Terence Stamp

Born: July 22 1939
Where: Stepney, London, UK

The Sixties icon is probably best known to modern audiences as drag queen Ralph in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Latterly, he has specialised in villainous roles such as Magnus Martel in Revelation and Ramsley the butler in Haunted Mansion.

However, it is for his roles such as evil General Zod in Superman and the supergrass in Steven Frear's The Hit that he shall be remembered.

Stamp's family were forces to leave Bow in East London during the blitz and resettle in suburban Plaistow in Essex.

He made his Oscar-nominated film debut in 1962 as the martyred hero in Peter Ustinov's adaptation of Herman Melville's Billy Budd.

Stamp next made his mark in William Wyler's The Collector, winning a Best Actor award at Cannes for his portrayal of a warped recluse who kidnaps an art student.

Subsequent roles included work for John Schlesinger (Far From the Maddening Crowd), Joseph Losey (Modesty Blaise), Ken Loach (Poor Cow) and Pier Paolo Pasolini (Teorema).

A staple of the gossip columns, Stamp was known for his friendships with the likes of Michael Caine and his relationships with beauties such as Julie Christie and model Jean Shrimpton.

He and Christie were immortalized in Kink Ray Davies's song Waterloo Sunset in the lines, "Terry and Julie cross over the river, where they feel safe and sound."

However, Stamp withdrew from mainstream films after Shrimpton left him, and he and went on a 10-year sabbatical in India.

He returned home in the late 70s to star as the evil General Zod in Superman II as well as disaparate projects such as Legal Eagles, Wall Street and Young Guns.

In 1994, he won a new legion of fans when against type to play a world-weary transsexual in sleeper hit The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Stamp followed this with a turn as a tantric sex therapist in Bliss, anda new age guru in Bowfinger with Steve Martin as well as an appearance in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 1999.

That same year, he starred in Steven Soderbergh's The Limey as a grizzled ex-con bent on avenging his daughter's death.

Subsequent appearances included the sci-fi thriller Red Planet and the action drama Revelation as well as the Disney comedy drama Haunted Mansion.

In 2004, he played Jennifer Garner's martial arts mento Stick in Daredevil spin-off Elektra.