The Isle of Man Post Office has revealed a collection of stamps celebrating the acting career of the late David Bowie.
The set of eight designs includes one that commemorates his role as Bernie in ‘Everybody Loves Sunshine’ which was filmed in the Isle of Man in 1998.
The crime gangster film used locations throughout the island including the Glen Mill Studio in Laxey, Parliament Street in Ramsey, the Rushen Mines, Pulrose Power Station, Athol Street and the old Cave Night Club in Douglas.
Andrew Goth, director and star of the film, said: ‘The Isle of Man was a great place to film.
‘As I drove around the island for the first time, I immediately started to see possibilities – alleyways, housing estates, isolated moorlands perfect for mass murder.
‘We were welcomed with open arms. Bowie told me how much he liked being in the island.
‘He told me he’d been to see Peel Castle and Rushen Castle, as medieval history was one of his big interests.
‘I even introduced Mr Bowie to chicken tikka masala in the Isle of Man, which I couldn’t believe he’d never tried before. He loved it. I have many happy memories of my time there and I’m convinced that David would be proud that Bernie, his creation, will be memorialised in such a super cool way.’
Jonathan Barnbrook has designed the collection and was a collaborator with Bowie on all of his album releases from 2002’s Heathen to his final album Blackstar in 2016.
He was also artistic adviser and part designer of the Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition ‘David Bowie Is’, received two Grammy nominations for his Bowie covers and won one for Blackstar.
He said: ‘I didn’t want to create just another series of nice pictures of David Bowie from record covers.
‘The stamps had to have a connection to the Isle of Man, which is where Everybody Loves Sunshine comes in, but they also needed to show something about Bowie’s career that hadn’t been fully explored, which is why we concentrated on his achievements as an actor.’
The post office’s Maxine Cannon said: ‘For five decades David Bowie was at the forefront of contemporary culture, and has influenced successive generations of musicians, artists, designers and writers.
‘The stamp issue celebrates this unique figure and some of his many celebrated personas.’
The performances celebrated in the collection are: Bernie in Everybody Loves Sunshine; Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth; Major Jack Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence; the title role in Baal; John Merrick in The Elephant Man; Paul Ambrosius von Przygodski in Just a Gigolo and Thomas Jerome Newton in The Man Who Fell to Earth.
l The stamps will be available to purchase from September 12 alongside a ‘Bowie Box’ which contains a stamp booklet containing commentary by Nicholas Pegg, one of the world’s leading authorities on David Bowie.