Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon (23 April 1911 – 22 February 2005) was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931. She is perhaps best remembered for her role in the American horror film Cat People and its sequel The Curse of the Cat People.

Early life Born in Marseille, France, she was the daughter of Henri Louis Firmin Clair Simon, a French engineer and airplane pilot, and Erma Maria Domenica Giorcelli, an Italian housewife. Before settling and growing up in Marseille, Simon lived in Madagascar, Budapest, Turin, and Berlin. She went to Paris in 1931 and worked briefly as a singer, model, and fashion designer. She also at one point wanted to become a sculptor.

Simon worked chiefly for the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens and then managed to get more serious work with Sacha Guitry in Ô mon bel inconnu.

Career After being spotted in a restaurant in June 1931, Simon was offered a film contract by director Victor Tourjansky, which ended her plans to become a fashion designer. She made her screen debut in Le chanteur inconnu (The Unknown Singer, 1931), and quickly established herself as one of the country's most successful film actresses. Simon later told a reporter that she had no acting experience when making her first screen test for The Unknown Singer."Tender Little Savage: France's Favorite Descends upon the Hollywood Scene" by Jacques Lory, Oakland Tribune, 29 December 1935, p. 3 In 1932, she was given more important roles and she rose to fame after starring in Marc Allégret's Lac aux dames (Lake of Ladies, 1934), which was in her own opinion her first serious role since The Unknown Singer. In later interviews, Simon expressed her gratitude towards Allégret, feeling that he was responsible for her glory.

After seeing her in Lake of Ladies, Darryl F. Zanuck brought her to Hollywood in August 1935 with a widespread publicity campaign. Before accepting an American contract, Simon completed two more films for Allégret, Les yeux noirs (Black Eyes, 1935) and Les beaux jours (1935). It was usual for foreign actresses to receive months of preparation before working, but Simon was given only a few weeks of English lessons before she was told to report on set."Simone Simon Was Ready to Go Home" by Mayme Ober Peak, The Milwaukee Journal, 13 November 1936, p. 1 Meanwhile, the studio had trouble finding her a suitable role. She was scheduled to make her American film debut in A Message to Garcia (1936), playing a Spanish girl, but was replaced by Rita Hayworth. In mid-1935, she was cast in the female lead in Under Two Flags (1936), but was discharged during production.

Although it was reported that she withdrew due to illness, it was later revealed that Zanuck fired her after twelve days of shooting because of her temperamental behavior, which displeased the film's director Frank Lloyd. Simon herself claimed in a 1936 interview that she fell ill after weeks of tests and rehearsing for the film. She admitted, though, that in the early stage of production she was temperamental, insisting that she was inspired to behave that way after a conversation with Marlene Dietrich, who told her that "a star is only as important as she makes herself out to be.""Simone Simon Heartstick, Wanted to Go Home" by Mayme Ober Peak, The Milwaukee Journal, 13 November 1936, p. 3 She dismissed any further claims of her being rude or difficult to work with, explaining to the press that she was initially not used to the American lifestyle, which was in her view more extroverted than the French way of living."Pouting Lady From France" by Wood Soanes, Oakland Tribune, 29 November 1936 Her poor health caused her to be hospitalized, during which she became convinced to give up her American contract.

Shortly after she had decided to return to France, the studio assigned her to a third billing role in Girls' Dormitory (1936). Simon was attracted to the story and saw "great possibilities" in her character. Reportedly, she again showed a temperament, which led to difficulties with Ruth Chatterton, the film's star, who felt that Simon was receiving more attention.Pittsburgh Press, 31 August 1936, p. 21 Simon confessed that she was nervous during production, because studio executives were closely watching her every step. Although thought to be one of the highlights of the year,Oakland Tribune, 30 April 1936, p. 13 Girls' Dormitory was soon forgotten by the public, making Simon's American film debut less than impressive. Nonetheless, Simon was hailed a sensation and critics applauded her performance."The Strange New Star in Hollywood's Heaven" by Eleanor Packer, The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 September 1936, p. 7 Furthermore, magazines reported that it brought the actress overnight fame. Shortly after the film's release she was cast in White Hunter, a B movie that would reunite her with producer Irving Cummings. During filming, she was again stricken by flu, and she ultimately had to be replaced by actress June Lang.

Instead, the studio rushed her in the romantic comedy Ladies in Love (1936), which was filmed in mid-1936. She shared the female lead with Janet Gaynor, Loretta Young and Constance Bennett, some of whom objected to the large number of scenes that Simon was getting. It was a heavyweight lineup in which Simon's role left her little chance to compete effectively. Trying to avoid quarrels, she hired an assistant to prevent her from making headlines with her behavior."Simone Simon Hires Expert to Avoid Quarrels", Chicago Tribune, 24 July 1936 Despite a big build-up, which included a weekly salary even though her first American film was released more than a year after her arrival in the country, Simon's films for 20th Century Fox were only moderately successful. Among others, she was cast in the Janet Gaynor role in the 1937 remake of the silent classic Seventh Heaven (1927), which co-starred James Stewart and flopped. Afterwards, she was cast in Danger – Love at Work (1937), but due to her heavy French accent she had to be replaced by Ann Sothern.Fujiwara, Chris, The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger. New York: Macmillan Publishers 2009. , pp. 18–19 Failing in finding her appropriate roles, the studio allowed her to go on an eight-week vacation to France, and following her return in June 1937, she was assigned to Suez (1938), but the project was shelved and she was eventually replaced."Idle Simone At Last Is Given Role" by Paul Harrison, Pittsburgh Press, 18 June 1937, p. 28

In the late 1930s, Simon returned to France, dissatisfied with the development of her American film career and the backfiring of its related publicity."Simone Simon A Star Again", The Gazette (Montreal), 31 May 1944, p. 3 There, she appeared in the Jean Renoir film La Bête Humaine (The Human Beast) in 1938. With the outbreak of World War II, she returned to Hollywood and worked for RKO Radio Pictures where she achieved her greatest successes in English language cinema with The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), Cat People (1942) and The Curse of the Cat People (1944); the latter two formed part of the horror film series produced by Val Lewton. At the time, due to her relative obscurity in the United States, Simon generated a series of apocryphal rumours about her origins, such as that she was the love child of Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst, and that she had been a Paramount stock player from Salem, Oregon. These films did not lead to greater success and she languished in mediocre films until the end of the war.

She returned to France to act, and appeared in La Ronde (Roundabout, 1950), Olivia and Le Plaisir. Her film roles were few after this and she made her final film appearance in 1973.

Personal life and death

Simon never married. She was at one time in a relationship with World War II double agent Duško Popov, codenamed "Tricycle", a notorious womaniser. This relationship led to her being placed under covert surveillance by the FBI during the filming of Cat People. Simon had loaned Popov £10,000 in 1942 shortly before he left the country, likely her payment for the film (value circa £600,000 in 2025). They broke up in 1943 with him not repaying the money.

It was alleged by Simon's secretary that she gave a gold key to her boudoir to any man she was interested in, including George Gershwin. The film historian, Greg Mank, reports in his audio commentary for the DVD of Cat People, that the secretary was then on trial for extorting money from her employer, and her word on this matter cannot be taken at face value (the secretary was later convicted, and the terms of her probation required that she never speak of the "gold key" scandal again). In the 1950s, Simon was romantically involved with the French banker and racehorse owner–breeder Alec Weisweiller whose wife Francine was one of Jean Cocteau's patrons.

Simon died in Paris, France, on 22 February 2005 from natural causes after having gone blind. A few days later, French Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres issued a statement in which he extolled Simon's "charm, her irresistible smile... With Simone Simon's passing, we have lost one of the most seductive and most brilliant stars of the French cinema of the first half of the 20th century." Simon was buried in the Cimetière du Château-Gombert with a simple headstone which merely commemorates her name together with her dates of birth and death.

The French playwright Pierre Barillet, who knew Simon in real life, authored the biography La Féline in 2013. The book has not yet been translated into English.

Filmography + Film Year Title Role Notes 1931 Durand Versus Durand Eliane Mam'zelle Nitouche Uncredited The Unknown Singer Pierette Original title: Le chanteur inconnu On opère sans douleur 1932 The Chocolate Girl Julie Original title: La petite chocolatière A Son from America Maryse Original title: Un fils d'Amérique King of the Hotel Victoire Original title: Le roi des palaces To Live Happily Jacqueline Original title: Pour vivre heureux 1933 The Sad Sack Lily Original title: Tire au flanc Mind the Paint Amélie Gadarin Original title: Prenez garde à la peinture The Star of Valencia Rita 1934 Lake of Ladies Puck 1935 Dark Eyes Tania Original title: Les yeux noirs Beautiful Days Sylvie 1936 Girls' Dormitory Marie Claudel Ladies in Love Marie Armand 1937 Seventh Heaven Diane Love and Hisses Yvett Guerin 1938 Josette Renee LeBlanc La Bête Humaine Séverine Roubaud Alternative title: The Human BeastAlternative title: Judas Was a Woman 1940 Love Cavalcade Juliette Original title: Cavalcade d'amour 1941 The Devil and Daniel Webster Belle Alternative title: All That Money Can Buy 1942 Cat People Irena Dubrovna Reed 1943 Tahiti Honey Suzette 'Susie" Durand 1944 The Curse of the Cat People Irena Reed Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More Kathie Aumont Alternative title: And So They Were Married Mademoiselle Fifi Elizabeth Bousset – A Little Laundress Alternative title: Guy de Maupassant's Mademoiselle Fifi 1946 Pétrus Migo 1947 Temptation Harbour Camelia Alternative title: Temptation Harbor 1950 Women Without Names Yvonne Dubois Original title: Donne senza nome 1950 La Ronde Marie, the housemaid 1951 Olivia Mlle. Cara Alternative title: The Pit of Loneliness 1952 Le Plaisir Joséphine – le modèle Alternative title: House of Pleasure(segment "Le Modèle") 1954 The Three Thieves Doris Ornano A Double Life Françoise Dunoyer Original title: Das zweite Leben 1956 The Extra Day Michele Blanchard 1973 The Woman in Blue La dame de Meudon Original title: La femme en bleu(final film role)

Radio appearances Year Program Episode/source 1945 The Adventures of the Thin Man "The Case of the Homicidal Husband" 1945Inner Sanctum"The Black Art"

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Photographs and literature