Sarah Siddons Award

In 1950, Joseph Mankiewicz saw Reynolds portrait of Sarah Siddons and decided that it would provide the setting for the opening scene of All About Eve. The scene opened in the ballroom of the then-fictitious Sarah Siddons Society. The occasion is the presentation of the Sarah Siddons award statuette, modeled on Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse as the "highest honour our theater knows: the Sarah Siddons Award for Distinguished Achievement.". In the climactic party scene, the painting is prominently displayed between Bette Davis and Marilyn Monroe. The portrait also presides over the final scene when Anne Baxter moves past it.

At the time of the release of All About Eve, The Sarah Siddons Award was a purely fictitious award. However, there now exists the American Sarah Siddons Award for dramatic achievement in theatre: a genuine and prestigious award, named in honor of Siddons. The award is given annually in Chicago by the "Sarah Siddons Society."

In 1957, Bette Davis posed as Sarah Siddons in a re-creation of the painting staged as part of the Pageant of the Masters.

Lauren Bacall (1972 & 1984), Helen Hayes (1953 & 1969) Angela Lansbury (1975 & 1981), Lynn Redgrave (1977 & 1995) and Sada Thompson (1973 & 1988) have each won the award twice

It is somewhat ironic that the name of the organization and the statuette were copied from the film, as Mankiewicz was clearly denigrating all such awards.

History

The Society and its award were inspired by a fictional award depicted in the opening scene of the Joseph L. Mankiewicz film All About Eve, winner of the 1950 Academy Award for Best Picture. The film opens with the image of an award trophy, described by the character Addison DeWitt (George Sanders) as the "highest honor our theater knows: the Sarah Siddons Award for Distinguished Achievement." The award was invented by Mankiewicz for the script.

In 1952, a small group of eminent Chicago theater-goers, including actress Edith Luckett Davis mother of future First Lady Nancy Davis Reagan, organized the Society and began presenting an award physically modeled and named after the one in the film.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz also received the award. His response was, reportedly, "I invented it to put down all this fatuous prize-giving, and now there's some outfit in Chicago actually promoting a Sarah Siddons Award every year, and people like Helen Hayes go out there and make tearful acceptance speeches."^[1]^[2]

During the Sarah Siddons Society Anniversary Gala in 1973, an honorary Sarah Siddons award was presented to Bette Davis, even though she didn't appear in a Chicago play that year. Another All About Eve cast member, Celeste Holm, had previously won the award. Lauren Bacall, who played Davis' role in the Broadway musical version, Applause, has also won.

See also [ Sarah Siddons ]

References

↑ Bonhams : A Joseph L. Mankiewicz Sarah Siddons Award, https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24465/lot/1238/
↑ Mankiewicz, Joseph L. (2008). Joseph L. Mankiewicz: Interviews (in en). Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781934110249.