Obama's double sworn in at Paris wax museum

June 30, 2009 01:14:01 PM

• A⁺ 
• A^-
• |
• 
• |
• 
• |
• 

Barack Obama's wax double joined the pantheon of world leaders and stars at the Grevin Museum in Paris on Monday, after being unveiled at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

Clad in a dark suit lined with the Stars and Stripes, a red-lined tie over a white shirt, the US president's effigy was flanked by four mock-bodyguards for its official unveiling under the Paris monument.

Obama joins a select club of statesmen immortalised at the Paris museum, from Germany's Angela Merkel to Russia's Vladimir Putin, and most US presidents since the late 19th-century, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy.

The Grevin's sculptor of 20 years, Eric Saint Chaffray, created Obama's double based on photographs and video footage of the president.

Founded in 1882, the Paris museum draws some 800,000 visitors each year, a quarter of them foreign tourists.

* Get the latest and hottest Hollywood Gossip (Txt SUB HGS to 777) or Bollywood Gossip (Txt SUB BGS to 777) now.