Philippe Curtius of several generations of artists named Tussaud. Philippe Curtius Philippe Curtius (1737–1794) was a Swiss physician and wax modeller who taught Marie Tussaud the art of wax modelling. Marie Grosholtz, the future Marie Tussaud, lived in the Berne home of Curtius, for whom her mother acted as housekeeper. Marie called him 'Uncle', and in many ways he was a father figure. Curtius used his skill in wax modelling to illustrate anatomy as a physician, and sometimes for the entertainment of visitors. Later, he started to do portraits. Curtius created beautiful anatomical wax models that were admired by the Prince de
Movieland Wax Museum whom the wax figure was modeled on. Many of the wax figures and sets from the Movieland Wax Museum were auctioned off in March 2006. One of the earliest sculptors commissioned by Allen Parkinson to produce these real-sized hyper-realist wax figures in 1960 was the renowned Spanish sculptor . He was responsible for the figures of Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, David Niven, Cattie Mac Daniels, Olivia de Havilland, Natalie Wood, Vivien Leigh, Charlton Heston, Gene Kelly, Robert Stack, as well as the sets Don Quixote and Sancho, Miguel Angel's David, Leonardo da Vinci, and a full-bodied Gioconda. The former Starlite