Gregory Peck postage stamp ceremony Thursday

A postage stamp honoring the late Oscar-winning actor Gregory Peck will be presented Thursday at a ceremony at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The timing seems appropriate, since one of his most popular films, the World War II action adventure “The Guns of Navarone,” celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture, director (J. Lee Thompson) and screenplay (Carl Foreman), and winning for special effects. “Guns of Navarone” is based on Alistair MacLean’s novel about six men who are sent to the Aegean Sea island of Navarone to destroy a supposedly impenetrable Nazi military operation. Peck played the heroic, stalwart Capt. Mallory; costars included Oscar winners Anthony Quinn and David Niven. Dimitri Tiomkin supplied the pulsating score. A box-office hit, “Guns” was Peck’s most financially successful film until 1976’s “The Omen.”