Historic 1982 Cloris Leachman Hand-Signed The Barrymores First Day Cover
This museum-grade, officially issued United States Postal Service First Day Cover—dated June 8, 1982—stands as an exceptional artifact of theater history, postal americana, and classic Hollywood biography. Personally hand-signed on the envelope face by one of the most decorated actresses in entertainment history, Cloris Leachman, this limited-edition philatelic collectible serves as a beautiful bridge between early twentieth-century stage drama and modern broadcasting heritage.
Released during a prominent era of her multi-award-winning career, this item represents a premier milestone acquisition asset for advanced autograph archives, classic comedy curators, and elite entertainment manuscript collections worldwide.
Philatelic Covenants & Production Specifications
The collectible envelope captures an intricate matrix of pre-printed artwork, vintage postal markers, and historical metadata:
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The Barrymores Commemorative Stamp: The upper-right corner features an attached, official 20-cent United States postage stamp from the celebrated Performing Arts USA series, beautifully depicting the profiles of the legendary American theatrical dynasty siblings: Lionel, Ethel, and John Barrymore.
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Official First Day of Issue Postmark: Authenticated by the United States Postal Service with a crisp, circular date stamp and cancellation bars applied on the exact day of release: NEW YORK, NY 10001 — JUN 8, 1982, underscored by the machine-printed text bar: “FIRST DAY OF ISSUE.”
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American Postal Arts Society Cachet: The left third features an elegant graphic design matrix layout printed by the issuing organization. Titled “PERFORMING ARTS USA — The Barrymores,” this limited-edition cachet portrays individual illustrated portraits of the three theater titans, neatly hand-notated under their respective likenesses: Ethel, John, and Lionel.
Autograph Pedigree & Archival Condition
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Pristine Leachman Signature: Positioned flawlessly across the lower-right quadrant of the envelope face, beneath the official postmark, the comedy icon hand-penned an exhibition-quality cursive signature: "Cloris Leachman". Written in bold black ink, the script captures her classic, fluid signature style with magnificent line consistency.
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Preservation Status: Dating back over four decades, the original off-white envelope stock remains in magnificent, pristine archival condition. The paper face exhibits sharp corners, clean borders, and uniform ink saturation, entirely free of modern notation blemishes or smudging. The reverse panel features a neat, light pencil archival identification notation.
Safely housed inside clear, archival-grade protective display sleeves to guarantee permanent preservation, this certified historical archive represents the absolute zenith of premium entertainment philatelic collecting.
