The iconic British actor Terence Stamp – who died at the weekend aged 87 – made one final filmed performance.
Sources disclose that the actor was in a care home in Bickley, south-east London, in his final months. And earlier this summer, he and his family undertook some filming in the gardens.
I’m told they were making a documentary about his amazing life story – he was nominated for an Oscar for his first film role, in Billy Budd; and went on to be synonymous with Swinging London.
The doc is also understood to be about Alzheimer’s and its effects. It’s not clear when it might come out, and his representatives have not returned requests for comment about the project.
Stamp never had children, and was married only once (briefly), when he was 64.
However, he is survived by two younger brothers and a sister, and had a large extended family including nephews, nieces, and their children.
They said in a statement on Sunday: ‘He leaves behind an extraordinary body of work, both as an actor and as a writer, that will continue to touch and inspire people for years to come. We ask for privacy at this sad time.’
Born in Stepney, east London, in 1938, Stamp went to grammar school in Plaistow and took a job in an advertising agency, but longed for a life as an actor after seeing Gary Cooper in the film Beau Geste.
British actor Terence Stamp – who died at the weekend aged 87 – made one final filmed performance
He trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and then went on the repertory circuit, sharing a flat in London with Michael Caine.
Instant stardom came after the 1962 film Billy Budd, based on the Herman Melville novella.
He dated actress Julie Christie – the pair were immortalised in The Kinks’ Waterloo Sunset (‘Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station, every Friday night’) – and also had an affair with model Jean Shrimpton, but he fell out of fashion. As he said: ‘When the 1960s ended, I just ended with it. I remember my agent telling me, “They are all looking for a young Terence Stamp.”’
He travelled to India and lived in a spiritual retreat, before receiving a message in 1976 addressed to ‘Clarence’ Stamp, offering him the part of General Zod in Superman.
Superman and the sequel, Superman II, put him back in the game and he went on to appear in western Young Guns; Neil Jordan’s The Company Of Wolves and, in 1994, The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert. He played Bernadette, a transgender woman.
He was also in Star Wars Episode I: the Phantom Menace in 1999 and was last seen alongside Anya Taylor-Joy in Edgar Wright’s Last Night In Soho, in 2021.
In 1995 he was nominated for a Bafta for A Song For Marion, 32 years after being nominated for a ‘Best Newcomer’ Bafta.
Stamp was known for his frankness and said: ‘I’m always amazed there’s another job. I’ve done crap, because sometimes I didn’t have the rent. But when I’ve got the rent, I want to do the best I can.’
Red hot and vegan – why Pam’s pickles are a very personal recipe even Meghan can’t copy
Is Pamela Anderson taking a little bite back at Meghan? Many were convinced the Duchess of Sussex copied the former Baywatch star’s recipes and look in the first series of With Love, Meghan, released just a week after Pamela’s own show, Cooking With Love.
The executive producer of Pammie’s series Jesse Fawcett said tactfully: ‘We take pride in planting the first seeds – creating original, distinctive programming that audiences love – and it’s a compliment to see our work with Ms Anderson resonate so strongly.’
Now Anderson has launched a pickle brand via ritzy Californian company Flamingo Estate… which Meghan once wanted to work with. In this case, ALL proceeds (a jar costs $38) are going to the California Wildlife Center charity.
The brand announced: ‘After months of development with Pam in the Flamingo Estate kitchen, we’re thrilled to announce that we’ve got a couple hundred jars of the most delicious pickles we’ve ever tasted. The secret to Pamela’s Pickles is an award-winning recipe that was passed down to her by her great-aunt Vie.
‘The delicious base is packed with rose, dill, mustard, and garlic – the perfect partner for the signature flavors of Flamingo Estate: pink peppercorns, Guajillo chili, and smoky sea salt.
‘Like the legendary icon whose name they share, Pamela’s Pickles are both hot and vegan.’
Pamela Anderson has launched a pickle brand via ritzy Californian company Flamingo Estate
Zendaya’s in training to cash in
Zendaya has enormous commercial clout – both on the screen and on a billboard.
The actress, who is 28, is probably the most bankable young A-lister in Hollywood and is already a ‘brand ambassador’ for Lancome perfume, Louis Vuitton fashion and Bulgari jewellery – plus the Swiss athletics brand On.
And now, perhaps inevitably given the money she just can’t stop making, she is dipping a toe into the world of designing.
Zendaya, who is engaged to British actor Tom Holland, has released a pair of trainers, designed with her stylist Law Roach, for On. The company confirms that she will shortly release a collection of sportswear, which she designed.
Zendaya has enormous commercial clout – both on the screen and on a billboard
Cathy and Heathcliff get Saltburned
Bouncy director Emerald Fennell has given Wuthering Heights the Saltburn treatment: adding nuns, crotches, erections and more to her very sexy, very gothic, very bondage film adaptation of Emily Bronte’s beloved novel.
The movie, which completed filming earlier this year, features two Aussies – Margot Robbie (right) and Jacob Elordi – as Cathy and Heathcliff.
I hear she is planning to take a leaf out of the Saltburn film with the music as well, which will feature modern-day ‘bangers’, even though the story – published in 1847 – has not been transposed to the modern day.
Saltburn, which Fennell wrote and directed, made a renewed hit of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder On The Dancefloor. And sources suggest that gothic pop will be where it’s at for this film, too, which is to be released by Warner Bros on Valentine’s Day next year.
Sadly – and you might think stupidly – there are no plans to use Kate Bush’s 1978 megahit Wuthering Heights.
Representatives for Bush and the film did not comment.
Margot Robbie dons wedding dress for scene for new Wuthering Heights production
The Hunt For Gollum is taking shape. Andy Serkis, who played the tortured creature in the original Peter Jackson films, will direct and star in this big budget movie, due to begin shooting in New Zealand next spring, with Jackson producing.
Speaking at fans convention For Love Of Fantasy in London at the weekend, Sir Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in The Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies, said: ‘I hear there’s going to be another movie set in Middle Earth, and it’s going to start filming in May. It’s going to be directed by Gollum and it’s all about Gollum.’ He added: ‘I’ll tell you two secrets about the casting – there’s a character called Frodo, and there’s another called Gandalf.’
Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins in the LOTR trilogy, was in the room for the event. The film is set just before that story starts, and features Aragorn hunting for Gollum in order to keep the location of the rings of power secret. It’s thought the original actors will return, using digital de-ageing technology.
The Hunt For Gollum is taking shape. Andy Serkis, who played the tortured creature in the original Peter Jackson films, will direct and star in this big budget movie
Dame Prue Leith complains ITV’s budgets are now so tiny they don’t even run to extra food – or reshoots – for her Cotswolds Kitchen show, which is filmed in her own home.
‘There’s so little money for this that if I make a mess – if I turn out a cake and it comes up cracked – I say, “Ah, well, what you do is get some icing sugar to cover it up.”’
So, like real life then.
‘It’s actually hugely popular,’ she added.
‘I should make more deliberate mistakes, because people love it when they learn how to fix it.’
James Norton’s ITV hit baby-swap thriller Playing Nice ended in the apparent death of baddie daddy Miles.
But actor James McArdle, who played the villain, hints there could be a second series, and that he might have survived being shoved off a Cornish cliff.
McArdle said: ‘My character could well have survived. I know for a fact he was a very good swimmer.’
All talk and no trousers for Sydney
Is Sydney Sweeney’s hot streak over?
Her controversial advert (slogan: ‘Sydney Sweeney has great jeans’) may have put American Eagle denim in the headlines. But research suggests punters lured to their website clicked right out again, without buying.
CARMA, a media intelligence specialist, says search interest for the brand jumped to a five-year high, thanks to the fuss over ‘supremacist’ vibes in the ad (were they talking about jeans… or genes?) and reports Sweeney registered as a Republican voter.
However, the advert did not translate that into sustained interaction or sales. CARMA says page visits to the website fell 6 per cent month-on-month, visit duration dropped by 8 per cent — and bounce rates (visitors who leave a website after looking at only one page) rose 4 per cent, while in-store footfall declined for two weeks following the ad’s release.
Consultant Orla Graham says although the ad generated a cultural conversation, its commercial outcome was another matter.
Speaking of which, Sweeney’s arthouse film Americana was released last week and there was no lightning strike of interest there, either. It took just $500,000 on 1,100 screens in the US.
