‘American treasure’ Betty White remembered upon release of USPS stamp in her honor

A first-day-of-issue ceremony for a stamp featuring the late actress and animal welfare advocate Betty White was held Thursday.

“Betty White was an American treasure,” Amber McReynolds, chairwoman of the USPS Board of Governors, said at the ceremony at the Greater Los Angeles Zoo. “With this stamp, we honor and remember the beloved `First Lady of Television’ and the enduring mark she left on our American culture.”

The forever stamp depicts a digitally created portrait of White displaying her impish smile against a violet-colored background. She is portrayed wearing a polka-dotted blue top.

White was a member of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association’s Board of Trustees and Board of Zoo Commissioners. She also was honored in 2006 as Los Angeles’ “Ambassador to the Animals” for her lifelong work for animals.

Her career began shortly after graduating from Beverly Hills High School in 1939 and continued through 2019, when she added her voice to the animated comedy Trouble, which was released in 2021.

White died on Dec. 31, 2021, at age 99, 17 days before what would have been her 100th birthday.

The early star of local and network television was selected to the Television Academy Hall of Fame and won five Primetime Emmys, including two for her work on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” and one for “The Golden Girls.”