Excursion to Madame Tussauds: which famous actors “live” there (60 photos)

Today we will be able to see whose figures were made for the museum and evaluate how similar the copies are to celebrities.





A little history: Madame Tussauds was created in 1835 by the French sculptor Marie Tussauds in London's Marylebone.



Maria Tussauds

Anna Maria Tussaud (1761-1850), née Anna Maria Grosholtz, was born in Strasbourg in the family of an Alsatian officer Joseph Grosholtz and a Swiss woman, Anna-Maria Walter.

She is a descendant of the old Grosholtz dynasty of executioners. But her father already moved away from the family business, choosing a more humane business. Johann Joseph was engaged in the production of engravings, but he died before her birth.

Nevertheless, it was precisely this “dark heritage” that left a certain imprint on all her work.

Maria's mother worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Philip Curtius, who was engaged in wax models. It was he who subsequently taught Marie Tussaud the art of working with wax.

In 1777, Marie Tussaud created her first wax figure, Voltaire, followed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin.





Madame Tussauds

The talent of the young talent did not go unnoticed. Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette invited her to Versailles. There she worked for 10 years, constantly improving her outstanding talent.

However, Madame Tussaud's biography turned out to be not so happy and carefree. The revolution began, and everything changed in her life. The royal family, its benefactors, were executed. And Madame Tussaud was considered a “royalist” and sent to prison.

Josephine Beauharnais was also in the dungeons with her at that time. In the future, she will become Napoleon's mistress and Empress of France.

Both women had already been shaved for the guillotine, but at the very last moment they decided to pardon them.

The new political power demanded that Mary prove her loyalty - she needed to make death masks of the royal couple, who at one time helped the girl so much.

She was sent to the body dump... to look for the heads of the king and queen...

And she did make death masks for representatives of the royal family.

After such an “action,” the government no longer bothered Maria, so she was able to return to her favorite job.



Madame Tussauds

There was a lot of wax, but she always didn’t have enough hair for her figures.

But Maria found a way out of this situation... and asked for a pass to prison. After all, the severed heads of those executed were stored in the damp basements of the dungeon.

It was the hair from these heads that she decided to use for her own purposes.

Obtaining such permission would have been a very difficult task, but her maiden name Grosholtz helped her. She was perceived as the heiress of the famous executioners, so her “colleagues” respected her requests...

After the death of Philip Curtius in 1794, his collection passed to Marie Tussaud.

In 1802, Marie Tussaud moved to London. Due to the outbreak of the Anglo-French War, she and her collection were unable to return to France.

For some time, Tussaud was forced to travel with wax figures throughout Great Britain and Ireland.

And so in 1835 the first permanent exhibition was established on Baker Street in London.

One of the curiosities of Maria's museum was the Cabinet of Horrors. Here one could see victims of the French Revolution, murderers and famous criminals.

In 1884 the collection moved to a new building on Marylebone Road in London. In 1924, a fire destroyed many of the figures. Since the forms were not damaged, the figures were able to be recreated again.

Today, Madame Tussauds has grown significantly and currently has branches in 23 other cities in different countries.

Well, that’s all about history for today. Are you tired?

The process of creating wax figures for the museum is also very interesting. The museum's branches around the world employ teams of talented people who are devoted to the museum and their work with all their hearts.

And their work is simply incredible!

If you are interested in this topic, you can also read about their work online, and it’s fascinating reading, believe me!

Well, friends, let’s finally “go” on an “excursion” and see which of the famous actors “settled” in the spacious halls of the branchto the famous Madame Tussauds museum in different countries.

It’s even a little surprising how realistically the figures are made...

Or maybe there are those among you who were lucky enough to visit the museum? Then be sure to share your impressions and photos in the comments!



Marilyn Monroe in the foreground. And in the background is Daniel Craig as James Bond.



Learned? Yes, Brad Pitt.



Pitt is younger here. And next to me, of course, is Angelina.



Marilyn is incredibly similar and beautiful!



Marilyn again



Angelina and Brad. If it weren’t for the museum worker straightening the actress’s hair, would you have guessed that these were not real people?



You recognized it correctly, didn’t you?



Young... That's right! John Travolta



Robert Pattison



Well, is it possible to assume that the photo is not of Morgan Freeman, but only his wax “double”?



Audrey Hepburn



No, this is not a photo of the actor. And a photo of his wax copy. Jack Nicholson himself

By the way, friends, actors are very supportive of making their own wax figures and often donate their clothes, shoes, accessories and jewelry for them.



Quentin Tarantino



Mel Gibson



Robert Downey Jr



Learned?)))



Uma Thurman in the movie "Kill Bill"



Colin Farrell



Marilyn again



Nicolas Cage



Old Bruce



Sylvester Stallone



Leonardo DiCaprio



A whole location from the movie. Did you find out which one? And did you recognize the actors?



Can you name the film and the actor?



Julie Roberts



Incredible job! Marlon Brando



Johnny Depp



Hugh Jackman



Sandra Bullock



Will Smith



Tom Cruise



Ryan Gosling



Robert Mattinson and Taylor Lautner



Quentin Tarantino with his wax replica



Nicole Kidman



Kate Winslet



Keira Knightley



Eva Longoria with her copy



Bruce got a little dusty



Angelina and Brad again



Clint Eastwood

So that you understand how amazing the work was done by the artists-creators, I will show you a few photographs in which the figures are depicted in close-up:



Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. Just look at how much jewelry work has been done!



Once again young John Travolta



Did you recognize this actor?



Whitney Houston



Well, doesn't Eddie make you smile?



Robin Williams



Jim carrey



Arnold close up



Robert DeNiro



Thor played by Chris Hemsworth



George Clooney



Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. It’s one thing to see his hero in a movie, it’s quite another to see him practically “live.” Aw, goosebumps!



Benedict Cumberbatch



Johnny Depp. Are you sure this is not a living person?