The Biggest Social Climbers In History

We all remember Kirsten Dunst's Marie Antoinette being advised to speak to Asia Argento's Madame du Barry, the last mistress of Louis XV and one of the most powerful women in the French court. But Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry unsurprisingly came from a humble background, and held a variety of occupations (a hairdresser's assistant, milliner's assistant, a home nurse for an elderly woman) before being discovered by pimp-to-the-stars Jean-Baptiste du Barry, who launched her career as a high class courtesan. The king learned of her while she was fooling around with some other dude at Versailles and, because the French had protocols for such things, ordered that she be wed to a man with some influence and a title so that she could qualify as his official mistress (maîtresse-en-titre). She married her pimp's brother, Comte Guillaume du Barry and it all worked out in her favor. Until the revolution, of course.

[Photo via Wiki]