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apollonaut. Built by People Who've Been

Journal / History

History, people & heritage

A wax modeller’s name.
A home on Marylebone Road.

The story of Madame Tussauds in London, from an eighteenth-century wax modeller to the galleries and green dome on Marylebone Road.

The green copper dome of the former London Planetarium beside Madame Tussauds on Marylebone Road, under a blue sky, with red telephone boxes on the pavement
Madame Tussauds and the former London Planetarium on Marylebone Road.

A wax modeller from Strasbourg

Marie Tussaud was born Marie Grosholtz in Strasbourg in 1761. She learned wax modelling from Philippe Curtius, made her first figure, of the writer Voltaire, in 1777, and inherited Curtius’s collection in 1794.

A nineteenth-century portrait of Marie Tussaud aged 85, seated at a table with wax figures behind her, in black and white
A nineteenth-century print after Sir George Hayter of the Duke of Wellington beside a wax effigy of Napoleon lying in state, in black and white

An exhibition on Baker Street

In 1802 she showed her work at the Lyceum Theatre in London, then toured Great Britain and Ireland with it. In 1835 the exhibition settled on Baker Street, where she was advertising its Chamber of Horrors by 1843. She died in London on 16 April 1850.

Galleries on Marylebone Road

Her grandson Joseph Randall commissioned a building on Marylebone Road, and its galleries opened on 14 July 1884. A fire in 1925 and bombing in 1941 damaged the collection. Next door, the London Planetarium opened in 1958 and became part of Madame Tussauds in 2006.

The green dome and the long white front of Madame Tussauds on Marylebone Road in the early evening light

Continue exploring

A nineteenth-century portrait of Marie Tussaud aged 85, seated at a table with wax figures behind her, in black and whiteMarie Tussaud’s journeyFrom Paris to Baker Street.Madame Tussauds on Marylebone Road, with the name on its white corner building beside the green dome and trees along the streetWhat to see insideZones, a ride and a film.Plan your visit

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