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From The Sunday Times
May 4, 2008

Dracula sinks his teeth into Royal Mail history

The Mummy stamp
Brian Pendreigh

HE may appear in the guise of the undead but Christopher Lee will make history next month by being among the first living non-royals to be portrayed on a British stamp.

The 85-year-old actor will appear as Dracula on a set of commemorative stamps next month marking the 50th anniversary of the Hammer horror and Carry On films.

The stamps, which break more than 80 years of convention, will be released on June 10. They feature six original film posters, including Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein, and The Mummy. Lee appears on all three of the horror posters, albeit heavily bandaged in one and partly obscured in another. In the Dracula poster, he is preparing to sink his fangs into the neck of a victim.

The first-class stamp shows Shirley Eaton, now 71, and Dora Bryan, 84, among the cast of Carry On Sergeant. Eaton is best known for her role as the gold-painted girl in the James Bond film Goldfinger.

The use of living nonroyals is at odds with the Royal Mail’s policy, going back to 1924, that they can appear on stamps only if they are part of a larger group – such as the 2005 Ashes-winning England cricket team.

Michael Wolff, a member of the Royal Mail’s stamp advisory committee, admitted the ban was being gradually relaxed.

“Everything has got to move on,” said Wolff. “I think it [the ban] will gradually fade away.”

The stamps have not been welcomed by fans of Hammer films, who described the poster reproductions as “terrible” because, being so small, they are nearly illegible.

Bruce Sachs, owner of Tomahawk Press, which has published several books about Hammer, said: “These are a real embarrassment.”

Royal Mail said the stamps were of movie posters that showed film characters rather than of individuals.

Buckingham Palace said new designs were personally approved by the Queen.

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