Terence Stamp

Named by Empire Magazine in 1995 as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time, British actor Terence Stamp typically found himself cast as urbane, sophisticated bad guys throughout his career. Breaking into show business in the early 1960s, Stamp landed his first leading role at the age of 23 in "Billy Budd" (1962), the acclaimed adaptation of Herman Melville's dense novella. An icon of British cinema's wave of "angry young men," Stamp's portrayals - like those of his contemporaries Oliver Reed, Michael Caine and Albert Finney - inhabited shades of gray, walking the line between traditional protagonists and flawed anti-heroes. After his breathtaking early success, however, Stamp's career entered into a significant slump in the late 60s. But later Stamp emerged after a nearly decade-long sabbatical to play the megalomaniacal super-villain General Zod in "Superman: The Movie" (1978) and its sequel, "Superman II" (1980). Ever since, Stamp managed to turn himself into a respected character actor, consistently remaining busy at an age when most actors contemplate retirement.