Terence was born in London and spent his early years watching American films and dreamed of being like the stars on the screen, He was awarded a scholarship for the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art. In his second year, during an audition, Peter Ustinov signed him for the title role in Die Verdammten der Meere (1962). This was not only his remarkable film debut but his performance earned him his first and only Oscar nomination too in 1962 and marked the start of his international stardom. He consolidated his career by working with some of the top directors such as William Wyler (Der Fänger (1965)), Joseph Losey (Modesty Blaise - Die tödliche Lady (1966)), John Schlesinger (Die Herrin von Thornhill (1967)), Ken Loach (Poor Cow - geküßt und geschlagen (1967)) and Pier Paolo Pasolini (Teorema: Geometrie der Liebe (1968)). He then took a break from films and traveled around the world returning to cinema in a variety of films including, among others, Superman - Der Film (1978), Gurdjef - Begegnungen mit bemerkenswerten Menschen (1979), Superman II: Allein gegen alle (1980), The Hit - Die Profi-Killer (1984) (for which he was awarded the Grand Medaille de Vermeil in Paris), Staatsanwälte küsst man nicht (1986), Der Sizilianer (1987), Wall Street (1987), Young Guns - Sie fürchten weder Tod noch Teufel (1988), Spacecop L.A. 1991 (1988), Priscilla - Königin der Wüste (1994), Operation Walküre - Das Stauffenberg-Attentat (2008) and Song for Marion (2012). He has also published the first two instalments of his autobiography, Stamp Album, which became a best seller.
