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Stamp Album #3
Double Feature
In this second installment of Terence Stamp's captivating memoirs, Stamp takes us right into the heart of the swinging ‘60s. From his Academy Award nomination for Billy Budd to his coming of age under the direction of the legendary Federico Fellini, the "marmalade skies" are the limit. With beautiful women and beautiful people from London to California, Stamp captures the spirit of the decade. He was the face, the man to be seen with. And then the decade ended, along with his romance to famous model Jean Shrimpton. While the Beatles play their last concert on the rooftop of the Apple building in Mayfair, Stamp, unemployed and broken-hearted, boards a plane for a solo pilgrimage to India.
256 pages
First published January 1, 1989
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47 people want to read
About the author
Terence Stamp
15 books12 followersTerence Henry Stamp was an English actor. Known for his sophisticated villain roles, he was named by Empire as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He received various accolades including a Golden Globe Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, and a Silver Bear as well as nominations for an Academy Award and two BAFTA Awards.
In addition to his acting career, Stamp was an accomplished writer and author. He published three volumes of his memoirs including Stamp Album (written in tribute to his late mother), a novel entitled The Night, and a cookbook co-written with Elizabeth Buxton to provide alternative recipes for those who are wheat- and lactose-intolerant.
Abridged from Wikipedia
In addition to his acting career, Stamp was an accomplished writer and author. He published three volumes of his memoirs including Stamp Album (written in tribute to his late mother), a novel entitled The Night, and a cookbook co-written with Elizabeth Buxton to provide alternative recipes for those who are wheat- and lactose-intolerant.
Abridged from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 20, 2019
In seeking out reading material, I am not overly selective sometimes. As I have, on occasion, been noted by others to have picked up a cereal box to read when nothing else presents itself, so it is not uncommon that I purchase a book without the full knowledge of what treasures or mire may be hidden in its pages. I know of Mr. Stamp, of course, through film - I love The Limey and I grew up with Zod being one of the classic villains I know. I had seen him give the six to twelve minute television interviews promoting films and I knew him to be entertaining and seemingly affable. So, when I happened across this book, I picked it up without much hesitation. It was a read, an autobiography of an actor I knew and liked, but did not know really well.
In this pick, I found rather a few treasures, and not much mire. Going in blind, I failed to realize this was the third such work in a series, covering his middle years, so to speak, from filming Billy Budd to working with Fellini. The book feels like a conversation with a friend that is letting you not only into his home, but opening a few doors - the feeling is familiar, but has a sense of showing us something we missed as well. There is much of love and loss, of family and experimentation, and a seeming feeling of a 1960's cultural travelogue. I laughed aloud a few times and other times I felt for Stamp's situation of loss and uncertainty, pining for a sense of things that were there, but not understood.
Often times, we think of actors as their roles or different from us, and while Stamp's talent in film and stage exceeds any I could even pretend to have, I felt a part of the club - perhaps as a valet or waiter - but at least in the door from his stories of the industry. Still, the richness goes well beyond simply telling us who was what and where, there is also a feeling of a quest of such. Stamp tells us of the people - who despite being real made me feel like I could apply "characters" to them fair enough. From a seemingly genius botanist and agricultural expert who shunned his family's history in the film industry to cross pollinate marijuana. Another spiritualist figure is K, a man once hailed as a seeming second coming who, once so called, immediately disbands an organization once they name him as their leader, saying truth does not come for organizations, but from other things. Shrimpton, the lady in much of the story of his love and loss, cuts across much of the reading and Stamp's recollection seems fair, unfaltering, and serene in remembrance, not being too critical of her or himself, but rather just saying what the events at hand were and how they ended up, so to speak.
The fact that Mr. Stamp is a terrific actor with presence in the films of my youth (Superman franchise), my teen years (Star Wars, The Limey), and now in a series of older films I am joyfully watching is nice, but in this, he tells us a story of love, loss, recovery, and both moving on and being rooted still - the way we can forget and get pulled back from forgetfulness by a tune, a scent, or something long buried. His acting is excellent and his story? Well, it was well worth the read.
In this pick, I found rather a few treasures, and not much mire. Going in blind, I failed to realize this was the third such work in a series, covering his middle years, so to speak, from filming Billy Budd to working with Fellini. The book feels like a conversation with a friend that is letting you not only into his home, but opening a few doors - the feeling is familiar, but has a sense of showing us something we missed as well. There is much of love and loss, of family and experimentation, and a seeming feeling of a 1960's cultural travelogue. I laughed aloud a few times and other times I felt for Stamp's situation of loss and uncertainty, pining for a sense of things that were there, but not understood.
Often times, we think of actors as their roles or different from us, and while Stamp's talent in film and stage exceeds any I could even pretend to have, I felt a part of the club - perhaps as a valet or waiter - but at least in the door from his stories of the industry. Still, the richness goes well beyond simply telling us who was what and where, there is also a feeling of a quest of such. Stamp tells us of the people - who despite being real made me feel like I could apply "characters" to them fair enough. From a seemingly genius botanist and agricultural expert who shunned his family's history in the film industry to cross pollinate marijuana. Another spiritualist figure is K, a man once hailed as a seeming second coming who, once so called, immediately disbands an organization once they name him as their leader, saying truth does not come for organizations, but from other things. Shrimpton, the lady in much of the story of his love and loss, cuts across much of the reading and Stamp's recollection seems fair, unfaltering, and serene in remembrance, not being too critical of her or himself, but rather just saying what the events at hand were and how they ended up, so to speak.
The fact that Mr. Stamp is a terrific actor with presence in the films of my youth (Superman franchise), my teen years (Star Wars, The Limey), and now in a series of older films I am joyfully watching is nice, but in this, he tells us a story of love, loss, recovery, and both moving on and being rooted still - the way we can forget and get pulled back from forgetfulness by a tune, a scent, or something long buried. His acting is excellent and his story? Well, it was well worth the read.
March 19, 2015
Since I found this book while browsing through the virtual version of the Berkeley Public Library, I didn't realize it was the third book in Terence Stamp's autobiography. Nonetheless, it stood alone beautifully. Stamp's writing is compelling and flows so naturally that I had a hard time putting it down, even to sleep. I love hearing an author read his or her own book but it's especially wonderful when that author is a great actor. It was fascinating, also, because it illustrates some of the differences between the 60's and later decades, between the UK and the US, between being brought up working class and being brought up upper class, between being male and female… almost any dichotomy you can think of. It was fun, too, to be a fly on the wall while Stamp got famous and his best mates didn't. Reading about it now is fun because we know what happened to those mates since. ;)
There is something poetic in a reflective person's writing and this is no exception. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it to anyone who likes being taken into another person's mind and sharing some their observations on life, their own and that of others. It doesn't hurt that many of the people in Stamp's circle are also people I am also interested in because of their talents and skills. It helps that Stamp is older now and has a clearer and more mature picture of some of the outcomes of earlier feelings, events, and actions. His descriptive skills are evocative and give a real sense of time and place.
I really look forward, now, to reading the other books Stamp has written. I can't wait to get started!
There is something poetic in a reflective person's writing and this is no exception. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it to anyone who likes being taken into another person's mind and sharing some their observations on life, their own and that of others. It doesn't hurt that many of the people in Stamp's circle are also people I am also interested in because of their talents and skills. It helps that Stamp is older now and has a clearer and more mature picture of some of the outcomes of earlier feelings, events, and actions. His descriptive skills are evocative and give a real sense of time and place.
I really look forward, now, to reading the other books Stamp has written. I can't wait to get started!
December 17, 2013
Next to Peter O'Toole's "Loitering With Intent" auto bios, Terence Stamp's self penned volumes are the best I've ever read. Wonderful writer, great and wry sense of humour and perspective, fascinating life.
I highly recommend!
I highly recommend!
December 27, 2021
The third installment of Terence Stamp's memoirs. He really is a very talented writer as well as one of my favorite actors. A little too much focus on marijuana in the late chapters, but reading about his becoming a lead actor and his great love for Jean Shrimpton made it well worth reading.
August 7, 2022
An interesting third book in Stamp’s early life, up until 1969, a split between the happiness of his relationship with top model Jean Shrimpton and his rootlessness, despair and foray into drugs after she leaves him.
September 22, 2008
Absolutely delightful autobiographical series of three, if you're interested in TS or in London from the 40s on. Wonderful style. Very readable.
January 14, 2010
This just portrayed Terence stamp as i wanted him to be, romantic, sensitive and broken hearted.
April 7, 2017
So much more to read as he stops just as he reaches the 80s in this one.
January 28, 2020
Stamp writes magically.
July 10, 2024
You get a little talk about his films Billy Budd, The Collector, and Blue. Like his first book, it is mostly personal tales. More romance in this one.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews