Crowd

Terence Stamp and his wife Elizabeth O’Rourke in Marrakesh in 2005. They divorced in 2008 

Actor Terence Stamp is pictured before he played the lead in the 1962 film Billy Budd

Stamp dropped out of the limelight and studied yoga in India before landing his most high-profile role – as General Zod, the megalomaniacal leader of the Kryptonians, in ‘Superman’ in 1978 and its sequel in 1980.

He went on to appear in a string of other films, including ‘Valkyrie’ with Tom Cruise in 2008, ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ with Matt Damon in 2011 and movies directed by Tim Burton.

Stamp liked to recall how he was on the verge of becoming a tantric sex teacher at an ashram in India when, in 1977, he received a telegram from his London agent with news that he was being considered for the ‘Superman’ film.

‘I was on the night flight the next day,’ Stamp said in an interview with his publisher Watkins Books in 2015.

After eight years largely out of work, getting the role of the arch-villain General Zod in ‘Superman’ and ‘Superman II’ turned the full glare of Hollywood’s limelight on the Londoner.

Buoyed by his new role, Stamp said he would respond to curious looks from passers-by with a command of: ‘Kneel before Zod, you b*****ds,’ which usually went down a storm.

Speaking about his early years, Stamp previously said: ‘The great blessing of my life is that I had the really hard bit at the beginning because we were really poor.’

He left school to work initially as a messenger boy for an advertising firm and quickly moved up the ranks before he won a scholarship to go to drama school.

Terence Stamp and Gemma Arterton at the Marrakech Film Festival on December 6, 2012

(From left) Sarah Douglas, Terence Stamp and Jack O’Halloran in Superman II in 1980

Terence Stamp and Julie Christie in the 1967 film Far From The Madding Crowd

Terence Stamp at the Marrakech Film Festival in Morocco on November 12, 2005

Terence Stamp and Julie Christie in the 1967 film Far From The Madding Crowd

Until then he had kept his acting ambitions secret from his family for fear of disapproval.

‘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 said.

He shared a flat with another young London actor, Michael Caine, and landed the lead role in director Peter Ustinov’s 1962 adaptation of ‘Billy Budd’, a story of brutality in the British navy in the 18th century. 

That role earned him an Academy Award nomination and filled him with pride.

‘To be cast by somebody like Ustinov was something that gave me a great deal of self-confidence in my film career,’ Stamp told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2019. ‘During the shooting, I just thought, ‘Wow! This is it’.’

He also said the love of his life was the model Jean Shrimpton, adding: ‘When I lost her, then that also coincided with my career taking a di.

After failing to land the role of Bond to succeed Connery, Stamp appeared in Italian films and worked with Fellini in the late 1960s.

‘I view my life really as before and after Fellini,’ he said. ‘Being cast by him was the greatest compliment an actor like myself could get.’

It was while working in Rome – where he appeared in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s ‘Theorem’ in 1968 and ‘A Season in Hell’ in 1971 – that Stamp met Indian spiritual speaker and writer Jiddu Krishnamurti in 1968.

Actor Terence Stamp poses for a portrait photo during the 2005 Cannes Film Festival in France

Terence Stamp and Julie Christie in the 1967 film Far From The Madding Crowd

Terence Stamp with Shirley Henderson at the Marrakesh Film Festival on November 19, 2005

Peter Fonda, Terence Stamp and Steven Soderbergh promote ‘The Limey’ on May 15, 1999

Terence Stamp during the filming of ‘The Mind of Mr Soames’ at Shepperton Studios in 1969

Krishnamurti taught the Englishman how to pause his thoughts and meditate, prompting Stamp to study yoga in India.

Mumbai was his base but he spent long periods at the ashram in Pune, dressed in orange robes and growing his hair long, while learning the teachings of his yogi, including tantric sex.

‘There was a rumour around the ashram that he was preparing me to teach the tantric group,’ he said in the 2015 interview with Watkins Books. ‘There was a lot of action going on.’

After landing the role of General Zod in ‘Superman’ and its sequel, both times opposite Christopher Reeves, he went on to appear in a string of other films.

He counted Princess Diana among his friends.

‘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 the Daily Express in 2017. ‘The time I spent with her was a good time.’

In 2002, Stamp married for the first time at the age of 64 – to Elizabeth O’Rourke, a pharmacist, who was 35 years his junior. They divorced in 2008.

Asked by the Stage 32 website how he got film directors to believe in his talent, Stamp said: ‘I believed in myself.

‘Originally, when I didn’t get cast I told myself there was a lack of discernment in them. This could be considered conceit. I look at it differently. Cherishing that divine spark in myself.’