Set of 5: 1991 Comedians Series

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LC"REL PRDY 29 29 1991 90028 СА 770H ABPAT& COSTELLO 29 29 1991 90028 СА ALYWOOD JAC BENNY 29 1991 29 90028 tung 770H BERGEN & MCCARTHY 29 1991 90028 tung CA 770H 29 FANNY BRICE 1991 90028 thung СА 770H

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LAUREL AND HARDY First Day of Issue: August 29, 1991 First Issue Location: Hollywood, California “What is comedy? I don't know... All I know is that I learned to get laughs, and that's all I know about it." Stan Laurel’s diffident explanation for his immense talent only partially explains why he and partner Oliver Hardy became and continue to be the reigning monarchs of American comedy. Stan Laurel came to the United States from England as understudy for another English come- dian, Charlie Chaplin. Oliver Hardy spent his early Hol- lywood years playing villains and foils opposite early silent stars. In 1925 Hardy joined the Hal Roach studio. Stan Laurel returned to the studio that same year, and in 1926 Roach paired them as a starring team. Laurel and Hardy spent the next twenty-four years bumbling into and out of absurd celluloid situations. Hardy's tie-fiddling, straight man and Laurel's bewildered innocent ambled into movie-goers' hearts, where they have remained. Hardy died in 1957; Laurel followed him eight years later. Yet their immutable style continues to issue challenges which few contemporary comedians can or will meet. No. 91-73 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by George Sottung "Laurel and Hardy" Characters TM & © 1991 Larry Harmon Pictures Corporation. All rights reserved. ABBOTT AND COSTELLO First Day of Issue: August 29, 1991 First Issue Location: Hollywood, California “You know, strange as it may seem, they give ballplayers nowadays very peculiar names... Now, on the St. Louis team, Who's on first, What'son second, I Don't know'son third...” So begins one of comedy's most hilarious rou- tines, brilliantly immortalized by the team of Abbott and Costello. William “Bud" Abbott entered burlesque as a theater treasurer, but soon realized that his talent lay in comedy. Costello — born Louis Francis Cristillo — had been a formidable amateur athlete before trying his luck in burlesque as a “top banana" or leading comic. He and Abbott began working together in 1936. Two years later the team embarked on an enormously successful film career, starring in such hits as Buck Privates and Hold That Ghost. Abbott's sarcastic delivery beautifully comple- mented Costello's cherubic clowning, and American audiences couldn't get enough of them. The stamp and design on this Maximum Card present the comedy duo whose razor-sharp dialogue and slapstick antics made Hollywood history — Abbott and Costello. No. 91-74 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting for the Maximum Card by George Sottung Bud Abbott and Lou Costello by license, Curtis Management Group. JACK BENNY First Day of Issue: August 29, 1991 First Issue Location: Hollywood, California During the late 1950s, the familiar strains of “Love in Bloom" invited millions of Americans to watch their favorite television comedian, Jack Benny — the grumpy, inconsiderate but lovable tightwad. Born Benjamin Kubelsky in 1894, Benny grew up in Waukegan, Illinois. Armed with his violin, he started playing the vaudeville circuits in 1912. Hollywood directors cast him in his first movie in 1927. But it was ultimately radio and television which shot him to stardom. In 1932 he entered radio, and “The Jack Benny Program” broadcast over the airwaves for the next twenty-three years. His supporting cast in- cluded Eddie Anderson as the long-suffering Rochester and his wife Sadie Marks as Mary Livingstone. They came with him to television, and for another decade Benny's exaggerated gestures and facial mannerisms kept audi- ences aching with laughter. The design on this Maximum Card portrays Jack Benny as audiences knew and loved him best. Joined by the stamp which bears his likeness, the design salutes America's beloved “Mr. Benny." No. 91-75 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by George Sottung BERGEN AND MCCARTHY First Day of Issue: August 29, 1991 First Issue Location: Hollywood, California The art of comic ventriloquism achieved new heights under the onus of Edgar Bergen and his wise-cracking alter-ego, Charlie McCarthy. Born Edgar John Bergren in 1903, Bergen developed his unusual talent while still in grade school. Charlie McCarthy was “born” during Bergen's high school years. Although someone else carved the dummy's head, Bergen lovingly crafted its body himself. He soon grew proficient enough to subsi- dize his collegiate expenses at Northwestern University with ventriloquism and feats of magic. Bergen broke into show business by way of vaudeville and eventually headlined in nightclubs across the United States and Europe. He entered radio in 1937, and “The Edgar Bergen – Charlie McCarthy Show" became a permanent net- work fixture for the next two decades. The program remained on the air waves until 1957. Bergen died in 1978, but in Hollywood history he and Charlie remain inseparable partners whose gentle humor charmed American audiences for more than five decades. No. 91-76 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by George Sottung FANNY BRICE First Day of Issue: August 29, 1991 First Issue Location: Hollywood, California Fanny Brice, American comedienne and singer, capti- vated theater audiences with her engaing buffoonery for nearly half a century. Born in 1891 in New York City, Fanny Brice made her vaudeville debut at age thirteen. Within five years she graduated to burlesque, then a form of slapstick theater entertainment which featured jokes, parodies and comic songs. In 1910 the great theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld saw her perform at a run-down Brooklyn theater and subsequently signed her for the Follies, his elaborate revues. Appearing with such well- known stars as Will Rogers and Billie Burke, Brice exag- gerated her plain looks and comic awkwardness in bril- liant pantomimes which won her instant stardom. In 1921 a heart-wrenching rendition of “My Man" thrust her into the realm of torch singers, and her popularity soared. In 1937 she entered radio as the incorrigible Baby Snooks, and she remained a radio personality until her death in 1951. The stamp and design on this Maximum Card celebrates the timeless talent of Fanny Brice. No. 91-77 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 ® Original painting for the Maximum Card by George Sottung