Terence Stamp was born in Bow, London on 22nd July 1939, and is best known as a film actor. His parents, Tom and Ethel Stamp, had five children in total. Including Terence (the eldest), and Chris (who later became a rock'n'roll impresario). Tom was away for long periods with his job in the merchant navy, young Terence was mostly raised by his mother, grandmother (Kate), and aunts. He grew up wanting to be the film actor Gary Cooper after his mother had taken him to see Beau Geste (1939).
On leaving school Stamp worked in a variety of advertising agencies in London, working his way up to a very respectable wage. However this was like a game to him in the manner he often bluffed his way from job to job. Deep down he wanted to be an actor. The realization came when Stamp found he no longer had to serve two years National Service after being rejected for once having treatment on his feet. This reprieve gave Stamp the opportunity to "play" with the next two years of his life, and if he were wrong he'd still be no worse off than his contemporaries.
After appearing in several plays Stamp landed the role of Billy Budd in Peter Ustinov's 1962 film of the same name. Stamp became an overnight sensation. Stamp's performance as the simple gentle-natured sailor landed him an Academy Award nomination.
By this time Stamp and Michael Caine were sharing a flat together and over the next few years became famed seducers of women and were often seen together at trendy venues like Peter Cook's Establishment. After the success of his film debut in Billy Budd and a cameo in Term of Trial Stamp had a lull from screen work lasting several years. He later put this mostly down to insecurity, and perhap taking Peter Ustinov's advice to the extreme when he told Stamp 'If you do good things, good things will come to you'. To his later regret, Stamp turned down several films that have gone down in cinema history such as the role of harmonica player in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time In The West (1968), the King in Camelot (Joshua Logan. 1967), and the lead in Alfie (Lewis Gilbert. 1966). Stamp felt no need to reprise the role of Alfie after his acclaimed performance on stage in the 1964 Broadway run, but had no idea his ex-flatmate Michael Caine would immortalise it in the way he did in the big screen version.
Nonetheless, throughout most of the 1960's he worked with some of the best filmmakers of the time including the directors William Wyler, Ken Loach, John Schlesinger, Pasolini, and Fellini.
In his next film, The Collector (dir.William Wyler. 1965), Stamp gave another powerful performance - as a repressed and psychopathic young man who abducts the woman of his fancy (played by fellow drama school heart-throb, Sammantha Eggar). Once again Stamp's performance was recognised by the Academy.
During the shooting of The Collector Stamp landed the woman of his dreams, Jean Shrimpton - a Vogue cover girl and 'super-model' of the day.
Then he moved into his shangri-la: Albany - an exclusive gentlemens appartments in the heart of London which became his home for the next twenty-five years. Everything was now going his way, or so it seemed.
Stamp rode the crashing wave that brought young, talented working-class people to the heights of their chosen professions. People like Albert Finney, David Bailey, Mary Quant, Twiggy, David Hockney and The Beatles. Stamp became known as one of the 'faces' of the Sixties, if not the face. He was photographed by some of the best in the business, including David Bailey and Terence Donovan.
Ray Davies immortalised Stamp and Julie Christie in The Kinks' evocative pop classic Waterloo Sunset. He starred with Julie Christie as the duplicitous Sgt Troy in "Far From the Madding Crowd."
It seemed that Stamp had it all: the looks, the film roles, an exclusive London appartment, and the beautiful Jean Shrimpton for a girlfriend. However, once the Gods had granted Stamp all his boyhood wishes, they then decided to take them away. Things seemed to turn against Stamp towards the end of the decade.
His several-year relationship with Shrimpton ended abruptly. He found out she was seeing another man when a journalist called him up asking for his reaction. Stamp was devastated. Also through the media Stamp found out that Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni had replaced him at the last minute with the then-unknown David Hemmings in his film portrait of Swinging London, "Blow Up".
Apart from oddities such as the role of tortured decadent film star Toby Dammit (in Rome to portray Christ in a spaghetti western) in Fellini's short film "Never Bet the Devil Your Head", the interesting film roles were rapidily drying up and Stamp found that he was no longer hot property in the film world. Stamp made Italy his home for several years, during which time his film work included Pier Palo Pasolini's Teorema (1968) opposite Silvana Mangano, and Stagione all'inferno, Una (1970). As the film offers had stopped rolling in, now was as good a time as any to take a breather from "The Swinging Sixties" and re-evaluate life.Stamp had long been a fan of the 1946 film version of Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge" which starred Tyrone Power as the hero who turned his back on a Great Gatsby lifestyle in search of higher knowledge and spiritual fulfilment. In a similar manner, Stamp bought an around-the-world plane ticket and set off on a "voyage of self-discovery" and headed for India. By this stage Stamp had of course experienced some useful spiritual pointers, such as a peyote experience and his meeting with Krishnamurti. His journey to exotic lands in search of life's answers was initially intended to last a few months. Instead it took him away for nearly a decade. It was after Shrimpton ended her relationship with Stamp, that the actor despondent with heartache, moved to India. He lived on an ashram, dropping out from the society for several years. He grew his hair to his waist, dressed in long, flowing robes, and sought enlightenment.
Comparatively little was seen of Stamp during most of the 1970's. For several years he lived and worked on an organic farm in Ibiza, and also lived with a geisha in Japan. Occasionally a film offer came which helped pay the way as Stamp roamed and explored the inner and the outer world. These were often interesting films, but seen little. He returned to mainstream film with a part that put Stamp firmly back in the public eye: the villainous General Zod in the first two of the Superman films. Stamp was living in Poona near Bombay (India) at the time when he was offered the part. Jimmy Fraser, his then current agent, sent Stamp a telegram requesting he fly to London for talks with the director Richard Donner and co-star Marlon Brando. Stamp stopped off en-route in Paris to meet theatre director Peter Brook who also wanted Stamp in his film, Meetings With Remarkable Men.Stamp has talked of a fourth installment of his autobiography with the working title "Seduced by Glamour", which covers the 1970's, but as yet there is no confirmation of publication and most likely it never will be. Due to the nature of his experiences during this period Stamp feels he is unable to convey them adequately through the printed word. For a greater "feel" of those years and afterwards one should turn to his fictional work "The Night."Thankfully there was one film from this decade which is among Stamp's finest: "The Hit." In the way that art mirrors life, in "The Hit" Stamp plays a one-time Sixties cockney who has spent years in hiding to emerge much the wiser in spiritual matters. Despite receiving critical acclaim in this intelligent piece of British cinema much of Stamp's film work of the 1980's involved bit parts in Hollywood movies.
In the 1990's Stamp gave a performance which made a lasting impression in people's minds in a similar way to his portrayal of General Zod in the 1970's. Stamp's role as a transsexual in the popular The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert is an unforgettable gem. This was followed by several years of mostly good, but lesser well known films.
Then once more Stamp struck film gold: The Limey. In 1999, it was Stamp's lead role in Steven Soderbergh's The Limey, which debuted that year to widespread critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival, that once again made him popular to a whole new generation of moviegoers. For his performance, Stamp received nominations for Best Male Lead at the 2000 Independent Spirit Awards, and for Best British Actor at the London Film Critic Circle (ALFS) Awards. Stamp can also be seen in George Lucas's global blockbuster Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) as Chancellor Finis Valorum; Frank Oz's Bowfinger (1999) opposite Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy; and Red Planet (2000) opposite Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore. Besides film successes in the nineties Stamp has continued to explore other ventures. He had a novel The Night published, which he wrote after his would-be film directorial debut failed to reach fruition. He also launched a range of quality foods with Elizabeth Buxton called The Stamp Collection, which caters for people suffering from food intolerances. A cookbook of the same name was published in 1997.
Although a public figure, Terence Stamp is a very private man. He has sometimes referred to relationships in interviews, but has remained a bachelor throughout most his life. Then on News Years Eve 2002 Stamp finally got married. His 29 year old bride was Elizabeth, whom Stamp first met during the mid-nineties at a pharmacists in Bondi, Australia. Elizabeth was raised in Singapore, came to Oz in her early 20's to study pharmacy, and then managed several stores. They are enjoying life together travelling the world.
This page is a tribute to actor Terence Stamp. He is in no way connected with this page. Bio information gleaned from official webpage: http://www.terencestamp.com/
