Orson Welles and Charlton Heston in a scene from Touch of Evil.
The official First Day of Issue Ceremony will take place at Hollywood’s historic TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on Friday, April 11, during the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival. TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz is set to host the ceremony, which will be attended by Heston’s wife Lydia Clarke Heston, who took the photograph on which the stamp is based, his son, filmmaker Fraser Heston, his daughter Holly Rochell and other honored guests. Immediately following the ceremony, the USPS will offer collectible First-Day-of-Issue postmarks and have the Charlton Heston Forever stamp and related philatelic merchandise on sale. In addition, the day’s honored guests will be on-hand for an autograph session.
TCM’s celebration of Charlton Heston will continue at noon, when festival passholders have the opportunity to attend the World Premiere screening of the newly restored Touch of Evil (1958), to be introduced by Mankiewicz and Fraser Heston.
“On behalf of my mother, Lydia; my sister, Holly Rochell; and the entire Heston family, I can say enthusiastically how deeply grateful we all are that my father, Charlton, has been honored with a ‘Legends of Hollywood’ postage stamp,” said Fraser Heston. “In many ways, a nation’s stamps are a cross-section of a culture, its ideals and icons, in microcosm. As a fervently patriotic American, my father would be deeply moved to know that his image, based on one of my mother’s photographs, will be on a United States Forever Postage Stamp. We look forward with great anticipation to the unveiling of the stamp at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood on April 11.”
Heston is the 18th star to be honored as part of the USPS’ “Legends of Hollywood” series, which first launched in 1995. Past stamps have celebrated such Hollywood greats as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Humphrey Bogart, Lucille Ball, Audrey Hepburn, John Wayne, Judy Garland, James Stewart, Bette Davis, Gary Cooper, Katharine Hepburn and Gregory Peck.
“Charlton Heston brought an intensity and power to the screen that few could ever match and nobody could ever forget,” said Mankiewicz. “He commanded the screen with memorable performances that stood out against even the most spectacular backgrounds. It’s an honor to be taking part in this special celebration of Heston’s unique contributions to motion pictures.”
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