BRITISH Hollywood star Terence Stamp has died aged 87.

The Oscar-nominated actor played villain General Zod in the original Superman movie and its sequel Superman II.

His family said in a statement that Stamp died on Sunday morning.

"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 also starred in in films ranging from Pier Paolo Pasolini's Theorem in 1968 and A Season in Hell in 1971 to The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in 1994 in which he played a transgender woman.

He went on to appear in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 1999.

Rise to fame

Born in London's East End in 1938, the son of a tugboat

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