Who was Sarah Siddons?

Born in Wales in 1755 to the theatrical Kemble family, her father was Roger Kemble and her mother was Sarah Ward Kemble. She first appeared as Ariel in The Tempest with her father's company in Coventry in 1766. In 1767 the actor William Siddons joined the company whom Sarah married in 1773, returning to the stage as Mrs. Siddons. After giving birth to two children, one during a performance, she made her Drury Lane debut in 1775.

It did not go well.

She retreated to the provinces becoming a hit at the Theatre Royal in Bath, returning triumphantly to London in 1782. She was so famous in her day that commentators coined the word 'Siddonimania' to describe her weeping and hysterical audiences who were gripped with 'Siddons Fever'. Her husband died in 1808, the couple had seven children, several of whom died young.

Sarah herself retired from the stage in 1812 although she continued to give benefit performances and readings for several years. She died in 1831 and 5,000 people attended her funeral in Paddington. She was painted by all the most famous artists of her day and was commemorated by a statue in Westminster Abbey.

'The awful consciousness that one is the sole object of attention to that immense space...'
Sarah Siddons