Sarah Siddons: The First Celebrity Actress

Sarah Siddons rose from a poor, traveling actor to Britain's greatest tragic actress by overcoming early career failures, becoming a superstar by her 30s, and skillfully managing her image and reputation in the eighteenth century. 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. But before she was 30 she had become a superstar, her fees greater than any actor - male or female - had previously a...