Terrence Stamp, U.K. actor who played General Zod in early Superman films, dead at 87

Terence Stamp, the British actor who often portrayed complex villains, including General Zod in the early Superman films, has died. He was 87.

His death on Sunday was disclosed in a death notice published online.

The London-born Stamp started his film career with 1962’s seafaring Billy Budd, for which he earned an Oscar nomination.

Stamp’s six decades in the business were peppered with highlights, including his portrayal of Bernadette, a trans woman, in 1994’s The Adventure of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Stamp also was widely praised for his lead in director Steven Soderbergh’s 1999 crime drama The Limey.

But it’s his portrayal of the bearded Zod in 1978’s Superman, and its sequel Superman II two years, later that most people associate with Stamp. As the Kryptonian archenemy to Christopher Reeve’s Man of Steel, Stamp introduced a darker and charming — more human — element to the franchise, one that’s been replicated in countless superhero movies ever since.

Stamp started out his film career in the early 1960s as part of the “angry young men” movement that was introducing an element of social realism into British filmmaking.

That was perhaps most notable in the 1965 adaptation of John Fowles’s creepy debut novel The Collector, where he played the awkward and lonely Freddie Clegg, who kidnapped Samantha Eggar’s Miranda Grey in a warped attempt to win her love. It was a performance that would earn the young Stamp, fresh off his Oscar nomination, the best actor award at 1965’s Cannes Film Festival.

While part of that 1960s British movement, Stamp learned from some of the most seasoned actors from the classical era, including Laurence Olivier.

“I worked with Olivier briefly on my second movie [1962’s Term of Trial],” Stamp recalled in an interview with the AP in 2013. “And he said to me, ‘You should always study your voice.'” Stamp then segued into a spot-on Olivier impersonation, continuing, “‘Because, as you get older, your looks go, but your voice will become empowered.'”

Born in London’s East End on July 22, 1938, Stamp lived a colourful life, particularly during the 1960s when he had a string of romances, including with actress Julie Christie and model Jean Shrimpton. He married 29-year-old Elizabeth O’Rourke in 2002 at the age of 64 but the couple divorced six years later. Stamp did not have any children.

He generally sought to keep his standards high, but up to a point.

“I don’t do crappy movies, unless I haven’t got the rent,” he said.