- Born
- Died
- Birth nameSimone Thérèse Fernande Simon
- Height5′ 2″ (1.57 m)
- Diminutive, fiery-tempered Simone Simon was born in France, but spent
much of her early childhood in Madagascar, where her father managed a
graphite mine. Her schooling was somewhat unsettled, her family moving
from city to city (Berlin, Budapest, Turin) before finally establishing
themselves in Paris in 1930. Simone started as a dress designer,
fashion model and occasional performer in stage musicals. She
eventually met the director Marc Allégret,
who took her under his wing. Her film debut was in 1931 and she had her
first major hit as Jean Gabin's co-star in
The Human Beast (1938), directed
by Jean Renoir.
There were two halves to Simone's history in Hollywood. In 1936,
Darryl F. Zanuck signed her to a
contract at 20th Century Fox on the strength of a picture she had made
two years earlier, Allegret's
Ladies Lake (1934). She was
launched with an expensive publicity campaign which accentuated her
continental allure, particularly, her 'sexy pout'. During her tenure,
problems surfaced regarding her command of English and also her limited
singing skills. Dissatisfied with the roles she was given, Simone
returned to France and
'La Bete Humaine'. She made a second attempt at
Hollywood, acting in William Dieterle's
All That Money Can Buy (1941)
as Belle, the devil's handmaiden. The New York Times review of October
17 considered her 'completely out of key'. Simone's best work, however,
was to come in the shape of the cult horror classic
Cat People (1942). Producer
Val Lewton and director
Jacques Tourneur used her
triangular-faced feline qualities to best effect in the story of a girl
who obsesses about an ancient Balkan curse turning her into a panther.
The film was stylish and subtle, creating imagined rather than actual
menace. Simone's performance was commensurate with perfectly studied
cat-like mannerisms. During the production of 'Cat People', Simone was
under FBI surveillance because of her relationship with MI5 spy Dusko
Popov. She made two further, less successful, films at RKO, then
returned to France for good. Simone made several films there and worked
on the stage. In spite of many affairs and relationships, she never
married.- IMDb Mini Biography By: I.S.Mowis
- ParentsHenri Louis Firmin Clair SimonErma Maria Domenica Giorcelli
- Had an affair with a famous WWII spy, Dusko Popov, who was
Yugoslavian and thought by the Germans to be a spy for them but in fact
was a spy for the British. Popov was a very successful double agent and
a well-known ladies man, and during WWII was also acquainted with
another spy, Ian Fleming, who later worked aspects of Popov into his James
Bond. It sounds like a movie in itself but it's completely true. - Her maid revealed that she rewarded men to whom she was attracted with
a gold key to her boudoir. - Had an affair with composer George Gershwin. It has been suggested by
Gershwin scholars that "Love Walked In" was likely written with her in
mind. Simone would state in a 1991 interview that "Above anything else
in the relationship, Gershwin and I shared a common interest in music". - Jean Renoir offered her the role of "Christine de la Chesnaye" in The Rules of the Game (1939), but she preferred to go back to Hollywood.
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