Terence Stamp at the premiere of the movie "Valkyrie" at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles in December 2008. Photo: Reuters
Terence Stamp was an actor who could play almost everything — from complex villains to Aussie drag queens. London-born Stamp started his film career with 1962’s seafaring Billy Budd, for which he earned Oscar and Bafta award nominations. Soon after he starred in the 1965 adaptation of John Fowles’ creepy debut novel The Collector, delivering a performance which earned the best actor award at that year’s Cannes Film Festival. Then, at the height of his powers and a leading figure in London’s smart set, Stamp vanished and fetched up at an ashram in India. Always known for following the beat of his own drum, Stamp’s return to acting was marked by idiosyncratic choices of roles: from the villainous General Zod in two Superman movies, to Bernadette in 1994’s The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert — another Bafta-nominated turn. Stamp generally sought to keep his standards high — to a point. "I don’t do crappy movies, unless I haven’t got the rent," he said. Terence Stamp died on August 17 aged 87, — Agencies/Allied Media
