Born on the island of Jersey , she moved to London in , two years after marrying. Her looks and personality attracted interest, commentary, and invitations from artists and society hostesses , and she was celebrated as a young woman of great beauty and charm. During the aesthetic movement in England, she was painted by aesthete artists. In , she became the poster-girl for Pears soap , and thus the first celebrity to endorse a commercial product. In , Langtry became an actress and made her West End debut in the comedy She Stoops to Conquer , causing a sensation in London by becoming the first socialite to appear on stage.
Eventually she ran her own stage production company. In later life she performed "dramatic sketches" in vaudeville. There she maintained a successful horse racing stable. The Lillie Langtry Stakes horse race is named after her. One of the most glamorous British women of her era, Langtry was the subject of widespread public and media interest. Her acquaintances in London included Oscar Wilde , who encouraged Langtry to pursue acting.
However, by lack of reliable sources - Lillie Langtry refused to write her "real reminiscences" - she still remains an enigmatic personality. Opinions about her are contradictory. She was baptised in St Saviour on 9 November Lillie was the sixth of seven children and the only girl.
Purportedly, one of their ancestors was Richard le Breton , allegedly one of the assassins in of Thomas Becket. In an interview Lillie said: 'Yes, I was born and educated in Jersey, but it is not correct for you to say that I spent my bread-and-butter days there. I never had any bread-and-butter days. As the only sister of six stout brothers I shared their outdoor sports in a most boyish fashion.
It would be more accurate to describe my girlhood as my " tomboy days," I think. Lillie's French governess was reputed to have been unable to manage her, so Lillie was educated by her brothers' tutor. This education was of a wider and more solid nature than that typically given to girls at that time. When his wife Emilie finally left him in , he left Jersey.
