16. Lily Langtry
Born in Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, Emilie Le Breton became a socialite upon her arrival in London. A sought-after guest by hostesses and she became the companion of several notable men in the capital of the British Empire. Among the many men with whom she was alleged to conduct affairs were the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII. In 1874, at the age of twenty, she married a widower named Edward Langtry. Her earliest bout with fame was through the marketing of her image in portraits, copied on postcards. It was her friend Oscar Wilde who suggested Lily enter acting, and she became popular with the general public, though critical reviews were often dismissive of her abilities. In 1882 she arrived in the United States on her first tour. She set tongues wagging with her barely concealed extramarital affairs and her physical appearance.
Langtry later used her influence and much of her first husband’s money to enter into horse racing, and continued to perform as an actor, writer, and producer of plays. She invested in a California winery and became an American citizen. Following her divorce from Langtry she remarried and continued to engage in extramarital affairs. She used her celebrity to earn additional income from endorsing a line of cosmetics and became the first woman to publicly endorse a commercial product. She used her well-known ivory skin to market soap, though not Ivory Soap, but rather Pears Soap, then made in London. Langtry died in Monaco in 1929.