LEGENDARY SUPERMAN BADDIE DIES

Terence Stamp, famed for playing the villainous General Zod in 1978’s Superman and Superman II in 1980, passed away on Sunday morning, his family confirmed.

His cause of death at the age of 87 was not immediately given.

In a statement his loved ones said: “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 London’s East End in 1938, Terence was the son of a tugboat stoker and grew up during the bombing raids of the second world war.

After leaving school, he worked as a messenger in advertising before winning a scholarship to drama school.

He shared a flat with a young Michael Caine and made his screen breakthrough as the title character in Peter Ustinov’s 1962 adaptation of Billy Budd, earning an Academy Award nomination.

He said in 2019: “To be cast by somebody like Ustinov was something that gave me a great deal of self-confidence in my film career.

“During the shooting, I just thought, ‘Wow! This is it’.”

In the late 1960s, Terence appeared in Italian films, working with Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini. He said about the experience: “I view my life really as before and after Fellini.

“Being cast by him was the greatest compliment an actor like myself could get.”

Around this time he began studying yoga in India, inspired by Indian spiritual speaker Jiddu Krishnamurti.

After years away from the limelight, Terence was recalled to Hollywood in 1977 when his agent told him he was being considered for Superman.