Wax Museum

Wax- ceara
1.Would you like to visit such a museum?
2. Why?
3. Have you ever visit such a museum?
4. Which celebrity would you like to see and have a selfie with?
5. Who would you like to be the next celebrity in the wax museum?

A wax museum or waxworks usually consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing

famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses, wearing
real clothes.
Some wax museums have a special section dubbed the "Chamber of Horrors", in which the more
grisly exhibits are displayed. Some collections are more specialized, as, for example, collections
of wax medical models once used for training medical professionals. Many museums or displays
in historical houses that are not wax museums as such use wax figures as part of their displays.
The origin of wax museums goes back to the early 18th century at least, and wax
funeral effigies of royalty and some other figures exhibited by their tombs had essentially been
tourist attractions well before that.
Madame Tussauds, historically associated with London, is the most famous name associated
with wax museums, although it was by no means the earliest wax museum, as is sometimes
thought. In 1835 Madame Tussaud established her first permanent exhibition in London's Baker
Street. By the late 19th century most large cities had some kind of commercial wax museum, and
for a century these remained highly popular. In the late 20th century it became harder for them to
compete with other attractions.
Today there are also Madame Tussauds in Dam Square, Amsterdam; Berlin; Madame Tussauds
Hong Kong; Shanghai; and five locations in the United States: the Venetian Hotelin Las Vegas,
Nevada, Times Square in New York City, Washington, D.C., Fisherman's Wharf in San
Francisco and Hollywood.
Louis Tussaud's wax museum in San Antonio, Texas, is across the street from the historic Alamo.
Others are located on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, and Grand Prairie, Texas.
One of the most popular wax museums in the United States for decades was The Movieland Wax
Museum in Buena Park, California, near Knott's Berry Farm. The museum opened in 1962 and
through the years added many wax figures of famous show business figures. Several stars
attended the unveilings of the wax incarnations. The museum closed its doors on October 31,
2005, after years of dwindling attendance.

This November is the Wikipedia Asian Month. Come join us.

Madame Tussauds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Tussauds" redirects here. For the company, see The Tussauds Group.

Madame Tussauds and the London Planetarium

Madame Tussauds (UK /tusdz/, US /tusoz/; the family themselves pronounce it /tuso/[1]) is
a wax museum in London with branches in a number of major cities. It was founded
by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. It used to be known as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is
no longer used.[2][3] Madame Tussauds is a major tourist attraction in London, displaying waxworks
of famous people.
Contents
[hide]

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1History
1.1Background
1.2Origins
1.3Current status
2Museums locations
2.1Asia
2.2Eurasia
2.3Europe

o
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o
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2.4North America
2.5Oceania
3In popular culture
3.1Celebrity poses with their wax figures
3.2Films
3.3Games
3.4Literature
3.5Music
3.6Stage productions
3.7Television
4Celebrities
5Gallery
6See also
7References
8External links

History[edit]
Background[edit]
Marie Tussaud was born as Marie Grosholtz in 1761 in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked
as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius in Bern, Switzerland, who was a physician skilled in
wax modelling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling.
Tussaud created her first wax sculpture in 1777 of Voltaire.[4] Other famous people whom she
modelled at that time include Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin. During the French
Revolution, she modelled many prominent victims. She claims that she would search through
corpses to find the severed heads of executed citizens, from which she would make death masks.
Her death masks were held up as revolutionary flags and paraded through the streets of Paris.
She inherited the doctor's vast collection of wax models following his death in 1794, and spent
the next 33 years travelling around Europe. She married Francois Tussaud in 1795, and the show
acquired a new name: Madame Tussaud's. In 1802, she accepted an invitation from Paul
Philidor, a magic lantern and phantasmagoria pioneer, to exhibit her work alongside his show at
the Lyceum Theatre, London. She did not fare particularly well financially, with Philidor taking half
of her profits.
She was unable to return to France because of the Napoleonic Wars, so she traveled
throughout Great Britain and Ireland exhibiting her collection. From 1831, she took a series of
short leases on the upper floor of "Baker Street Bazaar" (on the west side of Baker Street, Dorset
Street, and King Street),[5] which later featured in the Druce-Portland casesequence of trials of
18981907. This became Tussaud's first permanent home in 1836. [6]

Origins[edit]

Poster for the Tussaud wax figure's exhibition, Baker Street, London 1835.

By 1835, Marie had settled down in Baker Street, London and opened a museum. [7] One of the
main attractions of her museum was the Chamber of Horrors. The name is often credited to a
contributor to Punch in 1845, but Marie appears to have originated it herself, using it in
advertising as early as 1843. [8]
This part of the exhibition included victims of the French Revolution and newly created figures of
murderers and other criminals. Other famous people were added, including Lord Nelson and
Sir Walter Scott.
Some sculptures still exist that were done by Marie Tussaud herself. The gallery originally
contained some 400 different figures, but fire damage in 1925 coupled with German bombs in
1941 has rendered most of these older models defunct. The casts themselves have survived,
allowing the historical waxworks to be remade, and these can be seen in the museum's history
exhibit. The oldest figure on display is that of Madame du Barry. Other faces from the time of
Tussaud include Robespierre and George III. In 1842, she made a self portrait which is now on
display at the entrance of her museum. She died in her sleep on 15 April 1850.

Bernard Tussaud finishes the wax figure of Lady Alice Scott and the Duke of Gloucester - 1935.10.16

By 1883, the restricted space and rising cost of the Baker Street site prompted her grandson
Joseph Randall to commission the building at its current location on Marylebone Road. The new
exhibition galleries were opened on 14 July 1884 and were a great success. [9] However, Randall
had bought out his cousin Louisa's half share in the business in 1881, and that plus the building
costs meant that the business was under-funded. A limited company was formed in 1888 to
attract fresh capital but had to be dissolved after disagreements between the family shareholders,
and Tussaud's was sold to a group of businessmen in February 1889 led by Edwin Josiah
Poyser.[10]
Edward White was an artist who was dismissed by the new owners to save money; he allegedly
sent a parcel bomb to John Theodore Tussaud in June 1889 in revenge.[11]

The first sculpture of a young Winston Churchill was made in 1908, with a total of ten made since.
[12]
The first overseas branch of Madame Tussauds was opened in Amsterdam in 1970. [13]

Current status[edit]
Wikinews has related
news:

Amy Winehouse
wax model unveiled

Man rips off

Hitler waxwork's head in
Berlin

Wax Hitler will

return to museum after
three years of repairs

Madame Tussaud's wax museum has now become a major tourist attraction in London,
incorporating (until 2010) the London Planetariumin its west wing. Today's wax figures at
Tussauds include historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars, and famous murderers. It is
known as "Madame Tussauds" museums (no apostrophe) and is owned by a leisure company
called Merlin Entertainments, following the acquisition of The Tussauds Group in May 2007.
In July 2008, Madame Tussauds' Berlin branch became embroiled in controversy when a 41year-old German man brushed past two guards and decapitated a wax figure depicting Adolf
Hitler. This was believed to be an act of protest against showing the ruthless dictator alongside
sports heroes, movie stars, and other historical figures. However, the statue has since been
repaired and the perpetrator has admitted that he attacked the statue to win a bet. [14] The original
model of Hitler was unveiled in Madame Tussauds London in April 1933; it was frequently
vandalised and a 1936 replacement had to be carefully guarded. [15][16][17]
In November 2015, Madame Tussauds announced that it would open a museum in New Delhi in
2017.[13]
American singer Nicki Minaj's statue at the Las Vegas museum was provided extra security
following an act of vandalism by one of her fans who took some "inappropriate" photos in June
2015.[citation needed]
In January 2016, the statue of Adolf Hitler was removed from the London museum in response to
an open letter sent by a staff writer of The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, followed by
significant support for its removal from social media. [18]

Museums locations[edit]

Entry of Madame Tussauds in Berlin

Madame Tussauds in New York City opened in 2000.

Madame Tussauds opened in Washington, D.C. in 2007.

Asia[edit]
China

Beijing, China
Chongqing, China
Hong Kong, China
Shanghai, China
Wuhan, China

India

New Delhi, India (opening 2017)

Japan

Tokyo, Japan

Singapore

Singapore

Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand

Eurasia[edit]
Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey (opening 2016)

Europe[edit]

Amsterdam, Netherlands
Berlin, Germany
Blackpool, United Kingdom
London, United Kingdom
Vienna, Austria

North America[edit]

Hollywood, United States

Las Vegas, United States
Nashville, United States (opening Spring 2017[citation needed])
New York, United States
Orlando, United States
San Francisco, United States
Washington D.C., United States

Oceania[edit]

Sydney, Australia

In popular culture[edit]
Celebrity poses with their wax figures[edit]
Many times celebrities pose like their wax figures as pranks and publicity stunts.

On 3 November 2009, the museum's New York City branch was featured in a segment
on NBC's The Today Show in which weatherman Al Roker posed in place of his lifelike wax
figure for two hours and startled unsuspecting visitors, who were at first led to believe they
were viewing Roker's wax counterpart.[19]
In 2010, Ozzy Osbourne did similarly in New York to promote his Scream (2010) album.[20]
In 2012, One Direction posed as their statues in the London museum, as a prank for the
TV series Surprise Surprise.[21]
National Basketball Association players Carmelo Anthony and Jeremy Lin pranked fans
during the unveiling of their statues at the New York and San Francisco museums,
respectively.[22][23]
In 2015, Arnold Schwarzenegger posed as the Terminator statue in the Hollywood
museum, to promote a charity event.[24]

Films[edit]

In Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, Mr. Hannay tells Pamela that his uncle is featured in
Madame Tussaud's murderer section and that one day she will be able to take her
grandchildren to Madame Tussaud's to see him.

Parts of the film Fan (2016) were shot at Madame Tussauds, making it the first Indian film
to be shot there.
Madame Tussauds features in the film Shanghai Knights (2003).

Games[edit]

Madame Tussauds is featured in an Assassin's Creed Unity side mission, where the
player is tasked with retrieving the severed heads of which Madame Tussauds was
commissioned to make replicas.

Literature[edit]

There is a brief reference to Madame Tussaud's work in the Sherlock Holmes story "The
Mazarin Stone."
In Elizabeth Bowen's novel The Death of the Heart (1938), Portia and Eddie have tea at
Madame Tussaud's and Portia is disappointed that the waitresses are real and not made of
wax.

Music[edit]

In Gilbert and Sullivan's song "My Object All Sublime", from The Mikado (1885), the title
character sings of punishments fitting the crime, including:
The amateur tenor, whose vocal villainies
All desire to shirk,
Shall, during off-hours
Exhibit his powers
To Madame Tussaud's waxwork.

Madame Tussauds is the focus of Steve Taylor's song "Meltdown (at

Madame Tussauds)", which describes someone turning up
the thermostat and causing the wax figures to melt. [25]
The Beatles had their wax figures featured along with cardboard cutouts
of various famous people in the cover art for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band (1967).[26]
Several sculptures from the London branch appear in the music video
"Pop!ular" by singer/songwriter Darren Hayes.
Madame Tussauds sculptures are used on the cover of Rick Wakeman's
album The Six Wives of Henry VIII. A waxwork of Richard Nixon also
appears in the background.

Stage productions[edit]

Marie Tussaud is mentioned in The Scarlet Pimpernel (first run on stage

in 1903, first publication 1905).

Television[edit]

The museum was featured on the History Channel's series, Life After
People: The Series.[citation needed]
In 2015, the judges of NBC show America's Got Talent posed in the New
York Madame Tussaud's location and led visitors to believe that they

were part of a special display, when they were actually real

people. "Episode 18". America's Got Talent. Season 10. NBC.
Tussauds appeared in an episode of Living TV's paranormal
programme Most Haunted.[citation needed]
The Doctor Who serial Spearhead from Space features a scene at
Madame Tussauds.[citation needed]
Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas was featured in Travel
Channel`s Ghost Adventures.
In the Parks and Recreation episode "Indianapolis", Leslie
Knope mentions the "Misshapen Celebrity Palace", a fictional tourist trap
where Madame Tussauds sends their failed wax figures
Madame Tussauds is mentioned in the American-British drama series
"Penny Dreadful": Season 2, Episode 1

Celebrities[edit]
This section does not cite any sources. Please help
improve this section by adding citations to reliable
sources. Unsourced material may be challenged
and removed. (April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove
this template message)

Prabhas
Peter Andre
Ant And Dec
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Beyonc
John Bishop
David Bowie
Boy George
Susan Boyle
Marlon Brando (see image)
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond 007 (see image)
Alan Carr
Barbara Cartland[27]
Charlie Chaplin (see image)
Cher
Cheryl
Simon Cowell
Tom Cruise
Benedict Cumberbatch
Leonardo DiCaprio
Dalai Lama (see image)
Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow (see image)
Alfie Deyes
Peter Dinklage
Walt Disney
Madhuri Dixit
Bruce Forsyth
Morgan Freeman
Indira Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Selena Gomez

Lewis Hamilton
George Harrison (see image of The Beatles)
One Direction
Benny Hill (see image)
Alfred Hitchcock (see image)
Michael Jackson (see image)[28]
Lady Gaga (see image)
Katrina Kaif
Kareena Kapoor
Bill Kaulitz
Salman Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Olga Korbut (see image)
Keira Knightley (see image)
Keith Lemon
John Lennon (see image of The Beatles)
Leona Lewis
Jonah Lomu
Demi Lovato
Matt Lucas
Madonna
Archbishop Makarios III (see image)
Nelson Mandela (see image)
Davina McCall
Paul McCartney (see image of The Beatles
Freddie Mercury
Kylie Minogue (see image)
Narendra Modi
Marilyn Monroe (see image)
Olly Murs
Jamie Oliver
Justin Bieber
Camilla Parker Bowles (see image)
Dolly Parton
Pope John Paul II (see image)
Prince Charles (see image)
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (see image)
Princess Diana (see image)
Queen Elizabeth II (see image)
Cristiano Ronaldo[29]
Hrithik Roshan
Ed Sheeran
Spider-Man
Superman
Ringo Starr (see image of The Beatles)
Zoe Sugg
Taylor Swift
Sachin Tendulkar
Helena Bonham Carter
The Sleeping Beauty, modelled after Madame du Barry (see image)
Marie Tussaud (see image)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu (see image)
Louis Walsh

John Wayne (see image)

Amy Winehouse
Selena Quintanilla
Pel
Jos Mourinho

Gallery[edit]
This section contains a gallery of images. Galleries
containing indiscriminate images of the article subject
are discouraged; please improve or remove the section
accordingly, moving freely licensed images
to Wikimedia Commons if not already hosted
there. (February 2015)

The Sleeping Beauty is the oldest existing figure on display. It was modeled
after Madame du Barry. She appears asleep and a device in her chest makes it
seem as if she were breathing.

Madame Tussaud herself at Madame Tussauds in London

Alfred Hitchcock

The Beatles

Benny Hill (Credited Tussauds Gard)

Prince Charles and Camilla

Charlie Chaplin

Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, and Archbishop
Makarios III

Princess Diana

John Wayne (London)

Olga Korbut (London)

Michael Jackson

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow

Keira Knightley

Kylie Minogue

Lady Gaga

Marilyn Monroe

Marlon Brando

Nelson Mandela

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond 007

See also[edit]

Chamber of Horrors (Madame Tussauds), London

Madame Tussauds Hollywood
Madame Tussauds Hong Kong
Madame Tussauds Las Vegas
Madame Tussauds London
Madame Tussauds New York
Madame Tussauds Rock Circus (1989-2001, London)
Madame Tussauds San Francisco
Madame Tussauds Shanghai
Madame Tussauds Singapore
Madame Tussauds Sydney
Madame Tussauds Washington D.C.
Merlin Entertainments

References[edit]
Notes
1.
2.

3.

Jump up^ Wells, John C. (2009). "Tussaud's". Longman Pronunciation

Dictionary. London: Pearson Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
Jump up^ Rothstein, Edward (24 August 2007). "Ripley's Believe It or Not
Madame Tussauds". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2010.:
"Madame Tussaud (who gave the attraction its now-jettisoned
apostrophe) ..."
Jump up^ Times Online Style Guide M: "Madame Tussauds (no longer
an apostrophe)."

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.

Jump up^ Du Plessis, Amelia. "England Madame

Tussauds". Informational site about England. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
Jump up^ Pilbeam (2006) pp. 102106
Jump up^ Pilbeam (2006) pp. 100104
Jump up^ "The History of Madame Tussauds". Madame Tussauds.com.
Jump up^ Berridge, Kate...But now British actress Emma Watson is
already to set and appear here... (2006). Madame Tussaud: A life in wax.
New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-052847-8.
Jump up^ Pilbeam, ibid. pp. 166, 1689.
Jump up^ Pilbeam, ibid. p. 170.
Jump up^ "POLICE (20 July 1889 page 6, column 6)". The Times. 20 July
1888. p. 6. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
Jump up^ Pamela Pilbeam Madame Tussaud: And the History of
Waxworks. P.199.
^ Jump up to:a b http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Madame-Tussaudsto-open-shop-in-Delhi/articleshow/49763438.cms
Jump up^ "Adolf Hitler returns to Berlin museum after beheading".
www.meeja.com.au. 14 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
Jump up^ Pilbeam, ibid. p. 199.
Jump up^ "Madame Tussauds to repair beheaded Hitler". Associated
Press. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
Jump up^ Carrel, Paul (5 July 2008). "Man rips head from Hitler wax
figure". Reuters.
Jump up^ Gur-Arieh, Noga (January 6, 2015). "Madame Tussauds
Museum in London Removed Hitler Figure". The Jewish Journal of Greater
Los Angeles. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
Jump up^ Al makes people jump out of their skin
Jump up^ Ozzy Osbourne scares people at Madame Tussauds. Retrieved
30 May 2010.
Jump up^ It's really them! One Direction prank four delighted fans by
pretending to be wax work models for Surprise Surprise, Daily Mail
Jump up^ CARMELO ANTHONY TAKES THE TIME TO PRANK
VISITORS AT MADAME TUSSAUDS
Jump up^ Jeremy Lin pranks at Madame Tussauds, pretends to be wax
likeness
Jump up^ Arnold Schwarzenegger scares the bejeezus out of tourists at
Madame Tussauds
Jump up^ "Meltdown (At Madame Tussaud's) Meltdown Steve Taylor
Discography". Sock Heaven. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
Jump up^ Beatles waxworks sell for 81,500
Jump up^ Knight, Kathryn (October 18, 2008). "Oh, mummy you were
naughty - Dame Barbara Cartland's son reveals all about her racy
life". Daily Mail.
Jump up^ https://www2.madametussauds.com/new-york/en/whatsinside/pop-culture/michael-jackson/?
_e_pi_=7%2CPAGE_ID10%2C8856166948
Jump up^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/players/cristianoronaldo/7816806/World-Cup-2010-Cristiano-Ronaldo-gets-MadamTussauds-waxwork.html

Bibliography

Berridge, Kate (2006). Madame Tussaud: A life in wax. New York:

HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-052847-8.
Chapman, Pauline (1984). Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors: Two
Hundred Years of Crime. London: Constable. ISBN 0-09-465620-7.
Deakin, Johnston and Markesinis (2008). Markesinis & Deakin's Tort
Law. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928246-3.
Herv, Francis (ed.) (1838). Madame Tussaud's Memoirs and
Reminiscences of France, forming an abridged history of the French
Revolution. London: Saunders & Otley.

McCallam, David (2002). "Waxing Revolutionary: Reflections on a Raid

on a Waxworks at the Outbreak of the French Revolution". French
History. 16 (2): 153173. doi:10.1093/fh/16.2.153..
Moran, Michelle (2011). Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French
Revolution. Crown. ISBN 0-307-58865-3.
Pilbeam, Pamela (2006). Madame Tussaud: And the History of
Waxworks. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 100
104. ISBN 1-85285-511-8.

External links[edit]
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