Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831)
[ was a Welsh actress, the best-known ]tragedienne
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...
of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...
dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified".[
She was the elder sister of ]John Philip Kemble
John Philip Kemble (1 February 1757 – 26 February 1823) was a British actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him o ...
, Charles Kemble
Charles Kemble (25 November 1775 – 12 November 1854) was a Welsh-born English actor of a prominent theatre family.
Life
Charles Kemble was one of 13 siblings and the youngest son of English Roman Catholic theatre manager/actor Roger Kemble ...
, Stephen Kemble
George Stephen Kemble (21 April 1758 – 5 June 1822) was a successful English theatre manager, actor, and writer, and a member of the famous Kemble family. He was described as "the best Sir John Falstaff which the British stage ever saw" thoug ...
, Ann Hatton
Ann Julia Hatton (née Kemble; other married name Curtis; published as Ann of Swansea) (29 April 1764 – 26 December 1838), was a popular novelist in Britain in the early 19th century and author of '' Tammany'', the first known libretto by a w ...
, and Elizabeth Whitlock
Elizabeth Whitlock (née Kemble; 2 April 1761, Warrington, Lancashire27 February 1836, Addlestone) was an English actress, a member of the Kemble (family), Kemble family of actors. She made her first appearance on the stage in 1783. In 1785 she m ...
, and the aunt of Fanny Kemble
Frances Anne "Fanny" Kemble (27 November 180915 January 1893) was a British actress from a theatre family in the early and mid-19th century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist, whose published works included plays, poetry ...
. She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
character, Lady Macbeth, a character she made her own,[ as well as for fainting at the sight of the ]Elgin Marbles
The Elgin Marbles (), also known as the Parthenon Marbles ( el, Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα, lit. "sculptures of the Parthenon"), are a collection of Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of the architect and s ...
in London.[
The Sarah Siddons Society, founded in 1952, continues to present the ]Sarah Siddons Award
The Sarah Siddons Award, established in 1952, is presented annually to an actor for an outstanding performance in a Chicago theatrical production. The winner receives a statuette of the Welsh stage actress Sarah Siddons.
It is awarded by the Sar ...
annually in Chicago to a distinguished actress.
Background
The 18th-century marked the 'emergence of a recognisably modern celebrity culture' and Siddons was at the heart of it. Portraits depicted actresses in aristocratic dress, the recently industrialised newspapers spread actresses' names and images and gossip about their private lives spread through the public. Though few people had actually seen Siddons perform, her name had been circulated to such an extent that when it was announced 'the crowd behaved as if they knew her already'. Actresses playing and acting like aristocrats decreased the difference in the public's eyes between actresses and aristocrats and many earned large amounts of money. Despite this giving actresses a larger amount of control, women were still viewed as 'extreme representations of femininity - they were good or bad, comic or tragic, prostitutes or virgins, mistresses or mothers'. Their on-stage roles and personal biographies blurred - leading to many actresses using these extreme representations of femininity to create a persona that could be viewed both on and off stage.
Biography
Early life
Siddons was born Sarah Kemble in Brecon
Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...
, Brecknockshire, Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, the eldest daughter of Roger Kemble
Roger Kemble (1 March 1721 – 6 December 1802) was an English theatre manager, strolling player and actor. In 1753, he married Irish actress Sarah "Sally" Ward (1735–1806) at Cirencester, Gloucestershire, and they had thirteen children, who f ...
, a Roman Catholic, and Sarah "Sally" Ward, a Protestant. Sarah and her sisters were raised in their mother's faith and her brothers were raised in their father's faith. Roger Kemble was the manager of a touring theatre company, the Warwickshire Company of Comedians.
Although the theatre company included most members of the Kemble family
Kemble is the name of a family of English actors, who reigned over the English stage for many decades. The most famous were Sarah Siddons (1755–1831) and her brother John Philip Kemble (1757–1823), the two eldest of the twelve children of Ro ...
, Siddons' parents initially disapproved of her choice of profession. At that time, acting was only beginning to become a respectable profession for a woman.[
From 1770 until her marriage in 1773, Siddons served as a lady's maid and later as companion to Lady Mary Bertie Greatheed at ]Guy's Cliffe
Guy's Cliffe (variously spelled with and without an apostrophe and a final "e") is a hamlet and former civil parish on the River Avon and the Coventry Road between Warwick and Leek Wootton, in the parish of Leek Wootton and Guy's Cliffe, in the ...
near Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
.[ Lady Greatheed was the daughter of the ]Duke of Ancaster
Earl of Lindsey is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1626 for the 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (see Baron Willoughby de Eresby for earlier history of the family). He was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1635 to 1636 an ...
; her son, Bertie Greatheed
Bertie Greatheed (1759–1826) was an English dramatist, slave owner and landowner.
Life
Greatheed was born on 19 October 1759, the son of the MP Samuel Greatheed of Guy's Cliffe, near Warwick, and his wife Lady Mary Bertie, daughter of Peregri ...
, was a dramatist who continued the family's friendship with Siddons.[
]
Early career: Before success in London
In 1774, Siddons won her first success as Belvidera in Thomas Otway
Thomas Otway (3 March 165214 April 1685) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for '' Venice Preserv'd'', or ''A Plot Discover'd'' (1682).
Life
Otway was born at Trotton near Midhurst, the parish of which his fathe ...
's ''Venice Preserv'd
''Venice Preserv'd'' is an English Restoration play written by Thomas Otway, and the most significant tragedy of the English stage in the 1680s. It was first staged in 1682, with Thomas Betterton as Jaffeir and Elizabeth Barry as Belvidera. The ...
''. This brought her to the attention of David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
, who sent his deputy to see her as Calista in Nicholas Rowe's '' Fair Penitent'', the result being that she was engaged to appear at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...
. Owing to inexperience as well as other circumstances, her first appearances as Portia and in other parts were not well received and she received a note from the manager of Drury Lane stating that her services would not be required. She was, in her own words, "banished from Drury Lane as a worthless candidate for fame and fortune".[
After she was released from Drury Lane, Siddons was immediately engaged by Richard Yates, manager of the Theatre Royal Birmingham. During the summer of 1776, John Henderson would see Siddons perform. He was immediately struck with her excellence, and pronounced that she would never be surpassed. He did more than this; he wrote directly to Palmer, manager of the ]Theatre Royal Bath
The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audie ...
, to advise an engagement of her without delay. Due to there being no available roles for Siddons at the time of Henderson's letter, Palmer could not immediately attend to his advice.
In 1777, she went on "the circuit" in the provinces. For the next six years she worked in provincial companies, in particular York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and Bath. Her first appearance at Bath's Old Orchard Street Theatre was in autumn 1778 at a salary of £3 per week (, or approximately $). This amount grew as her performances became better known, and as she began to appear in Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
at the Theatre Royal, King Street (which now houses the Bristol Old Vic
Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...
), also run by John Palmer John Palmer may refer to:
People
Politicians
* John Palmer (fl. 1377–1394), English politician
* Sir John Palmer, 5th Baronet (1735–1817), British politician
* John Palmer (1785–1840), U.S. congressman from New York
* John Palmer (1842–19 ...
. Siddons lived with her husband and children in a Georgian house at 33 The Paragon in Bath, until her final performance there in May 1782.[
To say farewell to Bristol and Bath, Siddons presented her famous 'three reasons' speech. In a speech of her own writing, Siddons literally presented her three children as her three reasons for leaving. She said 'These are the moles that bear me from your side; / Where I was rooted - where I could have died. / Stand forth, ye elves, and plead your mother's cause' ][Campbell, T. (1834). Life of Mrs. Siddons''.'' London: E. Wilson, Vol. 1 pg108/9] The presentation of her own motherhood was something she used throughout her career, notably when she performed her next Drury Lane appearance, on 10 October 1782, which could not have been more different from her debut performances. She was an immediate sensation playing the title role in Garrick's adaptation of a play by Thomas Southerne
Thomas Southerne (12 February 166026 May 1746) was an Irish dramatist.
Biography
Thomas Southerne, born on 12 February 1660, in Oxmantown, near Dublin, was an Irish dramatist. He was the son of Francis Southerne (a Dublin brewer) and Margaret ...
, ''Isabella, or, The Fatal Marriage''. So good was she that "Her pathetic embodiment of domestic woe created a sensation, flooding the audience with tears and exciting critics to hyperbolic praise."
Mid-career: Notable roles
Siddons continued to act in the provinces, appearing at The Theatre
The Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse in Shoreditch (in Curtain Road, part of the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It was the first permanent theatre ever built in England. It was built in 1576 after th ...
, Leeds, in 1786 and consistently brought a thorough understanding to each of her roles. It was through her portrayals of Lady Macbeth and Isabella, particularly, that Siddons offered a new way of approaching character. Siddons has been credited for inventing and promoting textual accuracy above the theatrical traditions of her time: "Siddons was unique for making herself familiar with the entire script, sitting offstage in order to hear the full play, and paying careful attention to her scene partners and to textual clues that could aid performance."
Her most famous role was that of Lady Macbeth, which she first performed on 2 February 1785. She spellbound her audience through the grandeur of her emotions as she expressed Lady Macbeth's murderous passions. Rather than portraying Lady Macbeth as a murderous evil queen, Siddons depicted her with a strong sense of maternity and a delicate femininity. As she noted in her own "Remarks to the character of Lady Macbeth", Siddons found an unearthed fragility in this role. "She read, in the 'I have given suck' soliloquy, a 'tender allusion othe maternal mother yearning for her babe'; it is therefore in Lady Macbeth that Siddons found the highest and best scope for her acting abilities. She was tall and had a striking figure, brilliant beauty, powerfully expressive eyes, and solemn dignity of demeanour which enabled her to claim the character as her own.
After Lady Macbeth she played Desdemona
Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish Venetian ...
, Rosalind, Ophelia
Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends up in ...
, and Volumnia
Volumnia is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Coriolanus'', the mother of Caius Martius Coriolanus. She plays a large role in Coriolanus' life, encouraging him in his military success and urging him to seek political office. When th ...
, all with great success; but it was as Queen Catherine in ''Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
'' that she discovered a part almost as well adapted to her acting powers as that of Lady Macbeth. She once told Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
that Catherine was her favourite role, as it was the most natural.
The role of Hamlet
Sarah Siddons played the role of Hamlet multiple times over three decades. By the early nineteenth century, "Hamlet had become arguably Shakespeare's most iconic character". Her choice to tackle this role was fascinating as cross gendered roles were "generally more difficult and demanding than a breeches role". The performer would need to sustain the illusion for the whole duration of the play as opposed to a breeches role which is much more brief and gained comedic success from the character's poor delivery at representing the opposite sex.
Far from a one-off curiosity, "Siddons played Hamlet repeatedly, if sporadically, for three decades, always in the provinces and never in London, until she reached the age of fifty". Sarah Siddons first played Hamlet in Worcester in 1775 and then in Manchester opposite her brother John Philip Kemble as Laertes March 1777. At the Bristol theatre, she played Hamlet in 1781. She went on to repeat the role in Liverpool. In Dublin, she played Hamlet during the season of 1802-03 and once more in 1805. She proposed that last performance to her friend and fellow actor William Galindo as a revival of their successful 1802 performance, with herself as Hamlet and Galindo as Laertes. This 1805 revival production made enough of an impression to be caricatured in The Dublin Satirist five years later in 1810.
Celebrity status
Celebrity persona and the "Female Star"
It was the beginning of twenty years in which she became the undisputed Queen of Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks ...
. Her celebrity status was called "mythical" and "monumental", and by the mid-1780s Siddons had established herself as a cultural icon. Yet her iconography and the fashioning of her celebrity differed greatly in comparison to her female counterparts. Siddons, according to Laura Engel, invented a new category of femininity for actresses: the "Female Star". By "cleverly blurring the distinction between the characters she played on stage with representations of herself offstage (as much portraiture of the period invokes)" Siddons was able to present a duality to her admirers. At once she would project both the "divine and the ordinary, domestic and authoritative, fantastic and real".
She avoided claims of sexual licentiousness, and the only damage to her career was faced toward its end, when caricatures and satirical prints emerged detailing the physical decline and stoutness of her body. Shearer West, in an analysis of the collapse of Siddons' private and public personas, wrote that Siddons' brother, actor-manager John Philip Kemble
John Philip Kemble (1 February 1757 – 26 February 1823) was a British actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him o ...
"substantially rewrote passages in some of the plays in order to temper any indelicacy ndtranscend sexual indiscretions" that could harm her reputation of feminine propriety.
Siddons had a unique ability to control her own celebrity persona and "manipulate her public image through a variety of visual materials" Some scholars believe that although Siddons' fame and success appeared effortless, it was in fact "a highly constructed process". This left her successful, yet fatigued as she was "always aware of the ultimate power of her audiences to approve of her or destroy her" In being aware of her position in the public eye, Siddons "carefully selected the roles in which she appeared and assiduously cultivated her domestic image". She would only choose roles which could aid her popularity and protect her image. By cleverly blurring the distinction between the characters she played on stage with her presentation offstage, Siddons combined her maternal persona with depictions of British femininity. This allowed her to avoid the same reproach and scandal as other actresses of the time. For example, Siddons used her role of Isabella, a sacrificing mother, to frame her "rise to stardom in terms of her maternal roles on stage and off stage". In performing these domestic moments with the result of public triumph, Siddons was able to reiterate the characteristics that made her such a popular celebrity and icon; "her devotion to her family and her humble, behind-the-scenes existence". Siddons' role off stage, then, appears to be that of the ordinary wife and mother and this was crucial in a time when women were expected to stay at home, rather than provide for their family. Overall, her choice of roles and carefully constructed persona meant Siddons was able to live out the entirety of her career with little-to-no public scandal.
Acting power
Theatre biographer Henry Barton Baker wrote:
On the night of 2 May 1797, Sarah Siddons's character of Agnes in George Lillo
George Lillo (3 February 1691 – 4 September 1739) was an English playwright and tragedian. He was also a jeweller in London. He produced his first stage work, ''Silvia, or The Country Burial'', in 1730, and a year later his most famous play, ...
's '' Fatal Curiosity'' suggested murder with "an expression in her face that made the flesh of the spectator creep." In the audience was Henry Crabb Robinson
Henry Crabb Robinson (13 May 1775 – 5 February 1867) was an English lawyer, remembered as a diarist. He took part in founding London University.
Life
Robinson was born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, third and youngest son of Henry Robinson (17 ...
, whose respiration grew difficult. Robinson went into a fit of hysterics and was nearly ejected from the theatre. This 'Siddons Fever' was a common occurrence with Richards even suggesting it was part of the amusement: 'The theatrical vogue for the audience to shriek whatever the heroine did originated with Sarah. The 'Siddons fever', which 'raised the price of salts and hartshorn', often included fits of fainting, hysterics and physical paroxysms as part of the enjoyment.'
Siddons occasionally gave public readings of plays, and the Scottish poet/playwright Joanna Baillie
Joanna Baillie (11 September 1762 – 23 February 1851) was a Scottish poet and dramatist, known for such works as ''Plays on the Passions'' (three volumes, 1798–1812) and ''Fugitive Verses'' (1840). Her work shows an interest in moral philoso ...
recorded her thoughts of several performances given in 1813. Despite her reservations about Siddon's "frequent bursts of voice beyond what natural passion warranted," Baillie wrote to Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
, "take it all in all was fine & powerful acting; and when it has ceased ''we'' of this generation can never look to see the like again."
Portrait as ''The Tragic Muse''
Commissioned and completed in 1784, Sir Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
' portrait, ''Sarah Siddons as The Tragic Muse
''Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse'', or ''Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse'', is a 1783–1784 painting by English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. The 1784 version is in the Huntington Library art museum, while a 1789 reproduction from Reynolds's ...
'', is characterized by Reynolds' inspiration, contextualisation of the Muse, and distinctive brush work and paint palette. This portrait, as Heather McPherson writes, became the known depiction of tragedy, infused with contemporary ideas about acting and representation of the passions in Siddons' melancholy expression and deportment. Mary Hamilton's correspondence with her fiancé illuminated its seamless transition from "the artist's studio to the theatrical stage", practical venues that interlocked in the eighteenth century and formed a large part in creating the very idea of celebrity. The interest in the portrait was so great that William Smith's house was transformed into a quasi-public gallery following his acquisition of the painting.
William Hamilton's ''Mrs Siddons and Her Son, in The Tragedy of Isabella'' gained much traction due to the mutually beneficial relationship between painter and actress. Hamilton had sold his painting for £150 before it was exhibited at the Royal Academy, though kept the painting there for over a week and placed advertisements in at least three leading newspapers inviting the public to view it. A contemporary biographer recalled 'carriages thronged to the artist's door; and, if every fine lady who stepped out of them did not actually weep before the painting, they had all of them, at least their white handkerchiefs ready for that demonstration of sensibility'
Late career and retirement: Physical decline
As noted in Campbell's biography, Siddons returned to the role some six years later, and in 1802 she left Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks ...
for its rival establishment, Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
. It was there, on 29 June 1812, after 57 performances that season, that she gave what was credited as perhaps the most extraordinary farewell performance in theatre history. The audience refused to allow ''Macbeth'' to continue after the end of the sleepwalking scene
The sleepwalking scene is a critically celebrated scene from William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Macbeth'' (1606). The first scene in the tragedy's 5th act, the sleepwalking scene is written principally in prose, and follows the guilt-wracked, slee ...
. Eventually, after tumultuous applause from the pit, the curtain reopened and Siddons was discovered sitting in her own clothes and character – whereupon she made an emotional farewell speech to the audience. Some records stated that her farewell lasted eight minutes, others suggested ten, all indicating that she was visibly distraught.
Siddons formally retired from the stage in 1812, but reappeared on special occasions. An 1816 request by Princess Charlotte of Wales Princess Charlotte of Wales may refer to:
* Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817), the only child of George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV of the United Kingdom
** Princess Charlotte of Wales (1812 EIC ship), a ship named after the pri ...
to see Lady Macbeth brought Siddons out of retirement. Much older, Siddons was visibly weak, overweight, and was considered by some a "grotesque effigy of her former self." William Hazlitt, in his later accounts, stated that her performances lacked the grandeur they had shown in 1785: the "machinery of her voice is slow, there is too long a pause between each sentence nd thesleeping scene was more laboured and less natural". As a result, according to Lisa Freeman, Siddons' "iconic status came into conflict with the aesthetic of authenticity that she cultivated". Her last appearance was on 9 June 1819 as Lady Randolph in John Home's play ''Douglas''.
Marriage and children
In 1773, at the age of 18, she married William Siddons, an actor. After 30 years, the marriage became strained and informally ended with their separation in 1804. William died in 1808.
Sarah Siddons gave birth to seven children, five of whom she outlived:[
* Henry Siddons (1774–1815), an actor and theatre manager in ]Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
* Sarah Martha (Sally) Siddons (1775–1803)
* Maria Siddons (1779–1798)
* Frances Emilia Siddons (b. 1781), died in infancy
* Elizabeth Ann Siddons (1782–1788), died in childhood
* George John Siddons (1785–1848), a Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
official in India
* Cecilia Siddons (1794–1868), who married George Combe
George Combe (21 October 1788 – 14 August 1858) was a trained Scottish lawyer and a spokesman of the phrenological movement for over 20 years. He founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820 and wrote a noted study, ''The Constitution o ...
in 1833 and lived in Edinburgh
Siddons regularly performed on stage while visibly pregnant, which often elicited sympathy for her character. As Lady Macbeth, her pregnancy not only provided "a further reminder of the domestic life of both the actress and the character", adding a maternal aspect to her portrayal, but also created "a new level of tension in the play not present if the couple is perceived as barren."[
]
Legacy
Death and burial
Sarah Siddons died in 1831 in London. She was interred in Saint Mary's Cemetery at Paddington Green.[ The churchyard was converted into a public park (St Mary's Gardens) in 1881, and most stones were cleared at that time. Siddons' gravestone was one of the few to be preserved, and it remains in good condition beneath a ]wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
canopy, despite some erosion and the modern addition of a protective cage.[
5000 people attended her funeral. Newspapers mourned her death, publishing long obituaries. One said: 'This lady, who, at no very distant period, was not less eminent for the splendour of her mental endowments, than for the towering majesty of her person and demeanour, paid the great debt of nature on Wednesday morning, at nine o'clock.' She was described as a goddess, a royal, majestic. The extent of her celebrity reaches forward to today.
]
In popular culture
American director Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (; February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career, and won both the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best A ...
used the 1784 portrait by Reynolds extensively in his film ''All About Eve
''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does ...
'', winner of the 1950 Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...
. The portrait is seen at the top of an entrance staircase in Margo Channing
''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does not receive a screen cred ...
's apartment, appearing throughout a party scene, and emphasized by a close-up with which the scene ends. Mankiewicz also invented the (then) fictitious Sarah Siddons Society for the film, along with its award, a statuette modelled upon the Reynolds painting. The film opens with a close-up of the statuette, and ends with a character holding it.
Actress Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
, who played Margo Channing in the film, posed as Siddons in a 1957 re-creation of the Reynolds portrait staged as part of the Pageant of the Masters The Pageant of the Masters is an annual festival held by the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach, California.
The event is known for its ''tableaux vivants'' or " living pictures" in which classical and contemporary works of art are recreated by real ...
.
In April 2010, BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
's '' Woman's Hour Drama'' presented ''Sarah Siddons: Life in Five Sittings'', a radio drama by David Pownall
David Pownall FRSL (19 May 1938 – 21 November 2022) was a British playwright and prolific radio dramatist performed internationally, and novelist translated into several languages.
Life and career
David Pownall was born in Liverpool on 19 May ...
about the long relationship between Siddons and artist Thomas Lawrence
Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at t ...
, in five 15-minute parts.
Sarah Siddons Award
When the film ''All About Eve
''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does ...
'' was released in 1950, the "Sarah Siddons Award for Distinguished Achievement" depicted in its opening scene was a purely fictitious award. However, in 1952, a small group of distinguished Chicago theatergoers formed the Sarah Siddons Society, and began to give a genuine award by that name. The now-prestigious Sarah Siddons Award
The Sarah Siddons Award, established in 1952, is presented annually to an actor for an outstanding performance in a Chicago theatrical production. The winner receives a statuette of the Welsh stage actress Sarah Siddons.
It is awarded by the Sar ...
is presented annually in Chicago, with a trophy modelled on the statuette of Siddons awarded in the film. Past honorees include Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
and Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actress.
Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's '' Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), and was nominated for her roles in ''Come to ...
, who were previously the cast of ''All About Eve''.
Portraits and statues
Siddons sat for numerous artists, and her portraits include many that depict her in costume portraying a theatrical role.
* Sir Thomas Lawrence
Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at t ...
first painted Siddons at Bath in 1782,[ and produced at least fourteen portraits of her over the next 22 years.][ The last of these, an 1804 full-length portrait, is on display at ]Tate Britain
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
.[
* Sir ]Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
painted his famous portrait, '' Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse'', in 1784. He told her that he had signed it on the hem of her dress because he had "resolved to go down to posterity on the hem of your garment." It now hangs at The Huntington in San Marino, California
San Marino is a residential city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2010 census the population was 13,147. The city is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of househol ...
.
* A 1785 portrait by Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...
is displayed in London's National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
.
* A portrait of Siddons is displayed in the church hall of St Mary on Paddington Green, near Siddons' grave in the former churchyard (now St Mary's Gardens).[
* Also on Paddington Green, a statue of Siddons overlooks the ]Harrow Road
The Harrow Road is an ancient route in North West London which runs from Paddington in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow. It is also the name given to the immediate surrounding area of Queens Park and Kensal Green, straddling the NW10 ...
.
* A statue of Siddons by sculptor Thomas Campbell Thomas Campbell may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Thomas Campbell (poet) (1777–1844), Scottish poet
* Thomas Campbell (sculptor) (1790–1858), Scottish sculptor
* Thomas Campbell (visual artist) (born 1969), California-based visual artist ...
stands in the chapel of St Andrew in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
. The statue holds a scroll, and the inscription reads: "Sarah Siddons. Born at Brecon July 5, 1755. Died in London June 8, 1831."
* A bust by James Smith, created in 1813 was placed in the Green Room
In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre or similar venue that functions as a waiting room and lounge for performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on stage. Green rooms typically have ...
at Drury Lane Theatre
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...
and contemporary adverts described it as the only bust "taken from life"
Other memorials
* Siddons Tower, a folly tower A folly tower is a tower that has been built as an architectural folly, that is, constructed for ornamental rather than practical reasons.
Folly towers are common in Britain and Ireland, and often do have some practical value as landmarks, or as vie ...
erected on the water's edge at Rostellan
Rostellan () is a civil parish, townland and village in the historical Barony of Imokilly, County Cork, Ireland. An electoral division of the same name forms part of the Cork East Dáil constituency. For census purposes, the village of Rostell ...
near Cork Harbour
Cork Harbour () is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational area" (after Port Ja ...
in Ireland,[ was named in Siddons' honour by Murrough O'Brien, Lord Inchiquin, after he had entertained the actress at Rostellan House.][
* Siddons Lane, a small street in ]Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
near the site of a house in which she once lived, was named after her.[
* Siddons' birthplace, an ]inn
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
in Brecon
Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...
, Wales, is now known as The Sarah Siddons Inn. In 1755, when Siddons was born in lodgings on an upper floor, it was a tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that h ...
called The Shoulder of Mutton.
* Sarah Siddons' House (the Old House)
Sarah Siddons' House, also called the Old House, is a cottage in the village of Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England. A Grade II* listed building, the cottage was reputedly the childhood home of the actor Sarah Siddons.
History and description
The ...
in Lower Lydbrook, Gloucestershire is reputedly her childhood home.
* In 1923, London's Metropolitan Railway
The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...
brought into service an electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...
named ''Sarah Siddons'', No. 12. The locomotive remained in service along with others like it on the London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
Metropolitan line
The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...
until 1961. Painted a maroon colour, she is now the only one of the original twenty locomotives to remain preserved in working order.[
* In 1961, the Sarah Siddons Comprehensive School (later the Sarah Siddons Girls' School) opened in North Wharf Road, Paddington. It was officially opened the following year by the actress Dame ]Peggy Ashcroft
Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years.
Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was deter ...
. Women's achievement was celebrated in the girls-only secondary school, with houses named after famous English women. In 1980, it became part of the North Westminster Community School
North Westminster Community School was a comprehensive school in London, England, formed in 1981 by the amalgamation of Rutherford School, Sarah Siddons Girls' School, and Paddington School. It closed in 2006 and was replaced by three new schoo ...
, then in 2006 it was closed before the site was sold for residential development. In 2019, a 'Remembering Sarah Siddons Comprehensive School' Facebook group had more than 540 members.
* In 2020, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the site of her first professional appearance, in Worcester.
See also
* Kemble family
Kemble is the name of a family of English actors, who reigned over the English stage for many decades. The most famous were Sarah Siddons (1755–1831) and her brother John Philip Kemble (1757–1823), the two eldest of the twelve children of Ro ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
Sarah Siddons Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddons, Sarah
British Shakespearean actresses
18th-century English actresses
18th-century Welsh actresses
English stage actresses
19th-century British actresses
British stage actresses
1755 births
1831 deaths
People from Brecon
Kemble family