Madame Tussauds unveils Jamie Foxx figure

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Madame Tussauds Las Vegas said it kicked off Black History Month in the attraction's Spirit of America Room by unveiling a wax figure of Jamie Foxx.

The $300,000 statue is modeled in the likeness of Foxx, who won an Oscar for his role in the 2004 bio-pic "Ray."

Also included in the exhibit are Muhammad Ali, Louis Armstrong, James Brown, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jordan, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Oprah Winfrey.

The museum said every figure on display is accompanied with a biography that acknowledges the significant contributions each has made to shape U.S. history.

"Jamie Foxx was a natural choice for us. He not only embodies the upper echelon of celebrity that we look to celebrate but what he represents to the black community, and Americans as a whole, is the ability to take born-talent, drive and commitment and transform them into something magical," Adrian Jones, general manager of Madame Tussauds Las Vegas, said in a statement.

Foxx participated in a two-hour private sitting in which Tussauds Studio artists from London took precise measurements and matched his eye, skin and hair coloring so they could capture his likeness in the statue.