Simone Simon page 4

1910 - 2005

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Simone Simon Obituary Notices:

(Australia) Herald
March 2, 2005
"Simone Simon Dies"
By Brian Pendreigh

Rarely has cinema exploited the natural attributes of an actress so well as when producer Val Lewton cast the feline French actress Simone Simon as the young New York bride, haunted by an ancient Serbian curse, in his 1941 horror film Cat People, a masterpiece of dread and menace.

Simon, who appeared in film classics on both sides of the Atlantic, has died in Paris at the age of 94. Before Cat People, she had already starred as the unfaithful wife in Jean Renoir's La Bete Humaine (1939) and went on to appear in Max Ophuls's La Ronde (1950).

She might have become an even bigger star. She had originally gone to Hollywood in the mid-thirties and signed to a lucrative contract with 20th Century Fox, where she made several films and co-starred with James Stewart in the romantic drama Seventh Heaven (1937).

But her prospects were limited by an apparent inability to master English and her image was blighted by scandal after she accused an employee of theft."

More at the HERALD here

Washington Post
February 25, 2005
Enigmatic French Movie Actress Simone Simon Dies
By Adam Bernstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 25, 2005; Page B07

Simone Simon, who died Feb. 22 in Paris of undisclosed causes, was a petite French actress described as having the sexiest pout in Hollywood.

She pouted through her share of mediocre fare, with some notable exceptions: "All That Money Can Buy" (1941) as a temptress literally from hell; and "Cat People" (1942) as a young European bride who fears that her sexual power and jealousy will unleash a horrible curse.

The second was probably her best-known film, a low-budget Jacques Tourneur picture whose shadowy cinematography and power of suggestion brought it classic status in later decades.

Like her character in "Cat People," she seemed to thrive on mystery concerning the details of her life, particularly her age. She was in her late eighties or early nineties. Some sources say she was born in Bethune, France, and raised in Marseille, Madagascar, Vienna, Budapest, Berlin or Brussels.

The years given for her birth range from 1910 to 1917. In the latter claim, it was said her delivery coincided with nearby battle cries on the Western Front during World War I -- thereby explaining her fiery temperament on sets.

After a modeling and minor acting career in Paris guided by director Marc Allegret, Ms. Simon was brought to Hollywood by a Twentieth Century Fox producer who hoped her kittenish allure would appeal to American audiences. She was heavily promoted in her first American film, "Girls' Dormitory" (1936), in which she played a student involved in a romantic triangle with adults Herbert Marshall and Ruth Chatterton.

She was unhappy with the roles that followed: She played "Diane the Hooker," who is given shelter by Parisian sewer worker James Stewart in "Seventh Heaven." The musical "Love and Hisses" generously overlooked her inability to sing.

In Hollywood, she was painted as a lusty and demanding woman, who danced with George Raft and dated George Gershwin, the British double agent Dusan "Dusko" Popov, heirs to financial fortunes and her tennis instructor. During a nasty trial in the late 1930s involving a secretary who allegedly stole funds from her, the secretary said Ms. Simon ordered gold-plated keys to allow a close friend access to her boudoir. This stirred among those who could afford them a brief rage for such sexy keys.

There were reports she kept a pet black panther around her home. And she said she changed her perfume twice daily, describing her scent by day ("smells like leather") and by night ("smells like flowers").

More at the Post here

AFP news wire
Feb 23, 2005:
PARIS (AFP) - Simone Simon, a French actress who made a name for herself in Hollywood in the 1930s, has died in Paris aged 93, her friends and family told AFP.

Original Notice at yahoo.com

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BBC

"Simone Simon, the French actress who starred in 1942 horror film The Cat People, has died in Paris aged 93.

Born in Marseille, Simon began her career as a model before coming to the attention of Hollywood studio head Darryl Zanuck.

She was given a contract that saw her act in 11 US movies, including 1937's Seventh Heaven opposite James Stewart.

After the acclaimed Cat People she returned to France to star in famed director Jean Renoir's La Bete Humaine.

International star
Her triangular, almost feline face helped Simon make an impression early in her career but her Hollywood progress was hampered by appearances in unremarkable films. "

More at the BBC here

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