--- name: "Simone Signoret" canonical: "https://film.one/person/simone-signoret" roles: ["Actor"] born: "25 March 1921" died: "30 September 1985" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 72 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-20T04:28:02.625185+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Simone Signoret Actor. Born 25 March 1921 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Died 30 September 1985. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 25 March 1921, Wiesbaden, Germany - **Died:** 30 September 1985 - **Active:** 1958–1965 - **Also known as:** 시몬 시뇨레, Simone Kaminker, Симона Синьоре, Henriette Charlotte Simone Kaminker - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 1 nominated) - **Average Fi1m score:** 72, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 82 (1), 1960s 62 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Signoret, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106126, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0797531/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12266 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Room at the Top*](https://film.one/film/room-at-the-top.md) (82) - **The Roku Channel:** [*Ship of Fools*](https://film.one/film/ship-of-fools.md) (62) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Simone Signoret > Signoret did less than almost any actor of her time and let the camera find the rest. She listened, waited and told men the truth about themselves, and in *Room at the Top* that is the whole film. Early in *Room at the Top* (1958), before the affair has gone anywhere it cannot come back from, Alice Aisgill straightens Joe Lampton's collar as he leaves her flat. Signoret barely looks at him while she does it. It is a wife's gesture, offered to a man who is not her husband, and it tells you what she has decided before she has admitted it to herself. That is how she worked. Where others built a performance out of speeches, Signoret built one out of what a woman does with her hands and her eyes while somebody else is talking. She came up without training, starting as an extra in the 1940s and taking her first notable parts at the end of that decade, among them *Dédée d'Anvers* (1948) for Yves Allégret. *Casque d'Or* (1952) made her a star in France, and *Les Diaboliques* (1955) showed the same stillness could go cold: Nicole Horner watches a plan unfold and does not blink. The early parts ran to prostitutes and unhappy wives, and she was cast that way often enough for it to become a complaint. *Room at the Top* brought her an international audience, as a Frenchwoman married to a man who speaks to her as if she were staff. After that she worked mostly in Europe through the 1960s and 1970s, in *Ship of Fools* (1965) and, for Jean-Pierre Melville, in *Army of Shadows* (1969), which was largely overlooked when it came out. What works is the listening. In the pub in *Room at the Top*, Joe talks about money and Alice does not argue; she waits, and when she speaks it is to tell him something true about himself that he did not want to hear. She has worked out exactly what he is and has decided to love him anyway, and Signoret lets us see both halves of that at once. It moved us more than we expected, and we were a little ashamed of it, because the film has made plain she deserves better and is not going to give it to her. Laurence Harvey is the weaker half of the pairing, and she plays to him as though he were not, which is the kindest thing in the performance and the saddest. The limits are real. A style built on doing so little needs a director willing to hold the shot, and not every director she worked with was. The early success in prostitute parts got her cast as one more often than it should have. She said, "I got old the way women who aren't actresses grow old," and she meant it: she let her face change on screen and went on being cast in older parts she did not soften. Start with *Room at the Top*. If the collar does its work on you, *Casque d'Or* and *Les Diaboliques* will show you the same woman warm and then cold. ## Biography Simone Signoret was a French actress. Born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker on 25 March 1921 in Wiesbaden, Germany, she grew up in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris. She began her career in the 1940s and became known for roles in French films including *Casque d'Or* (1952) as Marie and *Diabolique* (1955) as Nicole Horner. Signoret achieved international recognition for her performance as Alice Aisgill in the British film *Room at the Top* (1958). She received an Academy Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the role. Other notable credits include *La Ronde* (1950), *Army of Shadows* (1969) and *The Cat* (1971). She was married to actor Yves Montand from 1951 until her death on 30 September 1985. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, screenonline.org.uk, britannica.com, bfi.org.uk.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Ship of Fools* (1965), Fi1m 62, as La Condesa — [page](https://film.one/film/ship-of-fools.md) - *Room at the Top* (1958), Fi1m 82, as Alice Aisgill — [page](https://film.one/film/room-at-the-top.md) ## Complete filmography (76) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Paris Calligrammes* (2020), Actor - *Simone Signoret, figure libre* (2020), as (archive footage) - *Simone Signoret, un chat est un chat* (2019), as elle même - *She's French* (2018), Actor - *Simone Signoret, de Simone Kaminker à Madame Signoret* (2011), as Simone Signoret - *Music Hall* (1986), as Yvonne Pierre - *Terrorists in Retirement* (1985), as Narrator (voice) - *Thérèse Humbert* (1983), series, as Thérèse Humbert - *Guy de Maupassant* (1982), as Maupassant's mother - *The North Star* (1982), as Mme Louise Baron - *I Sent a Letter to My Love* (1980), as Louise Martin - *The Adolescent* (1979), as Mamie - *Judith Therpauve* (1978), as Judith Therpauve - *Madame le Juge* (1978), series, as Élisabeth Massot - *A Grin Without a Cat* (1977), as Narrator (voice) - *Madame Rosa* (1977), as Madame Rosa - *Police Python 357* (1976), as Thérèse Ganay - *Flesh of the Orchid* (1975), as Lady Vamos - *Rude journée pour la reine* (1973), as Jeanne - *The Burned Barns* (1973), as Rose Cateux - *Septembre Chilien* (1973), as Narrator - *The Widow Couderc* (1971), as la veuve Couderc - *The Cat* (1971), as Clémence Bouin - *The Confession* (1970), as Lise - *Countdown to Vengeance* (1970), as Léa - *The American* (1969), as Léone - *Army of Shadows* (1969), as Mathilde - *The Sea Gull* (1968), as Irina Arkadina - *Games* (1967), as Lisa Schindler - *The Deadly Affair* (1967), as Elsa Fennan - *Is Paris Burning?* (1966), as Cafe Owner - *A Small Rebellion* (1966), as Sara Lescault - *The Sleeping Car Murders* (1965), as Eliane Darès, l'actrice éventée (Victime #4) - *Ship of Fools* (1965), as La Condesa — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/ship-of-fools.md) - *Sweet and Sour* (1963), as Madame Geneviève - *The Lovely Month of May* (1963), as Narrator (English version) (voice) - *The Day and the Hour* (1963), as Thérèse Dutheil - *The Shortest Day* (1963), as Contadina - *Term of Trial* (1962), as Anna Weir - *Famous Love Affairs* (1961), as Jenny de Lacour - *Naked Autumn* (1961), as Roberte - *Adua and Her Friends* (1960), as Adua - *Room at the Top* (1958), as Alice Aisgill — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/room-at-the-top.md) - *The Witches of Salem* (1957), as Elizabeth Proctor - *The Wind Rose* (1957), as Jeanine (archive footage) - *Death in the Garden* (1956), as Djin - *Un matin comme les autres* (1956), as Janine Alix - *Diabolique* (1955), as Nicole Horner - *Thérèse Raquin* (1953), as Thérèse Raquin - *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as Woman - *Casque d'Or* (1952), as Marie - *Shadow and Light* (1951), as Isabelle Leritz - *Without Leaving an Address* (1951), as Une journaliste au journal (uncredited) - *Gunman in the Streets* (1950), as Denise Vernon - *Le Traqué* (1950), as Denise Vernon - *La Ronde* (1950), as Léocadie, la prostitutée - *Swiss Tour* (1949), as Yvonne - *The Cheat* (1949), as Dora - *Impasse of Two Angels* (1948), as Anne-Marie / Marianne - *Dedee* (1948), as Dédée, une entraîneuse soutenue par Marco - *Against the Wind* (1948), as Michèle Denis - *Fantômas* (1947), as Hélène - *Back Streets of Paris* (1946), as Gisèle - *Dawn Devils* (1946), as Lily, cabaret owner - *The Ideal Couple* (1946), as Annette - *Box of Dreams* (1945), as Woman (uncredited) - *Le mort ne reçoit plus* (1944), Actor - *Night Shift* (1944), as Dancer at the tavern (uncredited) - *Behold Beatrice* (1944), as Liliane Moraccini - *Angel of the Night* (1944), as Une étudiante (uncredited) - *Adieu Léonard* (1943), as Gypsy (uncredited) - *Le Voyageur de la Toussaint* (1943), as Extra (uncredited) - *The Benefactor* (1942), as Newspaper secretary (uncredited) - *The Devil's Envoys* (1942), as Extra (uncredited) - *Prince Charming* (1942), as (uncredited) - *Boléro* (1942), as Une employée de maison de couture ## Gallery - ![Simone Signoret](https://film.one/media/person/1239970/gallery-50d07bc7486d.jpg) Simone Signoret — Studio Harcourt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Signoret_Harcourt_1947_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![film frame from the Italian movie Adua e le compagne (1960)](https://film.one/media/person/1239970/gallery-174dcedde3a1.png) film frame from the Italian movie Adua e le compagne (1960) — Antonio Pietrangeli (director) / Armando Nannuzzi (cinematographer), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Adua_e_le_compagne_25.png/1280px-Adua_e_le_compagne_25.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![film frame from the Italian movie Adua e le compagne (1960)](https://film.one/media/person/1239970/gallery-57fccdbe438d.png) film frame from the Italian movie Adua e le compagne (1960) — Antonio Pietrangeli (director) / Armando Nannuzzi (cinematographer), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Adua_e_le_compagne_41.png/1280px-Adua_e_le_compagne_41.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![film frame from the Italian movie Adua e le compagne (1960)](https://film.one/media/person/1239970/gallery-6fd3444e7ef1.png) film frame from the Italian movie Adua e le compagne (1960) — Antonio Pietrangeli (director) / Armando Nannuzzi (cinematographer), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Adua_e_le_compagne_43.png/1280px-Adua_e_le_compagne_43.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Simone Signoret](https://film.one/media/person/1239970/gallery-ffe81c391ae4.jpg) Simone Signoret — Image via TMDB - ![Simone Signoret](https://film.one/media/person/1239970/gallery-2dce8ff3e8d8.jpg) Simone Signoret — Image via TMDB - ![Sujet : Signoret, Simone (1921-1985) -- Portraits Langue : sans contenu linguistique Éditeur : Roger Pic (Paris) (1962)](https://film.one/media/person/1239970/gallery-034fe0f63697.jpg) Sujet : Signoret, Simone (1921-1985) -- Portraits Langue : sans contenu linguistique Éditeur : Roger Pic (Paris) (1962) — Pic, Roger (1920-2001). Photographe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Simone_Signoret_1962_%28facecrop_1%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Sujet : Signoret, Simone (1921-1985) -- Portraits Langue : sans contenu linguistique Éditeur : Roger Pic (Paris) (1962)](https://film.one/media/person/1239970/gallery-ebed723f214b.jpg) Sujet : Signoret, Simone (1921-1985) -- Portraits Langue : sans contenu linguistique Éditeur : Roger Pic (Paris) (1962) — Pic, Roger (1920-2001). Photographe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Simone_Signoret_1962_%28facecrop_2%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 1 won, 1 nominated - 1966: Best Actress (nominated), for *Ship of Fools* - 1960: Best Actress (won), for *Room at the Top* ### BAFTA Film Awards — 3 won, 1 nominated - 1969: Best Actress in a Supporting Role (nominated), for *Games* - 1959: Best Actress in a Leading Role (won), for *Room at the Top* - 1958: Best Actress in a Leading Role (won), for *The Crucible* - 1953: Best Actress in a Leading Role (won), for *Casque d'Or* ### Golden Globes — 0 won, 2 nominated - 1965: Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama (nominated), for *Ship of Fools* - 1959: Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama (nominated), for *Room at the Top* ### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won - 1966: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (won), for *Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre* ### Cannes Film Festival — 1 won - 1959: Best Actress (won), for *Room at the Top* ### Berlin International Film Festival — 1 won - 1971: Best Actress (won), for *Le Chat* ### Other awards — 3 won, 1 nominated - César Award for Best Actress 1983: César Award for Best Actress (nominated), for *L'étoile du nord* - César Award for Best Actress 1978: César Award for Best Actress (won), for *Madame Rosa* - David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress 1978: David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress (won), for *Madame Rosa* - National Board of Review Award for Best Actress 1959: National Board of Review Award for Best Actress (won), for *Room at the Top* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/simone-signoret