The U.S. Postal Service will host an event at the West Hollywood Library Thursday to celebrate its release of a stamp honoring Ingrid Bergman.
The stamp honoring the Swedish-born actress will go on sale that day in the United States and also in Sweden, where it will be issued by Posten AB, the Swedish postal service.
The U.S. Postal Service will issue a 49-cent commemorative “forever” stamp, meaning it can be used for mail even if stamp prices increase in the future. It will a circa 1940 image of Bergman taken by Laszlo Willinger, known for his portraits of celebrities. Artist Kristen Monthei digitally colorized the image. Monthei also colorized a still of Bergman from the film Casablanca, which is featured on the stamp pane selvage. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamp pane.
Bergman, who died in 1982, was a celebrated actress both in the United States and Europe. During her career, Bergman won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for best actress. She is best remembered for her portrayals of Ilsa Lund in “Casablanca” (1942); Paula Alquist in “Gaslight” (1944); Anna Koreff in “Anastasia” (1956); and Alicia Huberman in “Notorious” (1946).
The event at the library, which is at 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., south of Santa Monica, runs from 4 to 7 p.m. In addition to the stamps, First day covers, digital color postmark covers and framed stamp art will be available for purchase. The Postal Service will also offer a joint U.S.–Sweden first day of issue cover containing both U.S. and Swedish stamps and Los Angeles and Stockholm postmarks. First day of issue hand-postmark service will also be available at the event.
