Madame Tussauds - Marylebone Road, London, UK - Satellite Imagery Oddities on Waymarking.com

The Tourist Information UK website tells us:

Madam Tussaud (born Anna Maria Grosholtz) created her first wax figure, of Voltaire, in 1777. Other famous people she modelled at that time include Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin. During the French Revolution she modelled many prominent victims. In her memoirs she claims that she searched through corpses to find the decapitated heads of executed citizens, from which she would make death masks. Her death masks were held up as revolutionary flags and paraded through the streets of Paris. On her father's death she inherited his collection of wax works, with which she toured Europe before settling down in London.

Madame Tussauds is a museum that contains wax models of famous people. There are numerous galleries such as Pirates of the Caribbean, World leaders, Warhol's women The Royal Family, Sports Stars, the Culture zone and the History of London.

There are interactive tasks such as entering the Big Brother diary room, umpiring an Andy Murray tennis match or taking a penalty alongside David Beckham.

You can have your picture taken alongside A - list celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Orlando Bloom, Nicole Kidman and Leonardo DiCaprio.

For something a little scarier try visiting the Chamber gallery where serial killers lurk. The music zone represents legends of pop from Bob Maley through to current chart toppers Kylie and Justin Timberlake. Visitors are encouraged to try out their own dance moves to see if they can win an award. Or choose a track to perform, and listen to expert feedback on your talent from The X Factor judges.

Altrenatively, in the Stardome you can watch a film made by Aardman animations (Wallace and Gromit) which tries to explain to aliens the nature and status of celebrity culture.

Madame Tussauds website also tells us:

200 years of fame

Millions and millions of people have flocked through the doors of Madame Tussauds since they first opened over 200 years ago and it remains just as popular as it ever was. There are many reasons for this enduring success, but at the heart of it all is good, old-fashioned curiosity. Today’s visitors are sent on a unique, emotionally-charged journey through the realms of the powerful and famous. The museum-style ropes and poles have gone so guests can truly get up, close and personal with A-list celebrities, sporting legends, political heavyweights and historical icons, reliving the times, events and moments that made the world talk about them….

From France to Britain

The attraction’s history is a rich and fascinating one, with roots dating back to the Paris of 1770. It was here that Madame Tussaud learnt to model wax likenesses under the tutelage of her mentor, Dr Philippe Curtius. At the age of 17, she became art tutor to King Louis XVI’s sister at the Palace Of Versailles and then, during the French Revolution, was hastily forced to prove her allegiance to the feudalistic nobles by making the death masks of executed aristocrats. Madame Tussaud came to Britain in the early 19th century alongside a travelling exhibition of revolutionary relics and effigies of public heroes and rogues.

Bringing The News to Life

At a time when news was communicated largely by word of mouth, Madame Tussauds’ exhibition was a kind of travelling newspaper, providing insight into global events and bringing the ordinary public face-to-face with the people in the headlines. Priceless artefacts from the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars brought to vividly life events in Europe which had a direct bearing on everyday lives. Figures of leading statesmen and, in the Chamber of Horrors, notorious villains put faces to the names on everyone’s lips and captured the public imagination. In 1835, Madame Tussauds’ exhibition established a permanent base in London as the Baker Street Bazaar - visitors paid ‘sixpence’ for the chance to meet the biggest names of the day. The attraction moved to its present site in Marylebone Road come 1884.