The U.S. Postal Service unveiled a new Forever stamp celebrating Betty White on March 28, 2025, at a first-day-of-issue ceremony held at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, spotlighting her wit, charm, and animal advocacy. The stamp, featuring White’s playful smirk, aims to brighten First-Class Mail while honoring a television icon whose career spanned over seven decades.
“Betty White was an American treasure,” said Amber McReynolds, chairwoman of the USPS Board of Governors, during the event. “With this stamp, we honor and remember the beloved ‘First Lady of Television’ and the enduring mark she left on our American culture.” The ceremony drew a crowd of admirers, including artist Dale Stephanos, who shared the inspiration behind the stamp’s design.
“I was absentmindedly drawing instead of eating my eggs and looking back down at the mess I had been making in my sketchbook, I saw that at some point, I had drawn a paw print,” Stephanos said. “I had a bit of a eureka moment and thought, what if I just give Betty an earring that’s in the shape of a paw print?” The subtle nod to White’s love for animals complements her polka-dotted blue top in the portrait, based on a 2010 photo by Kwaku Alston.
Born Jan. 17, 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois, White moved to Southern California in 1923, where her passion for animals and performing took root. Her career began on radio in 1930 and television in 1939, singing in an experimental broadcast of “The Merry Widow.” During World War II, she served in the American Women’s Voluntary Services, driving supply trucks in the Hollywood Hills. Her big break came in 1949 with “Hollywood on Television,” a grueling live show that earned her a 1952 Los Angeles Emmy.
White’s trailblazing continued as she hosted and produced “The Betty White Show” and co-created “Life With Elizabeth” (1952-1955), becoming one of the first women to produce a national sitcom. Her roles on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Golden Girls” cemented her legacy, with the latter’s seven-season run breaking ground for older women on TV. She won five Primetime Emmys, a Daytime Emmy as the first female game show host for “Just Men!” in 1983, and numerous other accolades, per the Television Academy.
Her animal advocacy shone through her work with the Los Angeles Zoo, where she served as a trustee and donor. Alongside husband Allen Ludden, whom she met on “Password” in 1961 and married in 1963, she produced “The Pet Set” in 1971, featuring pets and wildlife. “Her lifelong relationship with the zoo was profound,” said Richard Lichtenstein, co-chair of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association’s board, at the ceremony.
Later roles included “Hot in Cleveland” and a record-setting “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig at 88 in 2010. White died Dec. 31, 2021, just shy of 100. The stamp, sold in panes of 20, features her name in violet against a bubbly backdrop, designed by Greg Breeding with Stephanos’ art. Other attendees included jazz musician Ellis Hall and KABC-TV’s Danny Romero, the emcee.
The #BettyWhiteStamp hashtag is amplifying the tribute online, celebrating a legacy that resonates from coast to coast.
