Sarah was born Sarah Kemble in Brecon, Brecknockshire, Wales, the eldest
daughter of Roger Kemble, an actor-manager whose travelling company included
most members of his family. Even as a small child, Sarah worked as an actress
in her father's company but acting was only just becoming a respectable
profession for a woman and initially her parents disapproved of her taking up
the profession.They only gave reluctant permission for her to marry actor,
William Siddons, in 1773.
Her first appearance at Drury Lane in 1774 was not a success and she
toured the provinces for the next six years. However her next Drury Lane
appearance, on 10 October 1782, could not have been more different. She was an
immediate sensation playing the title role in Garrick's adaptation of a play by
Thomas Southerne, Isabella, or, The Fatal Marriage. She became known for her
dignity, for her deep, rich voice, and for dramatic gestures. For 20 years, she
reigned as queen of tragedy at the Drury Lane Theatre, specialising in William
Shakespeare's tragic heroines. In 1802 she left Drury Lane and subsequently
appeared from time to time on the stage of the rival establishment, Covent
Garden. It was there, on 29 June 1812, that she gave her farewell performance
as Lady Macbeth, her most famous role.
She achieved acceptance in polite society when in 1783 she was asked to
perform readings at Buckingham Palace as well as give the royal children
elocution lessons.
