Terence Stamp was born in Stepney, east London, the oldest of five children. He became one of the faces of the Swinging Sixties before dropping out of Hollywood. He married an Australian pharmacist in 2003, but divorced in April

It may pain him to admit it, but for anyone over 40 Terence Stamp will for ever be known as General Zod - intergalactic nemesis of Superman. It was - as Stamp admits - a hammy role and a far cry from the smouldering leading-man image that made him a global heart-throb in the 1960s, but he doesn’t regret it.

“There are certain films that change your life,” he says. “When I got the Superman offer I was very nervous because I had the feeling that they were going to just like me ugly and dress me ugly and give me ugly stuff to say.”

He sought advice from a friend before taking the role. “He said: ‘You shouldn’t have doubts about it because for loads of kids, Superman movies will be the first they go to see. And by the time they grow up, there’ll be more people who want to be like Zod than Superman.’”

Although that hasn’t quite come to pass, the film marked something of a comeback for Stamp: before putting on the general’s leather boots and developing laser eyes he had spent 10 years in a self-imposed exile from Hollywood in India, as well as tending his organic farm in Ibiza and writing his memoirs.

Today he is making another comeback, with six new films slated for release this year that bring him face to face with a younger generation of stars: in the recently released Wanted, he co-stars with Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy; Get Smart, which is released this week, features him alongside Anne Hathaway; and he has just finished filming Valkyrie with Tom Cruise, which tells the story of the German generals’ plot to assassinate Hitler.

The party after the filming was almost as cloak and dagger as the plot. “Do you know what a rave is?” Stamp asks. “Well, I’ve been invited to a Cruise party but it’s like a rave. I won’t know the address until the last minute.”

Stamp shot to fame as one of the working-class heroes of the 1960s: handsome, confident and charismatic, he came to define a new type of leading man along with friends such as Albert Finney, Oliver Reed and Michael Caine (with whom he shared a flat). He dated some of the most glamorous women in the world, including Jean Shrimpton, Brigitte Bardot and Julie Christie.

He trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, and was Oscar-nominated for his debut film, Billy Budd (1962), in which he played a merchant seaman.

More success followed in films including Far from the Madding Crowd and meant a swish address at the Albany apartments in Piccadilly and a car: a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II. He remained at the Albany - on and off - until the 1990s but the Rolls didn’t last as long. “I just realised how ridiculous it was to have a car at all in London because I like to walk and I like the Routemasters and I like the Underground.” In 1967 he sold the Roller. “That was the last time I owned a car,” he says.

His fondness for London’s creaking transport system is unabated - perhaps because he is rarely in Britain these days. “I think the public transport in London is so amazing,” he says, “and if Boris doesn’t renege on his promise to bring back the Routemasters, I’ll be in heaven.

“It’s one of the things I used to love when I was in London and one of the things I really looked forward to. It’s very comforting to be on a Routemaster. It’s just so brilliantly designed, and it’s a wonderful experience.”

The only place his lack of wheels is a problem is America. “I need a car when I’m in California, and – if I can afford it – I rent a Prius,” he says.

Still, his lack of personal transport means he does at least get out and meet people more. He says he has been offered a lift in LA and sometimes further afield.

“I was in Montreal, in the middle of the night. There wasn’t a sparrow on the street. There wasn’t anything. Suddenly a big, black SUV came barrelling down the road and sort of screeched to a halt, and a guy looked out the window at me and he said, ‘You’re General Zod’, and I said, ‘I am.’ So the guy said, ‘What are you doing here?’, and I said, ‘I’m looking for a taxi.’ “ ‘Get in! Get in!’ he said. ‘Can I have a photo with you, General?’ ”

MY STUFF
ON MY CD CHANGER

Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah and the Who’s The Seeker. My brother Chris managed the Who in the 1960s, and this song was later used on The Limey, one of my favourite films in my career.

ON MY DVD PLAYER

I really love True Romance. Another favourite is Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.

I WOULD NEVER THROW AWAY

My notes and scribblings for a fourth memoir. Most of my writing was when I was out of work, when I was travelling the world, so it was kind of an inner odyssey, which is difficult to get now. But still I jot everything down.

TERENCE STAMP: MY LIFE IN CARS

ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER CLOUD II Stamp bought it after breaking onto the big screen. He sold it in 1967 and has never owned another car
ROUTEMASTER BUS “If Boris doesn’t renege on his promise to bring back the Routemasters, I’ll be in heaven, because I’ve ridden in those since I was a boy”
PRISCILLA Stamp had a surprise hit in 1994 with The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, a road movie in which he played a transsexual who tours Australia in a bus named Priscilla
TOYOTA PRIUS When in California, where a car is essential, Stamp hires this petrol-electric hybrid, which is fashionable among Hollywood stars

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