About This Stamp
With his chiseled jaw, compelling baritone voice, and muscular physique, Charlton Heston (1923–2008) seemed perfectly at home leading a cast of thousands. The 18th stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series salutes an actor who portrayed presidents and prophets, Moses and Michelangelo. Known for tackling heroic roles in epic blockbusters, Heston made more than 70 films in a career that spanned seven decades.
This stamp features a color portrait based on a photograph taken by the actor’s wife, Lydia Clarke Heston. An image of Heston from the 1959 movie Ben-Hur decorates the selvage. Originally shot in black and white, the photograph was later hand-tinted, and shows Heston in his costume from the monumental chariot racing scene, one of the most famous action sequences ever filmed. Heston won a Best Actor Oscar for playing the title character, Judah Ben-Hur, a Judean prince who rebels against Roman occupation during the time of Christ.
Director Cecil B. DeMille tapped Heston for one of the biggest parts of his career: Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956). A Biblical extravaganza that tells the story of Exodus, this sprawling epic featured a cast of thousands, eye-popping special effects, and a Charlton Heston who could convincingly raise a rod over his head and part the Red Sea. Heston lent his heroic presence to other larger-than-life roles in the 1960s, including Michelangelo in The Agony and the Ecstasy and John the Baptist in The Greatest Story Ever Told. He broke new ground in 1968’s Planet of the Apes, making a foray into science fiction as a time-traveling astronaut trapped on a planet ruled by English-speaking apes.
Designed by art director Greg Breeding, the stamp was illustrated by noted movie artist Drew Struzan. The Charlton Heston stamp is being issued in sheets of 20 self-adhesive Forever® stamps.
Name and image of Charlton Heston licensed by the Charlton Heston Family Trust. BEN-HUR – Licensed By: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer
Greg Breeding
Greg Breeding is a graphic designer and principal of Journey Group, a design company he co-founded in 1992, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was creative director until 2013, at which time he began serving as president and continued in that role through 2023.
Breeding’s fascination with modernism began while studying design at Virginia Commonwealth University. His affinity with the movement continues and motivates his ongoing advanced studies at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland most every summer.
As an art director for postage stamp design since 2012, Breeding has designed more than 100 stamps covering a diverse array of subjects, from Star Wars droids and Batman to Harlem Renaissance writers and the transcontinental railroad.
His work has been recognized in annual design competitions held by Graphis, AIGA, PRINT magazine, and Communication Arts.
Breeding lives in North Garden, Virginia, with his wife and enjoys nothing so much as frolicking on the floor with his grandchildren.