A stalwart of British cinema and master of the brooding silence, Terence Stamp has appeared in over sixty films to date. From cattle ranchers to drag queens, Stamp's acting range has flourished since he emerged as a working class It Boy in the early 1960s.
Here are five of our favourite moments from Terence Stamp's filmography, including recommendations from @guardianfilm Twitter followers @SuperEd209, @adambingham01, @BobbyRiversTV, @BethanRoberts8 and @LawrenceLannoo2. What Terence Stamp performances would you add to the list?
1. Superman II
General Zod was evil before Richard Donner's Superman movies but it was Stamp who transformed Superman's arch nemesis into a sadistic supervillain. The terrifying demand: 'Kneel before Zod!' is remembered as one of the most iconic moments in comic book film history.
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2. The Limey
Nine years before Liam Neeson's outlandish revenge thriller Taken, Stamp played Wilson, an ex-convict who travels to LA to investigate the death of his daughter. After being brutally beaten by the drug-trafficking cronies of his daughter's ex-boyfriend, Wilson pulls out his gun and limps back to the abandoned warehouse to wreak revenge. "Tell him I'm coming. Tell him I'm fucking coming!"
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3. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
After years of being cast in ultra-masculine roles, Stamp shocked his fans by playing widowed transsexual Bernadette Bassenger in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Stamp delivers perhaps one of the greatest cinematic putdowns of all time in this scene, in which he confronts a bigoted redneck.
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4. Far From The Madding Crowd
Stamp played handsome cavalry officer Sergeant Troy in John Schlesinger's 1967 adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel. The romantic tension between Troy and the film's heroine Bathsheba culminates when Stamp impresses his suitor with a private fencing display deep in the Dorset countryside. Although the film has aged, Stamp's swashbuckling performance as Troy laid the foundations for his inclusion on Empire magazine's 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time list in 1995.
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5. Bowfinger
Stamp's role in Bowfinger drew on his talent for playing menacing control freaks. As Terry Stricter, head of the MindHead organisation (think the Church of Scientology but with pyramid hats), Stamp attempts to placate mentally unstable movie star Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) with a series of intense counselling sessions. His unflinching reaction to a video of Ramsey flashing the Laker Girl Cheerleading squad with a paper bag over his head is as menacing as it is ridiculous.
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