U.S. #3287
33¢ Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne
Performing Arts Series
Issue Date: March 2, 1999
City: New York, NY
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 11.2
Color: Multicolored
World-famous husband and wife acting team Alfred Lunt (1892-1977) and Lynn Fontanne (1887-1983) performed together in over two-dozen shows, beginning with “Sweet Nell of Old Drury” in 1923, and culminating with “The Visit” in 1960. During the 1920s and 1930s, they were the center of Broadway show-business life.
Born in Milwaukee, Lunt attended Carroll and Harvard colleges. He made his debut in 1913 with a Boston acting company, and had his first success on Broadway in “Clarence” (1919). Fontanne, born in Essex, England, made her first stage appearance in 1905. She landed her first New York City acting role five years later. The pair met on Broadway in 1917, and married on May 26, 1922.
The couple’s 1924 show “The Guardsman” earned them enthusiastic praise. Among the other plays they starred in were “Design for Living” (1933), “Idiot’s Delight” (1936), and “Amphitryon 38” (1938), a photo from which is shown on this cover. They also performed on television and film, and Lunt directed two operas.
In later years, the Lunts devoted much time to their farm in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin. In 1958, the Globe Theatre in New York City was renamed the Lunt-Fontanne Theater in their honor.