Description
Sarah Siddons grew up as a member of a family troupe of travelling actors,always poor and often hungry, resorting to foraging for turnips to eat. Butbefore she was 30 she had become a superstar, her fees greater than any actor -male or female - had previously achieved. Her rise was not easy. Her London debut, aged just 20, was a disaster and couldhave condemned her to poverty and anonymity. But the young actress alreadya mother of two - rebuilt her career, returning triumphantly to the capital afteryears of remorseless provincial touring. She became Britain's greatest tragic actress, electrifying audiences with herperformances. Her shows were sell-outs.Adored by theatre audiences, writers, artists and the royal family alike, Sarahgrasped the importance of her image. She made sure that every leading portraitpainter captured her likeness, so that engravings could be sold to her adoringpublic. In an eighteenth-century world of vicious satire and gossip, she also battled tomanage he
