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Spot the Difference

Double take? 26 celebrities and their waxworks

Madame Tussaud’s London museum has long record of getting public figures to stand beside their wax figurines… but with varying results.

ARE WAX FIGURINES getting more lifelike and realistic?

We came across this marvellous set of photographs in the archives from London’s famous Madame Tussaud’s wax museum depicting celebrity figures from the 1960s through to the present day. Is it just our eyes, or are they getting  a little more likelike (we chose photos which feature the real-life person as well as the figure for comparison).

For good measure, the last photograph of Eamon Dunphy with his model is taken from the National Wax Museum Plus in Dublin, to give you a taste of the models there.

Interesting side tidbit, trivia fans: Senator Donie Cassidy, previously a Fianna Fáil TD for Westmeath and Senator,  formerly owned the National Wax Museum (Plus). It is now owned in its current inception on College Green by Patrick Dunning, the owner of Grouse Lodge studios in Co Westmeath. Those studios – appropriately enough – have hosted artists such as Michael Jackson, REM and Manic Street Preachers, recording their albums. From a FF TD to the Prince of Pop… it’s a small leap from politics to showbiz, eh?

Double take? 26 celebrities and their waxworks
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  • Paul McCartney, 1964

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • The Beatles, 1964

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Enoch Powell, 1966

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Margaret Thatcher, 1975

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Elton John, 1976

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Kevin Keegan, 1976

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Bruce Forsyth, 1978

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Naomi Campbell, 1996

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Michael Jackson, 1985

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • John McEnroe, 1981

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Nelson Mandela, 1991

    PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Terry Wogan, 1989

    PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Billy Idol, 1996

    PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Shirley Bassey, 1999

    Fiona Hanson/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • British Prince Andrew, 1999

    Peter Jordan/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Kylie Minogue, 1998

    Antony Jones/UK Press/Press Association Images
  • Winston Churchill, Tony Blair, Adolf Hitler, 2002

    So none of the three real-life figures are in this actual picture but the positioning of the figures in 2002 is bizarre to say the least... Yui Mok/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Graham Norton, 2001

    Yui Mok/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Patrick Stewart, 2000

    Matthew Fearn/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Barbara Windsor, 2000

    Rebecca Naden/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • The Andrex Puppy, 2004

    Yui Mok/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • José Mourinho, 2005

    Jean/allactiondigital.com/Jean/EMPICS Entertainment
  • Boris Johnson, 2009

    Zak Hussein/PA Archive/Press Association Images
  • Cheryl Cole, 2010

    Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/Press Association Images
  • Justin Bieber, 2011

    Doug Peters/Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment
  • Eamon Dunphy, 2009

    At the National Wax Museum Plus in Dublin. Image: Niall Carson/PA Archive/Press Association Images

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