The Postal Service honored Betty White’s mischievous wit, saucy persona and passionate advocacy at her stamp dedication ceremony in Los Angeles on March 27.
“Betty White was an American treasure,” said Amber McReynolds, chair of the USPS Board of Governors, who spoke at the event. “With the stamp, we honor and remember the beloved ‘first lady of television’ and the enduring mark she left on our American culture.”
The ceremony was held at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
Other ceremony participants included Richard Lichtenstein, who co-chaired the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association’s board of trustees with White for many years; Ellis Hall, a jazz musician and friend of White’s; and Danny Romero, a KABC-TV meteorologist, who was the emcee.
White was born on Jan. 17, 1922, in Oak Park, IL, before moving with her parents to Southern California in 1923, where she developed an interest in acting and pursued operatic voice training.
She first acted on radio in 1930 and debuted on television in 1939.
Her first big break on screen came in 1949 with a local Los Angeles program. She went on to become the show’s sole host and producer before it became known as “The Betty White Show.”
White then played the title role in the sitcom “Life With Elizabeth” (1952-1955). She also co-created and produced the show — becoming one of the first women to produce a nationally broadcast sitcom.
Over the decades, White played popular characters in a string of television hits: Sue Ann Nivens on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in the 1970s; Rose Nylund on “The Golden Girls” in the 1980s; and Elka Ostrovsky in “Hot in Cleveland” in the 2010s.
White also made it to the big screen, appearing in the political drama “Advise and Consent” (1962), the comedy-horror “Lake Placid” (1999) and the romantic comedy “The Proposal” (2009).
In addition to winning five Emmys, White received three Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Grammy Award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
She was also much recognized for her animal welfare work.
White died on Dec. 31, 2021, just 17 days shy of her 100th birthday.
The Forever stamp features a digitally created portrait of White based on a photograph taken by Kwaku Alston in 2010. Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, designed the stamp with original art by Dale Stephanos.
The stamp is available in panes of 20 at Post Offices and usps.com.
