U.S. #1803
15¢ W. C. Fields
Performing Arts

Issue Date: January 29, 1980
City: Beverly Hills, CA
Quantity: 168,995,000
Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: 11
Color: Multicolored

W.C. Fields (1880-1946) ran away from home at age 11, and by age 14 had...  more

U.S. #1803
15¢ W. C. Fields
Performing Arts

Issue Date: January 29, 1980
City: Beverly Hills, CA
Quantity: 168,995,000
Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: 11
Color: Multicolored

W.C. Fields (1880-1946) ran away from home at age 11, and by age 14 had a successful vaudeville career. From 1915-21, he performed a juggling act on Broadway in the Ziegfield Follies. In 1915, Fields starred in a silent film, but did not win fame until the advent of sound films. By 1931, he had moved to Hollywood, where he began writing, directing, and starring in films. 

Fields starred in “The Old-Fashioned Way,” “It’s a Gift,” “David Copperfield,” “You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man,” “My Little Chickadee,” and “Never Give a Sucker an Even Break.”

Performing Arts Series

On May 24, 1978, the USPS issued the first stamp in the Performing Arts Series, honoring Jimmie Rodgers.

The Jimmie Rodgers stamp was issued on May 24, 1978, in his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi.  The stamp issue coincided with the town’s annual Jimmie Rodgers Festival.  The stamp shows Rodgers as the “Singing Brakeman,” a character based on his previous experience on the railroad that he later also portrayed in a short film.  Called the “Father of Country Music,” Rodgers was the first person ever inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.