Siddons

Siddons, SARAH (1755-1831), the greatest of English tragic actresses, was born at Brecon. Her father, Roger Kemble, was the respectable manager of an itinerant theatrical company. She appeared on the stage at a very early age, and in her nineteenth year became the wife of an actor named Siddons, who belonged to her father's company. In 1775 she played Portia to Garrick's Shylock at Drury Lane without attracting much notice, but her subsequent successes at Birmingham, York, Bath, and elsewhere were so extraordinary that in 1782 she appeared a second time at Drury Lane, her role being now Isabella in The Fatal Martiage. Her success was immediate and complete, and from that time forward she was recognised as the leading actress of the day. In 1803 she joined her brother, John Philip Kemble, at Covent Garden, and at that theatre till her retirement from the stage in 1812. Of the numerous tragic parts in which she stood unrivalled, Lady Macbeth is probably the one most closely associated wibh her name.