The chance to draw Betty White for a U.S. postage stamp was an easy โyesโ for Boston-based illustrator Dale Stephanos.
โI said โyesโ before they finished the sentence,โ he recalls in an interview with TODAY.com.
White died in 2021 at the age of 99. Now, the late actor, known for her roles in โThe Golden Girlsโ and โThe Mary Tyler Moore Show,โ is being honored with Forever Stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service starting March 27.
The stamp celebrates Whiteโs decades-long entertainment career and her advocacy for animals, an element subtly woven into Stephanosโs design.
For Stephanos, who has spent decades creating portraits for outlets like Rolling Stone, Mad Magazine, and Sports Illustrated, the Betty White stamp was particularly meaningful. The illustrator learned his conception for the stamp had been approved just days before his mother died.
โThis is now a very, very personal piece for me,โ he says. โ(My mother) got to see her son do something really cool.โ
Stephanos recalls gathering around a television with his family to watch White on TV. His grandmother had also been named Betty, and in her final days, his mother, despite being in poor health, saw the design go viral.
Stephanos recognized something familiar in Whiteโs trademark blend of wit and warmth โ qualities that reminded him of home.
โShe reminded me of my mother. She had this real ability to say something, and then jaws would drop, and people would be like, โDid she really just say that?โโ he says. โSheโs one of those people who could get away with things that a lot of people couldnโt because she was an older lady, and she had that sweet smile, and itโs delivery โ it was never mean. It was never mean. It was always good humor, even when she was roasting somebody.โ
For the stamp, Stephanos drew inspiration from a portrait of White taken by Kwaku Alston in 2010. Alstonโs photograph shows White in the later part of her career, wearing red, eyes bright with her signature spark.
โItโs just a great photo โย a sweet spot in her older years,โ he says. โI just kind of used that as reference and then kind of changed the colors and tried to make it more handmade than a photo would be.โ
Stephanosโ image is a stylized portrait of White dressed in purple instead of red to reflect a deeper part of Whiteโs legacy.
โPurple is the color of protest. She had such a positive personality. She never seemed angry, even though protest is a form of anger,โ he says.
Even the earring he chose for White was selected with care.
Stephanos sought a subtle way to reflect Betty Whiteโs animal advocacy in the stamp after her estate requested it be part of the design. One morning, Stephanos noticed his wifeโs animal-print dress and shiny earrings. He looked down and realized he had drawn a paw print, and an idea clicked.
โI was like, โOh, wait a minute. We could just do a paw print earring,โ he says.
The small but meaningful detail was ultimately approved and became part of the final stamp, which can be seen on Whiteโs right ear in the portrait.
Stephanos thinks of stamps as โlittle pieces of artโ that โdress up our correspondence.โ
โI know when I get something with an interesting stamp, I take a second, I look at it and appreciate it. I think itโs one of the great things that humans have figured out: a way to communicate in this way,โ he says.
Itโs part of why Whiteโs stamp means so much to him.
โThis is the only stamp Iโm going to use for the rest of my life,โ he says with a laugh. โIโm going to be so obnoxious with this.โ
When asked what kind of message heโd send with it, his answer is certain.
โShe was such a positive, funny, witty, bright light,โ he says. โI think anything that you want to send with a kind of a positive, happy tone (her stamp) would totally be appropriate.โ
