Bob Hope Stamp "Previewed"

The Postal Service reports a commemorative stamp honoring entertainer Bob Hope was "previewed" Monday at a ceremony on Ellis Island. Hope’s daughter, Linda, joined USPS Governor Katherine Tobin at the event.

According to the Marin Independent Journal, the stamp was a "pinch-hitting" opportunity for artist Kazuhiko Sano whose portrait of the late entertainer appears on the stamp (shown above).

Sano, 56, is quoted in article by reporter Jim Staats as saying, "I came in kind of like a last-minute stand-in in early September." Staats says surviving family members weren't happy with work done by another illustrator.

According to the article, initial talk of a Hope caricature was scratched in favor of "a good, warm, dignified image of Bob Hope to represent the man who entertained us for all those years." Sano, a Tokyo native, watched a lot of Hope's old movies and television shows in order to come up with the image.

Sano has a long history with the U.S. Postal Service. His 16 paintings or illustrations for stamps include last year's commemorative stamp for Frank Sinatra.

The Bob Hope commemorative stamp is scheduled for release nationwide next May 29 and will not be part of the Legends of Hollywood series according to the Postal Service.

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