Actor Terence Stamp, best known for playing the villainous General Zod in multiple Superman films, has died at the age of 87, his family announced in a statement to Reuters on Sunday (August 17).

"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," the family said. "We ask for privacy at this sad time."

Stamp starred in a range of films throughout a career that spanned seven decades, which included his film debut as the titular character in Billy Budd, which received a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year (actor), as well as being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and BAFTA for Best Newcomer, in 1962. The London native would later star in Modesty Blaise and Far from the Madding Crowd before he suddenly received less leading roles toward the end of the 1960s.

“It’s a mystery to me,” Stamp told the Guardian in 2015. “I was in my prime. When the 1960s ended, I just ended with it.”

“I remember my agent telling me: ‘They are all looking for a young Terence Stamp.’ And I thought: ‘I am young.’ I was 31, 32. I couldn’t believe it,” he added.

Stamp landed the role of General Zod in the 1978 Superman film opposite the late Christopher Reeve, which he also played in its 1980 sequel.

“During that time away from the screen, I had transmuted myself,” Stamp told the Guardian. “I no longer saw myself as a leading man.”

“What had happened inside of me enabled me to take the role and not feel embarrassed or depressed about playing the villain,” he added while discussing the General Zod role. “I just decided I was a character actor now and I can do anything.”

Theresa Lucas