A mischievous portrait of beloved American actress and comedienne Betty White, who died in 2021, will begin flying across the country on the upper right hand corner of envelopes everywhere next week, thanks in large part to the talent of illustrator Dale Stephanos, who spent his teen years in Groveland.
Now a resident of Foxborough, 60-year-old Stephanos was chosen to design the U.S., Postal Service’s newest postage stamp through a competitive process, according to Postal Spokesman Stephen Doherty. Stephanos along with his art director, Greg Breeding, will be honored at the stamp’s unveiling Thursday, March 27, at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Garden. This “First Day of Issue” event is being held at the zoo in recognition of White’s animal activism, Doherty said.
“We chose Dale for his ability to take subjects that were older and imbue them with dignity and beauty,” Doherty said. “His portrait is simply beautiful and captures her smile and eyes so wonderfully.”
White (1922-2021), often called “The First Lady of Television,” graced television screens for more than eight decades. She achieved fame with her appearances on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls. She remained a very popular entertainer well into her 90s.
Stephanos based his initial graphite drawing of White on a 2010 photograph taken by Kwaku Alston. Stephanos said the image was chosen by White’s family.
White’s family also requested that her animal activism make an appearance in the stamp, an idea which initially stumped Stephanos and Breeding.
“My art director and I were a little bit freaked out because we thought we’ve got to put an animal in and a portrait and stamps are very small,” he said.
Stephanos’s wife, WCVB Channel 5 TV Anchor Maria Stephanos, turned out to be his inspiration.
“One day, Maria came down and she was ready for work and she kind of swooshed into the room, heels clacking on the floor and her bracelets jangling and all of that and I kind of glanced over and saw an animal print and noticed her earrings. I looked back at my sketchbook and saw that at some point I had drawn a paw print and a bell went off and I thought, ‘Oh, maybe a paw print for an earring would work. That would solve that problem,’” he explained.
So, Stephanos added diamond-studded paw print earrings to his digital drawing, a detail many might miss unless they use a magnifying glass given the small size of Stephanos’ final image.
Stephanos and his family moved to Groveland from Swampscott in the late 70s. He said he got his start delighting audiences with his cartoons and illustration while at Pentucket Regional High School on the Groveland and West Newbury line. Among those who laughed at his work was his future wife.
Stephanos recalled that he was voted “Most Artistic” by his classmates in the Class of 1982 yearbook. Initially, he thought he wanted to be a musician but he kept returning to his sketch pad. One day not long after his Pentucket graduation, he walked into the Haverhill Gazette office and offered up an editorial cartoon. He was paid $10. As he got more confident in his abilities, he pitched his work to other Boston area publications which lead to a 14-year stint at the Boston Herald. He went on his own in 2006 and has penned many magazine covers and other illustrations. In fact, he and Breeding are working on five more designs for U.S. postage stamps, including one honoring writer and philosopher William F. Buckley which will be released later this year.
The Betty White stamps will be sold in panels of 20 stamps and will be available for purchase online and at local post offices.