Discarded celebrity waxworks end up in Bible museum
Roshina Jowaheer
Updated
A life-size model of Prince Philip in the perhaps unlikely guise of an angel is the centrepiece of a bizarre biblical museum made up of discarded waxworks of celebrities from around the world.
Prince Charles is another star attraction at the BibleWalk museum, in Ohio, USA, which gets up to 40,000 visitors a year. He has been transformed into Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, complete with a 'pudding bowl' haircut.
The weird museum features over 300 figures rescued from closed or failing waxwork museums.
It is billed as the only place on earth where you can see the gaffe-prone Duke of Edinburgh and celebrities, such as film stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta, re-imagined as notable biblical figures.
While the origins of many of the waxworks remain a closely-guarded secret, characters in the Last Supper scene were obtained from a museum 750 miles away in Arkansas. Others came from museums in Kentucky and Virginia, while some of the figures were acquired from historical or civil war museums around the USA.
The young-looking Prince Philip is dressed in an all-white gown, playing an angel in a scene with Jesus, depicting heaven and hell.
Future king Prince Charles is seen holding a walking stick in his right hand and wearing a golden yellow overcoat, playing Abel from the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis.
According to the Bible he was the world's first murder victim when he was killed by his brother Cain.
Director of the museum Julia Mott-Hardin, 62 is reluctant to widely publicise the museum's re-purposed famous figures and even refuses to give tours to those who want to see the celebrities.
"I've had calls from people who wanted to take the tour, but only if I accompanied them pointing out the celebrities," she said. "I refused. The museum is about glorifying God and his works. That's what we want to achieve."
A guided three-hour tour of the museum, which costs about £14, takes in all 70 scenes across four separate exhibitions.
Tom Cruise fans can see him dressed as Jesus - complete with long hair and beard - while a previous John Travolta is transformed in a scene with King Solomon.
The late Elizabeth Taylor features in the same scene as the Grease star, while The Great Escape hero Steve McQueen plays a bystander in a separate scene altogether.
Other stars from the world of entertainment include The Beatles' George Harrison and legendary actors Marlon Brando and Burt Lancaster.
Without revealing how much they spend on the discarded waxworks, Julia hinted they can be as expensive as five figures in US money.
She said: "Figures can be expensive, sometimes up to ten thousand dollars.
"But we always seem to get a good deal and we put that down to God helping us."