The statue of Sarah Siddons, the most famous actress of the 18th century, stands in her burial site in Saint Mary’s Cemetery at Paddington Green.
Sarah Siddons (1755-1831) was born in Brecon, south Wales, in a theatrical family; her father was an actor and theatre manager, her brother was an actor’s manager, and she, alongside three of her siblings, joined her father’s company. At 15, she worked as a lady’s maid in Warwickshire and developed her acting talent, reciting poetry before her lady’s aristocratic friends.
At 18, she married William Siddons, an actor in her father’s company; they had seven children together. After the wedding, she moved to London, returning to perform, and in 1774, the 19 years old actress received her first recognition for her portrayal of Belvidera in Thomas Otway’s Venice Preserv’d. She joined a touring company and performed across the country, earning a reputation as a gifted tragedienne.
In 1782 she returned to London and fascinated the audience with her expressive and powerful portrayal of tragic Shakespearean characters, such as Lady Macbeth, Ophelia, and Desdemona. She became the most famous actress of her time, retiring at age 57. She died twenty years later.
The life-size white marble statue of Siddons was the first sculpture of an actor in London (excluding Shakespeare) introduced in 1897. The French sculptor Léon-Joseph Chavalliaud created it based on the 1784 portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse. It depicts her wearing a classical costume, sitting regally with a dagger in her hand and a mask under her chair.
In 2011, the statue was heavily vandalized but got repaired and restored in 2019. Another statue of Siddons stands in the Chapel of St Andrew in Westminster Abbey. The Sarah Siddons Statue in Paddington Green is within walking distance from many sites, including the Paddington Bear Statue, Sherlock Holmes Statue, and Hyde Park, where you can visit the Queen Victoria statue and the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain.
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