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Terence Stamp: I grew apart from pal Michael Caine
Terence Stamp tells John Hiscock how his close friendship with Michael Caine came to a disappointing end.
When they were struggling young actors, Terence Stamp and Michael Caine were the best of pals. They shared a flat, went to pubs and parties together and auditioned for a lot of the same roles.
But they haven't spoken for the past 30 years, Stamp told me when we met in Beverly Hills. "It's very strange," he said. "We just took totally divergent paths."
Now 74 and living in Ojai, California,Terence revealed how their once-close friendship came to an abrupt end.
"Michael Caine was my first showbiz guru," Stamp recalled. "He was very hip about showbiz. He'd never had a break and had never really done anything but he'd been around for a long time and he gave me a lot of wisdom and a lot of my values which have lasted until today. He was very keen on a good address so we tried to find places we could afford. Sometimes it involved another actor coming in too because the two of us couldn't pay the 20 quid a week rent.
"But as soon as he got his break, which was in Zulu, he wanted to be on his own. It was kind of a big shock for me because I'd imagined us in harness, taking on showbiz together, but it was his choice. I'm not so sure he would agree with that publicly but I'm telling you that's how it happened.
Michael Caine (top) and Terence Stamp (bottom right) with the 1960s Beat Group Band Of Angels
"Then we became so different. It's not that we avoid each other, it's just that nothing brings us together any longer. It's very strange because I still spend a lot of time in London and he's a Londoner.
"I sometimes see his work and he always makes me smile because he was the first guy who taught me about comic timing. He taught me that timing is magic and you either have it or you haven't – you can't learn it. So I owe Michael and I always will, but I don't get to see or talk with him any more."
Stamp, who was nominated for an Oscar in 1962 for Billy Budd, is presently starring in Song For Marion, released on DVD on June 24, with fellow Brits Gemma Arterton and Christopher Ecclestone, playing a grumpy pensioner who joins the local choir.
John Hiscock is a film writer and Telegraph contributor.