[6] From 1780 until the Revolution in 1789, Tussaud created many of her most famous portraits of celebrities such as those of philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Benjamin Franklin and Voltaire.

She also claimed that members of the royal family were so pleased with her work that she was invited to live at Versailles for nine years,[8] although no contemporary evidence exists to confirm her accounts.

[9] On 12 July 1789, wax heads of Jacques Necker and the duc d'Orléans made by Curtius were carried in a protest march two days before the attack on the Bastille.

[7] Tussaud was perceived as a royal sympathiser;[9] in the Reign of Terror she was arrested, along with Joséphine de Beauharnais, and her head was shaved in preparation for her execution by guillotine.

[3] Tussaud said she then was employed to make death masks and whole body casts of the revolution's famous victims, including Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Princesse de Lamballe, Jean-Paul Marat,[7] and Maximilien Robespierre.

She had accepted an invitation from Paul Philidor, a magic lantern and phantasmagoria pioneer, to exhibit her work alongside his show at the Lyceum Theatre.

[10] As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, Tussaud was unable to return to France so she travelled with her collection throughout the British Isles.

[14] Madame Tussaud's wax museum has now grown to become one of the major tourist attractions in London and has expanded with branches in Amsterdam, Istanbul, Beijing, Bangkok, Berlin, Blackpool, Sydney, Hong Kong, Wuhan, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chongqing, Shanghai, New York City, Orlando, Nashville, Hollywood, Singapore, Tokyo, Budapest, Vienna, Washington D.C., New Delhi and Dubai.

Marie Tussaud was featured as a minor character and quest giver in the video game Assassin's Creed Unity, which takes place during the French Revolution.