Sarah Siddons

Kemble is the name of a family of English actors of whom the most famous were Sarah Siddons (1755-1831) and her brother John Philip Kemble (1757-1823), the eldest of the twelve children of Roger Kemble (1721-1802), a strolling player and manager, who in 1753 married an actress, Sarah Wood.

Acting was only just becoming a respectable profession for a woman and initially parents disapproved of Sarah’s choice of profession.

She had early theatrical experience in her father’s travelling company, and at 18 she married William Siddons, an actor. Her family life was not fortunate; she gave birth to seven children but outlived five of them, and her marriage to William Siddons became strained and ended in an informal separation.

In 1774 Siddons had her first success as Belvidera in Thomas Otway’s Venice Preserved. This brought her to the attention of David Garrick and she was engaged by him for a Drury Lane performance in 1775-76, which failed owing to her inexperience as well as other circumstances. And she received a note from the manager of Drury Lane stating that her services would not be required. In 1782, after appearances in the provinces had greatly increased her powers, her success was instant and indisputable.

Her fame grew in such roles as Queen Katharine, Desdemona, as Volumnia to the Coriolanus of John Philip Kemble, her brother, with whom she starred. In the role of Lady Macbeth, which she first played in 1785 and which was her farewell performance in 1812, she was unequalled. Siddon’s warm, rich voice and majestic presence held audiences in awe. She was tall and had a striking figure, brilliant beauty, powerfully expressive eyes, and solemn dignity of demeanour which enabled her to claim the character as her own.

It was the beginning of twenty years in which she was the undisputed queen of Drury Lane. Her celebrity status has been called “mythical” and “monumental”, and by the mid-1780s Siddons was established as a cultural icon. She mixed with the literary and social elites of London society.

In 1820s she left Drury Lane and subsequently appeared from time to time on the stage of the rival establishment, Covent Garden. It was there, on 29^th June, 1812, that she gave perhaps the most extraordinary farewell performance in theatre history. She was playing her most famous role, Lady Macbeth, and the audience refused to allow the play continue after the end of the sleepwalking scene. Eventually, after tumultuous applause from the pit, the curtain reopened and Siddons was discovered sitting in her own clothes and character – whereupon she made an emotional farewell speech to the audience lasting eight minutes.

Mrs. Siddons formally retired from the stage in 1812, but occasionally appeared on special occasions. Her last appearance was on 9^th June, 1819.

Though she shunned publicity, she won the praise of the poets and critics of her day. Her portrait was painted by Gainsborough and by Reynolds, the latter representing her as The Tragic Muse. Her statue, by Chantrey, is in Westminster Abbey.