Isle of Man honors Bowie’s acting career

By Denise McCarty

The Isle of Man is featuring David Bowie on its Europa stamp reflecting the 2022 theme of myths and legends.

The stamp is being issued Sept. 12 as part of a set of eight stamps celebrating Bowie’s career as an actor and performer and also commemorating his 75th birth anniversary. Bowie was born David Robert Jones Jan. 8, 1947, in England, and died Jan. 10, 2016.

The 104-penny Europa stamp shows Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King in the Labyrinth. The 1986 film has been described as a musical fantasy and a modern fairy tale.

Another stamp in the set depicts Bowie as a gangster in the 1999 movie Everybody Loves Sunshine, which was filmed and produced on the Isle of Man.

The Isle of Man Post Office describes the set of eight as honoring “five Bowie films as well as his Broadway performance in The Elephant Man, the BBC television adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s play Baal and a special stamp titled ‘The Final Portrait’ which shows Bowie in his last photoshoot.”

British graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook, who created the artwork for several of Bowie’s musical albums, designed the Isle of Man issue.

In addition to showing a photograph of Bowie, each stamp features his last name at the bottom with the three legs of Mann symbol as the “o.”

Belgium’s Bpost printer printed the stamps by offset lithography in sheets of nine. The Isle of Man also is offering several related products, including a 28-page booklet containing the stamps.

For details, visit the Isle of Man Post Office online.

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