In London in the 1960’s Brit actor Terence Stamp was a roommate of another young cockney actor, Michael Caine, and the two of them hung out with Peter O’Toole on the London party scene.  The trio were a big hit in every sense of the word.  Stamp made his film debut in Peter Ustinov‘s film adaptation of Herman Melville‘s Billy Budd (1962). which brought him not only an Academy Award nomination but also international attention.

Stamp would go on to collaborate with some of the most revered filmmakers of the time. He starred in The Collector (1965), William Wyler‘s adaptation of John Fowles‘ novel of the same name, opposite Samantha Eggar, and in Modesty Blaise (1966),^[16] for director Joseph Losey and producer Joe Janni. Stamp reunited with producer Janni for two more projects: John Schlesinger‘s adaptation of Thomas Hardy‘s Far from the Madding Crowd (1967) starring Julie Christie whom he dated at the time.  (Later, he would also date supermodel  Jean Shrimpton)

Stamp was approached to play the role of James Bond when Sean Connery retired from the role but did not receive a second call from producer Harry Saltzman because, in Stamp’s opinion, “my ideas about [how the role should be portrayed] put the frighteners on Harry. I didn’t get a second call from him.  He  was considered for the title role of Alfie (1966) but turned it down in favour of Modesty Blaise (1966) and so his roommate took the role and subsequently was nominated for an Academy Award. 

In the 1970’s he moved to India for a few years and spent time at the ashram of Krishnamurti,  It was a call from filmmaker Richard Donner offering the part of Kryptonian    supervillain General Zod in  Superman that brought him back ….. tempted by the idea of appearing in a scene with Marlon Brando.  Followed by roles such another villian in Star Wars, Stamp was continurally in demand for both Hollywood movies and Europen independent films.  But then Australia came calling with a role that he would play to great acclaim and deservedly earned him iconic status with the LGBTQA+ community 

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott based on a true story.It premiered at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, in the Un Certain Regard section, and upon its wide release, it became a surprise worldwide hit and its positive portrayal of LGBT individuals helped to introduce queer themes to a mainstream audience. Stamp played a crumpled, world-weary transsexual Sydney showgirl givimg his best performance for years in the part of a lifetime . He’s sharp, bitchy, witty, camp, sympathetic and utterly believable.  It was not just his bravado for taking the role that we know so many other ‘straight’ actors wouldnt even dare to consider playing, but Stamp was so authentic and never once was tempted to bring in even a hint of effected stereotypical behaviour.  His performence was possibly the first interaction many people had ever experineced with a trans person, and we know it changed minds. 

To play Bernadette he showed he had a big set of balls  and for that he will always be one of very favorite actors of all time.

RIP ‘Terence  Stamp (22 July 1938 – 17 August 2025)