Featuring a newly restored print of My Darling Clementine (1946)

One of America’s finest actors, Henry Fonda was noted for his quiet, understated style. He appeared in 85 movies during his more than 45-year career, and during that time, he never received a bad review. Born in Grand Island, Nebraska, Fonda began his career on stage with the Omaha Community Playhouse. His solid Mid-western background served him well as an actor. He typically played thoughtful men of integrity and was noted for his ability to give weight and dimension to his characters even when they were listening and not speaking.

Fonda was nominated for an acting Oscar in 1940 for his performance as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. He didn’t win that year; the statuette went his close friend Jimmy Stewart for The Philadelphia Story. He was again nominated in 1957 as one of the producers of Best Picture nominee 12 Angry Men. He wasn’t nominated again until 1981 when he took home the Leading Actor Oscar for his final film performance in On Golden Pond. He had received an Honorary Oscar the year prior for being “the consummate actor, [and] in recognition of his brilliant accomplishments and enduring contribution to the art of motion pictures.” In 1948 he had been awarded a Tony Award for his work in the Broadway production of Mister Roberts.

In My Darling Clementine (1946), Fonda plays Wyatt Earp in John Ford’s indelible version of the events precipitating the famous shootout at the OK Corral. The plot is centered around the arrival of Earp and his brothers in Tombstone, Arizona, and their escalating vendetta with the Clanton family, led by its malevolent patriarch (Walter Brennan). Picking up consumptive but straight-shooting Doc Holliday (Victor Mature) as an ally, the Earps stride to one of the great climaxes in the history of Westerns.

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation; A Darryl F. Zanuck Production. Starring Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Cathy Downs, Walter Brennan, Tim Holt, Ward Bond and Jane Darwell. Produced by Samuel G. Engel. Directed by John Ford. Screenplay by Samuel G. Engel and Winston Miller from a story by Sam Hellman. Based on a book by Stuart N. Lake. Photographed by Joe MacDonald, A.S.C. Musical Direction by Alfred Newman. Music by Cyril Mockridge. Orchestration by Edward Powell. Art Direction by James Basevi and Lyle Wheeler. Set decoration by Thomas Little. Film Edited by Dorothy Spencer. Costumes by Renè Hubert. Makeup by Ben Nye. Sound by Eugene Grossman and Roger Heman. Special Photography Effects by Fred Sersen. 1946. Black-and white. 97 minutes. Screened courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox.

On the day of the event, the Beverly Hills post office will begin selling the Henry Fonda stamps when the customer windows open. The Postal Service will have a special retail station in the Academy Grand Lobby beginning at 3 p.m. Stamps, special First Day of Issue cancellations and other unique commemorative items will be available. Stamp artist Drew Struzan based his portrait of Fonda on a photograph taken by Frank Powolny in 1941. For the selvage, art director Derry Noyes chose a photograph showing Fonda in his iconic performance as dispossessed farmer Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). This is the eleventh in the very successful Legends of Hollywood series. You will not need a ticket to the event to purchase the stamps.