The British-born star, who rose to fame in the 1960s in London and went on to play the villain General Zod in Hollywood's hit film, 1978's "Superman" and 1980's "Superman II", died on Sunday, according to Reuters.

Stamp's family confirmed in a statement to the outlet, "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. We ask for privacy at this sad time," the family said.

Stamp received an Oscar nomination for "Billy Budd" (1962), where he made his film debut and appeared in countless roles including, "Wall Street," "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," and "The Haunted Mansion."

He was born in London's East End in 1938. His father was in the Merchant Navy, and he lived through the WWII bombing before leaving school to work in advertising, eventually receiving a scholarship to go to drama school.

Stamp revealed that his dad didn't encourage him to pursue a career in showbiz.

"He genuinely believed that people like us didn't do things like that," he told BFI in 2013. But his mother "loved every second of it."

"In retrospect, my mother must have always wanted me to do it and must have wished that she could have been more supportive. But my dad was the head of the family, and I never really knew what he thought of it because he was of that generation," he concluded.

He went on to star in 1999's "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" but did not return for the trilogy's follow-up films, and 1967's "Far from Madding Crowd," with British actress Julie Christie, whom he briefly dated. His only marriage came in 2002 to Elizabeth O'Rourke in 2002, when she was 29 and he was 64. The pair divorced in 2008.

As for his work on the small screen, Stamp appeared in a handful of times. He portrayed Jor-El, Superman's biological father, on the series "Smallville," as a disembodied voice.

Rest in peace, Stamp, the famed figure and character actor, will be forever in our hearts.