Legendary singer and actress Judy Garland is the latest face on U.S. postage stamps.
Garland became the 12th "Legend of Hollywood" honoree in the Postal Service's continuing series of movie greats that has included Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant.
The commemorative stamp was unveiled on what would have been Garland's 84th birthday at a ceremony at Carnegie Hall, the site of many of her most famous performances. Garland died June 22, 1969.
Judy Garland is considered one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th Century. Starting out in show business as a toddler, the singer and actress grew to become an all-around performer, acting in both comedies and dramas, singing and dancing.
In the role of Dorothy in the movie The Wizard of Oz, Garland immortalized the wistful song Over the Rainbow.
U.S. Postal Service official Anita Bizzotto said Garland took the idea of the rainbow very seriously, and spent her whole life trying to get over it.
"This stamp will gives wings to Judy and everything she personified," said Anita Bizzotto. "Now, I'm not sure we deliver over the rainbow, but I can guarantee you, we will make sure Judy Garland stamp travels quickly and easily on letters and packages to every address in America."
Garland appeared in 32 movies, including A Star is Born, for which she received an Academy Award nomination as best actress. Her performances in the movies Babes in Arms, and The Wizard of Oz, earned her special Academy Awards "for her outstanding performance as a screen juvenile." She a was a best-selling recording artist, releasing more than a dozen albums and nearly 100 singles.
Ross Pelceyger, a stamp collector, who is an avowed Garland fan, says this stamp has special significance.
"I think everyone, who grew up in America, if not everyone who ever saw the movies, because our movies go throughout the world, will absolutely remember something of their childhood when they see the stamp," said Ross Pelceyger.
Garland's 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall cemented her status as a show business legend. The recording Judy at Carnegie Hall topped sales charts for 13 weeks, and won five Grammy Awards, including those for "album of the year" and for "best female vocal performance."
Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, an accomplished musician in her own right, says Carnegie Hall was only place for the unveiling, because of her mother's triumphs there.
"I asked for it to be held here because this is some place that meant so much to her," said Lorna Luft. "And, what a [better] way to celebrate her birthday, than at Carnegie Hall. As she [Garland] said [in a song], 'who could ask for anything more.'"
The stamp salutes two of Garland's best known movie roles. Artist Tim O'Brien designed the stamp using a portrait of Garland from a publicity photo for "A Star is Born." Her signature is at the bottom of the stamp and the photo on the border shows her as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
