Biography

Terence Stamp

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Terence was born in London and spent his early years watching American films and dreamed of being like the stars on the screen, He was awarded a scholarship for the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art. In his second year, during an audition, Peter Ustinov signed him for the title role in Billy Budd (1962). This was not only his remarkable film debut but his performance earned him his first and only Oscar nomination too in 1962 and marked the start of his international stardom. He consolidated his career by working with some of the top directors such as William Wyler (The Collector (1965)), Joseph Losey (Modesty Blaise (1966)), John Schlesinger (Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)), Ken Loach (Poor Cow (1967)) and Pier Paolo Pasolini (Teorema (1968)). He then took a break from films and traveled around the world returning to cinema in a variety of films including, among others, Superman (1978), Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979), Superman II (1980), The Hit (1984) (for which he was awarded the Grand Medaille de Vermeil in Paris), Legal Eagles (1986), The Sicilian (1987), Wall Street (1987), Young Guns (1988), Alien Nation (1988), The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), Valkyrie (2008) and Unfinished Song (2012). He has also published the first two instalments of his autobiography, Stamp Album, which became a best seller.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5

Went from playing Superman's adversary (General Zod in Superman II (1980)) to playing Superman's most loving parent (the voice of Jor-El on Smallville (2001)).
Turned down the title role in Alfie (1966) and suggested that they cast his roommate Michael Caine. Caine got the part, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. (Source: Robert Osborne on TCM 1/31/10).
Stamp has been wheat and dairy intolerant since the 1960s and launched "The Stamp Collection" range of organic wheat and dairy free products in 1994.
A publicity shot from The Collector (1965) showing Stamp holding a chloroform pad was used for the cover of The Smiths single "What Difference Does It Make." After some copies were printed, Stamp decided he did not want his photo to be used, and the rest of the copies appeared with Morrissey in the exact same pose, looking very much like him but holding a glass of milk instead. Later, Stamp relented and his photo was reinstated on the 12-inch single cover.
Despite their being roommates when they were unknown actors, Terence Stamp admits that he and Michael Caine have never kept in contact. Stamp reckons this is down to Caine deliberately disassociating himself from him after becoming a star.

I would have liked to be James Bond.
[on death] Few people understand it and live when it comes.
[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.
A lot of newspapers say Terence Stamp is playing himself and we're as bored as he is.
A lot of people only see me as a villain.

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