British actor Terence Stamp, who portrayed supervillain General Zod opposite Christopher Reeve in “Superman” and “Superman II” has died, his family announced. He was 87.
Stamp’s family shared news of his death in a statement sent to the Reuters news agency on Sunday, Aug. 17, saying that he died that morning.
The statement did not include information about his cause of death.
Stamp, born in London’s East End in 1938, had a career that spanned over seven decades. He booked his first part in 1960, according to IMDb, before landing the leading role in historical adventure “Billy Budd” as the titular character in 1962, when his fame took off. The part garnered him his first and only Academy Award nomination in 1963. Stamp also won a Golden Globe the same year for most promising newcomer.
He continued to regularly land parts in television shows and movies over the next decade before he was cast as Kryptonian military leader General Zod in the 1978 hit “Superman.” While Stamp had a smaller role in the first flick — as Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor was the main antagonist — he returned as Zod in the 1980 sequel “Superman II” as the major supervillain.
After the success of the “Superman” films, Stamp went on to appear in popular movies, such as “Wall Street,” “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of Desert,” “Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace,” “Get Smart” and “Valkyrie,” as well as television shows, such as “The Hunger.”
He re-joined the “Superman” universe to voice the role of Jor-El on The CW drama “Smallville.” His voice can be heard in 23 episodes across the show’s 10-season run, according to IMDb.
More recently, he had roles in the fantasy film “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” in 2016 and the HBO television show “His Dark Materials.”
Stamp’s final role was in the 2021 horror mystery “Last Night in Soho” alongside Matt Smith, Anya Taylor-Joy and Sam Claflin.