If you are bitten by the thematic stamp collecting bug, sooner or later you will stumble on a stamp depicting a movie icon… and you will want to start collecting those.

There is no denying it. Famous actors and actresses make an attractive subject for collectors of thematic stamps. Many countries have recognized this and are issuing stamps with portraits of their own or of foreigner actors and actresses.

Alas, South Africa does not seem to be one of them; I at least was not able to find one stamp featuring a South African  actor or  actress. That might be because the film industry is relatively young in this country, which would mean that we can expect something in this line in the future. After all, musicians did get their stamps! So, given time…

Of course, one must bear in mind that current South African Post Office policy does not allow depicting a living person on stamps, unless it is the president of a country.

Some other countries also adhere to the “no living persons on stamps” rule. However not all do, as this very, very tiny cross-section of stamps featuring actors and actresses testifies. Besides leading ladies and men who passed away, for example Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Romi Schneider, David Niven and many more, living performers are portrayed too, such as Sophia Loren or Brigit Bardot. In 2009, Australia issued a set of stamps honouring their four (very much living) actors who won an Oscar: Russell Crow, Cate Blanchet, Nicole Kidman and Geoffrey Rush. Each of the stars got two stamps, one showing them in their Oscar-winning role, the other as themselves.

Oh, and in case you wonder why some stamps feature obviously foreign movie stars (some famous, some not-all-that-famous), remember that the sale of  thematic stamp collections can be an important source of income for small economies.

See if you can find thematic stamps with your favourite leading ladies and men in the bidorbuy stamps category!