Louis Joseph Kenny Tussaud was the great-grandson of Marie Tussaud, creator of the Madame Tussauds wax museums. He worked at Madame Tussauds museum as a wax figure sculptor but left when his brother John Theodore Tussaud became chief artist and manager of the museum after a limited company was formed in 1888 and sold in 1889. The main shareholder was Edwin Josiah Poyser.
Louis Tussaud created a waxwork museum in London, 207 Regent Street, which opened 24 December 1890. The Regent Street waxwork museum was destroyed in a fire on 20 June 1891. He moved to Blackpool in 1900. He first set up a waxworks in Blackpool in the basement of the Hippodrome Theatre, Church Street, opening it in July 1900. The following year, he moved the exhibition to the Brunswick Café, South Shore. In 1929 the Louis Tussaud's Waxworks opened on Central Promenade. It was closed in 2010 and re-opened as Madame Tussauds in 2011.
Louis Tussaud's waxwork museum in Great Yarmouth, which closed in October 2012, had been described as the world's worst waxworks museum because so many of its models look nothing like the people they are supposed to represent.
Louis Tussaud wax museums were later established in Atlantic City; Belle Vue, Greater Manchester; Brighton (1937-1979); Copenhagen (1974-2007); Great Yarmouth and St. Petersburg, Florida. There was a Louis Tussaud shakespearian waxworks in Stratford from 1971 to 1983.
Other Louis Tussaud's wax museums owned by Ripley Entertainment are in:
- Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
- San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Grand Prairie, Texas, USA
- Bangalore-Innovative Film City, India
- Pattaya, Thailand
Louis Tussaud's museums are not connected to his great-grandmother's Madame Tussauds wax museum nor to the Josephine Tussaud's (1900â€"1985) wax museum in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Louis Tussauds, Blackpool, (which was temporarily owned by Leisure Parcs) was bought out by Blackpool Council. The attraction closed in November 2010 and passed to the management of the Merlin Entertainment Group.
The Potter's Wax Museum of St. Augustine and the wax museum of Niagara Falls have wax busts representing Louis Tussaud. The wax museum of Bangalore has a full-sized wax figure representing Louis Tussaud.
External links
Louis Tussauds Wax Museum - If you would like to make a contribution, my Patreon can be found here https://www.patreon.com/carpetbagger Check out my T-Shirt shop if you are interested ...
- Louis Tussaud's Waxworks, Blackpool, England, United Kingdom
- Louis Tussaud's Waxworks, San Antonio, Texas
- Louis Tussaud's Palace of Wax, Grand Prairie, Texas
- Louis Tussaud's Waxworks, Niagara Falls, Canada
- Louis Tussaud's Waxworks, Bangalore, India
- Louis Tussaud's Waxworks, Pattaya, Thailand
- 3 New Venues under Merlin Management
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