I was never too keen on going to Madame Tussaud's (I would see some of the statues and I was like 'ehh, not too good if you ask me...), but for reasons I'll explain later, I decided to venture...
So here she is, the lady that started it all. I always wondered who she was. I actually thought 'Madame' as in the female British knighthood order title of 'Sir', etc. Anyways...here you go...
Marie Tussaud (1761–1850) was born Marie Grosholtz in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius, who was a physician skilled in wax modelling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling. In 1765, Curtius made a waxwork of Marie-Jeanne du Barry, Louis XV's mistress. A cast of that mould is the oldest work currently on display. The first exhibition of Curtius' waxworks was shown in 1770, and attracted a large audience. The exhibition moved to the Palais Royal in Paris in 1776. He opened a second location on Boulevard du Temple in 1782, the "Caverne des Grands Voleurs", a precursor to the later Chamber of Horrors.
Tussaud created her first wax figure, of Voltaire, in 1777. Other famous people she modelled at that time include Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin. During the French Revolution she modelled many prominent victims. In her memoirs she claims that she would search through corpses to find the decapitated heads of executed citizens, from which she would make death masks. Following the doctor’s death in 1794, she inherited his vast collection of wax-models and spent the next thirty-three years travelling around Europe. Her marriage to Francois Tussaud in 1795 lent a new name to the show – Madame Tussauds.In 1802, she went to London. As a result of the Franco-English war, she was unable to return to France, so she travelled throughout Great Britain and Ireland exhibiting her collection. For a time, it was displayed at the Lyceum Theatre. From 1831 she took a series of short leases on the "Baker Street Bazaar" (on the west side of Baker Street between Dorset Street and King Street). This becames Tussaud's first permanent home in 1836.[1]
One of the main attractions of her museum was the Chamber of Horrors.By 1835 Marie had settled down in Baker Street, London, and opened a museum. The gallery that we see today was built in 1884, thirty years after her death. This part of the exhibition included victims of the French Revolution and newly created figures of murderers and other criminals. The name is often credited to a contributor to Punch in 1845, but Marie appears to have originated it herself, using it in advertising as early as 1843.[2] Other famous people were added to the exhibition, including Horatio Nelson, and Sir Walter Scott. Some of the sculptures done by Marie Tussaud herself still exist. The gallery that we see today was built in 1884, thirty years after her death. It originally contained some 400 different figures, but fire damage in 1925, coupled with German bombs in 1941, has rendered most of these older models defunct. Fortunately, the casts themselves have survived – and you can see these in the museum’s history exhibit. The oldest figure on display is that of Madame du Barry. Her nickname was the “Sleeping Beauty”, and certainly lives up to the billing. Other ancient faces from the time of Tussaud include Robespierre, George III and Benjamin Franklin.In 1842, she made a self portrait which is now on display at the entrance of her museum. She died in her sleep on 15 April 1850.
Long, but I thought worth knowing...I some (more than likely a 'recast') of her some of her French revolution victims, agh!
As you can read, this is the 'blade' that did the 'let them eat cake' lady in...how 'humane' eh?
And while there, Obama decided to stop by and...
Ok, this is why I went. Because it was Inauguration Day, as an American, I got in for free! Hooray for free! (normally I think it is about 40 pounds!!) Plus, they had just unveiled their Obama statue...I thought it was decent...
Morgan Freeman, one of my favorite actors - and this is an example of a 'good' statue...
Yet again, 'good' statute of Samuel L.
BAD statue of Jesse Owens! He looked 'doofusssee', not good for the Olympic hero of Berlin!
GOOD Paul Newman, the Robert Redford was BAD (sorry Mom :*(
Ahh, truly one of the beauties of the cinema and a good statue of 'Mrs.' Olivier....
I'll let you vote (just in case you vote something other than 'BAD!!', you're wrong! :)
Even though she looks angry, I thought the one of 'Lizzie' was good....
Based on his own self-portrait...I think that is pretty good!
Amy Winehouse! Awesome job! Kudos to Madame!
Umm...he just looks 'crazy' and not quite human, this goes under the BAD category!
Benny Hill - good!
And speaking of which, thanks Benny! That's a good way of saying goodbye for these posts!
Thanks Obama for having your inauguration day while I was in London so I could get in for free! Now with your future job, good luck!
