Siddons, Sarah

Siddons, Sarah

 orig. Sarah Kemble

Sarah Siddons, chalk drawing by J. Downman, 1787; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

(credit: Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London)

(born July 5, 1755, Brecon, Brecknockshire, Wales—died June 8, 1831, London, Eng.) British actress. She acted with her father's traveling company and married actor William Siddons in 1773. Her performance as Isabella in Fatal Marriage at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1782 was highly successful; she was instantly acclaimed as the leading tragedienne of the time. Siddons played Shakespearean parts, notably Lady Macbeth, from 1785 until she retired in 1812. She was the subject of well-known portraits by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds.