Madame Tussauds

Madame Tussauds is a wax museum, on the Aquarium Wharf on Darling Harbour.  It is the 13th such Madame Tussauds in the world and was opened in 2013.  Amongst those displayed in wax are the Queen, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, figures such as James Cook and Banjo Patterson, Prime Ministers such as John Howard and Julia Gillard, stars including Audrey Hepburn, Olivia Newton-John, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Michael Jackson and Bruce Willis, and international figures like Nelson Mandela, Einstein, and Madame Tussaud herself.  They are housed in a similar domed building to that in Marylebone, London.

Madame Marie Tussaud, née Grosholtz (1761-1850) was born in Strasbourg and studied making wax figures with the Swiss physician and wax modeller, Philippe Curtius (1737-94).  Her first model was of the writer, Voltaire (1694-1778), made in 1777.  She married François Tussaud in 1795.  She moved to London in 1802, and after some years touring Britain she opened her museum in Baker Street.  Her self-portrait, made in 1842, is still on display there.  Now one of London’s major tourist attractions, Tussauds museums have opened in many other countries.