LOS ANGELES (AP) — Betty White is making her mark on the nation’s snail mail.
The beloved actor of “The Golden Girls” fame was celebrated with a brand new U.S. Postal Service stamp at a first-day-of-issue ceremony on the Los Angeles Zoo on Thursday.
Followers that had been crowded behind barricades cheered as a blue curtain dropped to disclose the stamp that includes a portrait of White in opposition to a violet-colored background with lighter shades of bubbly spots in a nod to her glowing character. She wears a blue polka-dot shirt and peeking out of her blond curls is an earring formed like a pawprint.
“When I was working on the stamp surrounding myself with Betty White videos and pictures, I felt like I was working on a portrait of a family member,” Boston-based artist Dale Stephanos mentioned. “I wanted Betty’s huge personality to take center stage.”
The illustration is predicated on a photograph taken by Kwaku Alston in 2010.
On the celebration, singer-songwriter Ellis Corridor carried out a snippet of “Thank You for Being a Friend,” the theme music to “The Golden Girls.”
A laughing kookaburra and different squawking birds sometimes interrupted the audio system, which absolutely would have delighted the animal-loving White.
“Animals were her kids and she loved them all — any shape, size and kind,” mentioned Richard Lichtenstein, a board member of the Larger Los Angeles Zoo Affiliation.
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White had labored with the zoo since its opening in 1966 till her loss of life in December 2021, a pair weeks shy of her a hundredth birthday.
“Who didn’t love Betty White?” Lichtenstein mentioned. “Her smile, her sense of humor, her basic decency. Our country, our city and yes, even our Los Angeles Zoo, would be much better if more people followed her example. Betty White put her stamp on everyone and anyone she came in contact with.”
He mentioned White’s monetary help and advocacy helped make doable displays that includes chimps, gorillas and elephants, amongst others.
Lichtenstein mentioned White arrange a personal basis earlier than her loss of life that funds varied zoo applications.
“This zoo, its inhabitants and this community meant so much to Betty White just as she meant so much to all of us,” mentioned Amber McReynolds, chair of the USPS board of governors. “Betty White was an American treasure.”
Individuals lined as much as buy panes of 20 eternally stamps, pins and notecards earlier than getting first-day cancellations close to a churro snack stand whereas schoolchildren walked by.
“This stamp is special because let’s face it, everybody loves Betty White,” Stephanos mentioned.
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