British actor Terence Stamp, famed for his legendary role as arch-villain General Zod in the Superman movies, has left more than £1million in his will to his niece and brother.
The Oscar-nominated star, who featured in films ranging from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s ‘Theorem’ in 1968 and ‘A Season in Hell’ in 1971 to ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ in 1994, in which he played a transgender woman, died in August last year aged 87.
Stamp divorced his only wife, Elizabeth O’Rourke, a pharmacist 35 years his junior, in 2008, and never had children.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that the acting great left his entire estate, worth a gross value of £1,016,934, to his niece, Amelia Stoppard, and younger brother, John Stamp.
Born in Stepney in London’s East End in 1938, the son of a tugboat stoker, Stamp was known as a working class hero.
He endured the bombing of the city during the Second World War before leaving school to work initially in advertising, eventually winning a scholarship to go to drama school.
Famous for his good looks and impeccable dress sense, he made his name in the 1960s when he formed one of Britain’s most glamorous couples with Julie Christie, with whom he starred in ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’ in 1967.
Stamp’s family said of his passing at the time: ‘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.’
Terence Stamp at the premiere of ‘Valkyrie’ in Los Angeles on December 18, 2008
Stamp (centre) featuring in Superman II in 1980, alongside Sarah Douglas (left) and Jack O’Halloran
Terence (third from left) with his family at home in London. Pictured (from right): Terence’s mother Ethel, his father Thomas, his brother Richard (on his lap), brother John, and sister Linette
His will, written on November 20, 2018, was revealed on Tuesday and stated: ‘Terence Henry Stamp of Bromley, died on August 17, 2025.
‘The Last Will and Testament of Terence Henry Stamp was proved and registered before the High Court of Justice.
‘The Administration of Terence Henry Stamp’s estate is granted by this court to the following Executors – Amelia Anne Louise Stoppard of Bromley and John Drew Stamp of London.
‘The application has stated that the gross value of the estate in the United Kingdom amounts to £1,016,934.
‘And the net value amounts to £1,015,564.’
Stamp – who is also remembered for his role in 1999 movie The Limey – dated the model Jean Shrimpton and was chosen as a muse by photographer David Bailey.
After failing to land the role of James Bond to succeed Sean Connery, he appeared in Italian films and worked with Federico Fellini in the late 1960s.
Stamp dropped out of the limelight and studied yoga in India before landing his most high-profile role – as General Zod, the megalomaniacal leader of the Kryptonians, in ‘Superman’ in 1978 and its sequel in 1980.
Terence Stamp and Julie Christie in the 1967 film Far From The Madding Crowd
Terence Stamp and his wife Elizabeth O’Rourke in Marrakesh in 2005. They divorced in 2008
He went on to appear in a string of other films, including ‘Valkyrie’ with Tom Cruise in 2008, ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ with Matt Damon in 2011 and movies directed by Tim Burton.
Stamp liked to recall how he was on the verge of becoming a tantric sex teacher at an ashram in India when, in 1977, he received a telegram from his London agent with news that he was being considered for the ‘Superman’ film.
‘I was on the night flight the next day,’ Stamp said in an interview with his publisher Watkins Books in 2015.
After eight years largely out of work, getting the role of the arch-villain General Zod in ‘Superman’ and ‘Superman II’ turned the full glare of Hollywood’s limelight on the Londoner.
Buoyed by his new role, Stamp said he would respond to curious looks from passers-by with a command of: ‘Kneel before Zod, you b*****ds,’ which usually went down a storm.
Speaking about his early years, Stamp previously said: ‘The great blessing of my life is that I had the really hard bit at the beginning because we were really poor.’
He left school to work initially as a messenger boy for an advertising firm and quickly moved up the ranks before he won a scholarship to go to drama school.
Until then he had kept his acting ambitions secret from his family for fear of disapproval.
Terence Stamp and Julie Christie in the 1967 film Far From The Madding Crowd
Actor Terence Stamp is pictured before he played the lead in the 1962 film Billy Budd
Terence Stamp during the filming of ‘The Mind of Mr Soames’ at Shepperton Studios in 1969
‘I couldn’t tell anyone I wanted to be an actor because it was out of the question. I would have been laughed at,’ he said.
He shared a flat with another young London actor, Michael Caine, and landed the lead role in director Peter Ustinov’s 1962 adaptation of ‘Billy Budd’, a story of brutality in the British navy in the 18th century.
That role earned him an Academy Award nomination and filled him with pride.
‘To be cast by somebody like Ustinov was something that gave me a great deal of self-confidence in my film career,’ Stamp told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2019. ‘During the shooting, I just thought, “Wow! This is it”.’
He also said the love of his life was the model Jean Shrimpton, adding: ‘When I lost her, then that also coincided with my career taking a dip.’
After failing to land the role of Bond to succeed Connery, Stamp appeared in Italian films and worked with Fellini in the late 1960s.
‘I view my life really as before and after Fellini,’ he said. ‘Being cast by him was the greatest compliment an actor like myself could get.’
It was while working in Rome – where he appeared in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s ‘Theorem’ in 1968 and ‘A Season in Hell’ in 1971 – that Stamp met Indian spiritual speaker and writer Jiddu Krishnamurti in 1968.
Peter Fonda, Terence Stamp and Steven Soderbergh promote ‘The Limey’ on May 15, 1999
Terence Stamp and Julie Christie in the 1967 film Far From The Madding Crowd
Krishnamurti taught the Englishman how to pause his thoughts and meditate, prompting Stamp to study yoga in India.
Mumbai was his base but he spent long periods at the ashram in Pune, dressed in orange robes and growing his hair long, while learning the teachings of his yogi, including tantric sex.
‘There was a rumour around the ashram that he was preparing me to teach the tantric group,’ he said in the 2015 interview with Watkins Books. ‘There was a lot of action going on.’
After landing the role of General Zod in ‘Superman’ and its sequel, both times opposite Christopher Reeve, he went on to appear in a string of other films.
He counted Princess Diana among his friends.
‘It wasn’t a formal thing, we’d just meet up for a cup of tea, or sometimes we’d have a long chat for an hour. Sometimes it would be very quick,’ he told the Daily Express in 2017. ‘The time I spent with her was a good time.’
In 2002, Stamp married for the first time at the age of 64 – to Elizabeth O’Rourke, a pharmacist, who was 35 years his junior. They divorced in 2008.
Asked by the Stage 32 website how he got film directors to believe in his talent, Stamp said: ‘I believed in myself.
‘Originally, when I didn’t get cast I told myself there was a lack of discernment in them. This could be considered conceit. I look at it differently. Cherishing that divine spark in myself.’
