JOHNSON – Donald Sutherland wants us to send him a postcard … with his own stamp

A FAMOUS CANADIAN, star of screen and stage, an Officer AND a Companion of the Order of Canada, recipient of an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe winner … had his own Canada Post Stamp released this week … and he’s tickled pink about it.

Although he recognises and values the accolades and awards provided him by the entertainment industry, this feels different to him.

“It’s the biggest thing to me,” he said from his home in Georgetown Quebec. “I kept saying: ‘I’m a Canadian and now I’m a Canadian stamp.’ God damn. This is really something. In 2010 I was honoured to carry the Olympic Flag into the Opening Ceremonies alongside 7 other very notable Canadians, and I thought that was neat … but this … wow.”

This matters to him, as the 88-year-old remembers what we call today ‘snail mail’ was the only way to keep in touch with far away family and friends.  Stamps were vital to his and everyone’s life. It was the only barrier and cost to communication, local, cross country or overseas.

Born in New Brunswick and moved to Nova Scotia as a teen, before moving on to the University of Toronto, Sutherland later left for England, where he pursued his passion for acting.  His wife of over 50 years; Francine Racette, is Quebecois and also an actor.

“The only thing that connected you, at that time in the late ’40s, early ’50s, was a letter in the post,” he said. “They became … the thread in the fabric that bound my family … and many families together. It was incredibly important. Back then a long-distance telephone call just cost too much money.”

The stamp features a formal profile of Sutherland, and includes titles of some of his film projects, including “The Dirty Dozen,” “Ordinary People,” “The Italian Job,” and “M*A*S*H*.”

Sutherland went on to star in the 1978 remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and the 2005 version of “Pride & Prejudice.” More recently, he played the main antagonist – President Coriolanus Snow – in “The Hunger Games” movie franchise.

Canada Post said the stamp is meant to commemorate Sutherland’s storied career as one of Canada’s … and Hollywood’s … most respected and versatile actors, which has seen him appear in more than 200 films and TV programs.

He admits he’s more of an email guy these days. It’s hard to beat the convenience, particularly when it comes to sending long missives.

Now, he hopes people make use of the stamp.

“Buy my stamp. Buy a lot of my stamps and send letters. Send them to people. Just little postcards: ‘Hi, how are you? Donald asked me to send a stamp.”

“Tell ya what … send one to me.  Get a postcard, buy my stamp, write a quick note and send it to me, it would be great to get a bunch of mail from Canadians, to a Canadian, using his own stamp … that’s just neat.  Here’s my address:

Donald Sutherland
General Delivery,
Georgetown, QC
J0B 1T0

I would be delighted,
Thank you, xo Donald”

David Johnson is a Kamloops resident, community volunteer and self described maven of all things Canadian.