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Another Opening For Moss Hart
"I am dazzled and delighted and thrilled that I could get such an honor for my husband and I did it single-handedly. I did it all by myself," Moss Hart's widow Kitty Carlisle Hart told The Virtual Stamp Club.She did it by contacting actor Karl Malden, a member of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, whom she knew was very fond of Moss.
"I found his name on the committee and I called him ... and I said, 'Would you help me get a stamp for Moss?' And he said 'I've never done this before for anybody, but I'll do it for him, because I admired him a great deal,'" reports Hart, herself an actress, singer, game show panelist and champion of the arts.
"It's a very good photograph of [Alfred] Eisenstaedt and I'm so happy I'm over the moon," Mrs. Hart said. "He's getting all the other honors he could possibly get .... but I think a stamp is unique."
Kitty Carlisle Hart knew so many big names in showbiz in the 20th Century, so The VSC asked if there are other people she thinks should be on stamps who haven't been. "Yes, I think George Kaufman should be on a stamp, Moss' partner" she answered without hesitation.
She said neither Moss nor Kaufman fit in with the Broadway composers stamps in 1999 (Sc. 3345-3350), but now Hart, at least, has his own stamp.
"I'm so happy and thrilled, and I thank Mr. Malden with all my heart," she said.
Some photographs from the Moss Hart first day ceremony, courtesy Paul Feldman of the U.S. Postal Service:
The Hart family and dignitaries unveil the new stamp
(l-r) USPS Board of Governors Vice Chairman John Walsh, NYU President
Dr. John Sexton, USPS NY Metro Area Vice President David L. Solomon and
Kitty Carlisle Hart
(l-r) USPS Board of Governors Vice Chairman John Walsh, NYU President
Dr. John Sexton, USPS NY Metro Area Vice President David L. Solomon and
Kitty Carlisle Hart
(l-r) Kitty Carlisle Hart, son Christopher Hart, John Walsh, playwright
John Guare
Mrs. Hart is overcome by emotion during remembrances by their son Christopher.
playwright John Guare
Anne Kaufman, daughter of Moss Hart's writing partner George S. Kaufman, speaks to Kitty Carlisle Hart during the autograph session.
For more on Anne Kaufman, click here.
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