What I Wanted More Than Anything Was A Long Career

Celebrating Terence Stamp, 22nd July 1938 to 17th August 2025.

Today's post title is one of many quotes from the great actor and in this at least, his wish was granted. 

Terence made his debut as the title character in Peter Ustinov's 1962 adaptation of Herman Melville's novel Billy Budd but for my generation, it was his star turn as General Zod in Superman (1978) and, more prominently, Superman II (1980) that had the first and lasting impact.

My appetite for film and cinema became voracious in my teens and twenties, and perhaps inevitably, my interest in Terence's films pre- and post-Superman was strong.

The Collector (1965), Far From The Madding Crowd (1967), The Hit (1984), Wall Street (1987), Young Guns (1988) and an unforgettable appearance in The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994).

Terence lived with Michael Caine in London in the 1960s, had relationships with Julie Christie and Jean Shrimpton, and was much photographed during this period. With those piercing blue eyes and chiselled features, Terence was a striking presence throughout his life.

Yet, it was very nearly over before it had truly begun. Terenec was later reflected,

"When the 1960s ended, I just ended with it. 

I remember my agent telling me: 'They are all looking for a young Terence Stamp.' 

And I thought: 'I am young.' 

I was 31, 32. I couldn't believe it.

It was tough to wake up in the morning, and the phone not ringing. 

I thought: this can't be happening now, it's only just started. 

The day-to-day thing was awful, and I couldn't live with it. 

So I bought a round-the-world ticket and left."

The role of General Zod in Superman therefore proved to be a comeback, in more ways than one. Never an Oscar winner, perhaps, but a film with Terence Stamp in it was lifted by his presence. 

Steven Soderbergh clearly thought so when he cast Terence in the lead for The Limey. Released in 1999, it was a critical rather than commercial success but, like so many other films, it's hard to imagine another actor inhabiting the role.

I've followed Terence's career less - and I guess seen proportionately fewer films - in the 21st century, but it remained a thrill to see him appear on screen in Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (2016) and the lavish TV adaptation of His Dark Materials (2020). 

Unlike Ray Brooks, whose passing I wrote about last Monday, Terence did not feel the urge to write and release an album at any point (at least, as far as I know). However, Terence did record a version of the Donovan song Colours, which was used in the 1967 film Poor Cow (and appeared again thirty-odd years later in The Limey).

 

Apart from a limited foray into singing, the golden thread linking Ray and Terence is director Ken Loach.

Poor Cow was Ken's first full length feature film, and I remember the thrill of finding a cut-price VHS release in WH Smith in the 1990s. The year before, Loach directed the groundbreaking BBC play Cathy Come Home. Both starred Carol White as the lead character, with Ray and Terence playing flawed partners (to put it mildly).

Terence was passionate about his craft, regardless of whether others recognised the nuance in his performances. Terence once reflected that

"A lot of newspapers say, 

Terence Stamp is playing himself 

and we're as bored as he is."

Not me. Never me.

Rest easy, Terence.