Jim Carrey, Martin Short among five Canadian comedians honored

Five funny Canadians are being honored Aug. 29 on new commemorative permanent stamps from Canada Post. The five stamps in the Great Canadian Comedians set pay tribute to Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short and Olivier Guimond.

All are living honorees except for Guimond, who died in 1971.

Each stamp shows a full color photographic portrait of the featured comedian with three smaller background photographs of the same entertainer in performance.

The stamps come in a booklet of 10, with each stamp repeated twice. The booklets are being issued with five different covers.

A souvenir sheet is available with all five stamps, and an uncut press sheet of four souvenir sheets will be offered as well.

The booklet stamps are self-adhesive, and the souvenir sheet has moisture-activated adhesive.

The Great Canadian Comedians stamps are nondenominated (85¢) permanent stamps fulfilling Canada’s domestic letter rate. Canada’s permanent stamps are valid in perpetuity for payment in full of the domestic first-class letter rate regardless of future rate changes.

The stamp designs pictured with this article are Canada Post publicity images. The stamps were designed by Kosta Tsetsekas, Mike Savage and John Belisle of Signals, a design firm in Vancouver. Canada Post stamp design manager Alain Leduc organized the stamp project.

Jim Carrey was born Jan. 17, 1962, in Newmarket, Ontario. His success on the sketch comedy television show In Living Color led to his starring in the feature films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dumb and Dumber, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty and many others. He was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2004.

On the stamp, from left to right, Carrey is shown in his roles as Ace Ventura, Stanley Ipkiss in The Mask, and Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber.

Mike Myers, born to British parents May 25, 1963, in Toronto, Ontario, is known for his role as a featured performer on the NBC television series Saturday Night Live, and as the star of the Wayne’s World film series, three Austin Powers movies and more, including as the voice of the title character in the Shrek animated film series.

The commemorative stamp shows Myers as Wayne Campbell from Wayne’s World, and as Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, both from the Austin Powers series.

Catherine O’Hara was born March 4, 1954, in Toronto, Ontario. She started in comedy at Toronto’s Second City, and was long associated with SCTV in many different roles. She was featured in the popular films Beetlejuice, Home Alone and others, and contributed a voice performance in The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The stamp, from left to right, shows her as Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice, as Marilyn Hack in For Your Consideration, and as Mickey Crabbe in A Mighty Wind.

Martin Short was born March 26, 1950, in Hamilton, Ontario. His career included stints on SCTV and Saturday Night Live, where his fame grew with the development of ever-more quirky sketch characters, including lounge entertainer Jackie Rogers Jr., and effusive triangle-playing eccentric Ed Grimley.

Short’s work in feature films includes Three Amigos, Father of the Bride and Mars Attacks!

Three of Short’s memorable characters are pictured on the stamp: Ed Grimley, showbiz interviewer Jiminy Glick and Jackie Rogers Jr.

Olivier Guimond was born May 21, 1914, in Montreal and debuted in Quebec burlesque at age 17. His aptitude for physical comedy and growing fame led him to television roles in Le zoo du Capitaine Bonhomme, Cre Basile and A la Branche d’Olivier. With Canadian troops deployed in Quebec during the October Crisis, Guimond starred as a Francophone soldier guarding the home of a wealthy Anglophone in a memorable sketch for the 1970 comedy review Bye-Bye.

The images on the stamp, provided by the Guimond family, include the comic’s familiar “thumbs up” signal, seen throughout Quebec in a series of commercials for Labatt 50 ale.

The Great Canadian Comedians stamps are printed by five-color lithography for the booklet stamps, and eight-color lithography for the souvenir sheet.

Each of the individual official first-day covers for the set will be postmarked in the respective comedian’s hometown.

Canada Post will service 16,000 FDCs for the Jim Carrey and Mike Myers stamps, 14,000 FDCs for the Martin Short and Catherine O’Hara stamps, and 11,500 FDCs for the Olivier Guimond stamp.

Canada Post item numbers and additional technical details were not available as this issue of Linn’s was going to press.

Canada Post products are available at www.canadapost.ca/shop.

Stamps and FDCs are available by mail order from the National Philatelic Centre, Canada Post Corp., 75 St. Ninian St., Antigonish, NS B2G 2R8, Canada; or by telephone from the United States and Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

Canada’s stamps and stamp products are also available from many new-issue stamp dealers, and from Canada Post’s agent in the United States: Interpost, Box 420, Hewlett, NY 11557.