Madame Tussaud isn’t just a Waxworks you know, she was also a real person, and now Variety suggests she’s going to get her own biopic. Before you start thinking they’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel for people to make movies about, Tussaud wasn’t just about making waxwork models of famous faces for tourists to gawp over, she was a rather fascinating figure in her own right.
Born in Switzerland in 1761, Tussaud first started in waxworks when she went to work as housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius, travelling to Paris with him when he decided to set up a ‘wax exhibition’ there. He taught her the tricks of the trade and she became a notable wax modeller, while the success of Curtius’ exhibition saw her move up in society circles, eventually teaching art to Louis XVI’s sister and living at Versailles.
However her connections meant that when the French Revolution swept Paris, she was caught up in the middle of it. At one point Tussaus was rounded up and got so close to the guillotine that her head was shaved in preparation. After being saved from death, she was employed to make death masks of notable victims of the blade, including Loius XVI, Marie Antoinette, Marat and Robespierre.
It was only after all this that she travelled to England to display her collection of waxworks, eventually setting up a permanent exhibition on Baker Street in London in 1935.
It could all certainly make for a fascinating movie. Stephane Sperry will produce, while Alessandro Carnon and Bruno Ledoux are on scripting dutires. There’s no news on the cast or director, or indeed when they hope to start shooting.