Siddons
Siddons names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Siddons SARAH, an English_actress
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SARAH, an English_actress; born in Brecon, South Wales, July 5, 1755. She commenced her theatrical career when quite a child, and in her 19th year was married to William Siddons, an actor in her father's (Roger Kemble) the first company. In 1774 she met with recognition of her great powers as an actress at Cheltenham in consequence of her representation of Belvidera in "Venice Preserved." Her success at Cheltenham procured for her an engagement at Drury Lane, but her first appearance there was a comparative failure, and in 1777 she again went on circuit in the provinces. Her second appearance at Drury Lane took place Oct. 10, 1782, in the character of Isabella in the "Fatal Marriage." Her success was complete, and she was universally acknowledged to be the first tragic actress of the English stage. For 30 years she continued to astonish and enchant the lovers of the drama, and having acquired an ample fortune she took her leave of the stage in 1812. Her greatest characters were Queen Catharine in "Henry VIII." and Lady Macbeth. She died in London, June 8, 1831.
Siddons MRS. SCOTT, an English actress
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
MRS. SCOTT, an English actress; born in India in 1844; the greatgranddaughter of Sarah Siddons; was educated in Germany. As Lady Macbeth she made her first professional appearance in England, at Nottingham. She appeared in the United States first as a dramatic reader in New York City, and she made her début as a dramatic star at the Boston Museum about 1868. She died in Paris, Nov. 9, 1896.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The biographical outline Collier's gave in 1921 still stands: Sarah Siddons was born at Brecon in 1755, triumphed as Isabella in The Fatal Marriage at Drury Lane in October 1782, retired in 1812 and died in 1831. What has shifted is the shape of her fame. Where Collier's could assume readers knew her as the greatest tragic actress of the English stage, she is now met mostly through pictures and prizes: Reynolds's Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse hangs in the Huntington collection in California, and the fictional Sarah Siddons Award invented for the 1950 film All About Eve was afterwards founded for real in Chicago. Modern scholarship has also taken more interest in how she managed her own celebrity and respectability than in cataloguing her roles.
Written for this edition, 2026.