---
name: "Simone Simon"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/simone-simon"
fi1m_id: "simone-simon"
imdb_id: "nm0800386"
tmdb_id: 103781
wikidata_id: "Q253239"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "23 April 1911"
died: "22 February 2005"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-25T03:18:43.196204+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 Simon

## Identity

Simone Simon

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/simone-simon
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** simone-simon
- **IMDb ID:** nm0800386
- **TMDB ID:** 103781
- **Wikidata ID:** Q253239
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Simon, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q253239, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0800386/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/103781

Actor. Born 23 April 1911 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Died 22 February 2005.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 23 April 1911, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
- **Died:** 22 February 2005
- **Also known as:** Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Simon, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q253239, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0800386/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/103781

## Fi1m on Simone Simon

> Simone Simon can make us fear a woman and still want her to be understood. *Cat People* uses that gift particularly well, though its vague writing and stiff supporting performances sometimes leave her doing more than her share.

In *Cat People* (1942), Simone Simon makes Irena Dubrovna Reed’s vulnerability difficult to ignore, however apprehensive we become about her. We were frightened for her as well as by her, because Simon makes her need to be understood feel convincing. The romantic scenes are uncomfortable because we cannot separate that sympathy from our apprehension. Nicholas Musuraca’s shadows would have less hold on us without that concern for Irena.

Her early success in Marc Allégret’s *Lac aux dames* (1934) led to a Hollywood contract, but the first American period yielded modest results. Jean Renoir then cast her as Séverine Roubaud opposite Jean Gabin in *La Bête humaine* (1938). Her second Hollywood period brought the more suitable work with Val Lewton. Lewton and Jacques Tourneur chose her for *Cat People* after seeing the beguiling menace of her performance in *All That Money Can Buy* (1941). For suggestive horror, that was a sound reason to cast her.

For all its suitability, *Cat People* also shows how much a film can ask of her. DeWitt Bodeen’s script sometimes withholds so much about the characters that mystery starts to feel like missing information. Kent Smith’s Oliver Reed and Tom Conway’s Dr. Louis Judd do not always make their dialogue sound lived in, leaving Simon to carry too much of the emotional work. She holds our attention through those uncertainties without making the characters around Irena any more persuasive. These are noticeable weaknesses, but they scarcely loosen the film’s grip.

The familiar descriptions of her feline appearance tell us less than they seem to. Her work in *Cat People* depends on our taking Irena’s feelings seriously, and reducing Simon to an intriguing face misses the care needed to sustain that sympathy. Her post-war work with Max Ophüls in *La Ronde* (1950) and *Le Plaisir* (1952) offered her a place in ensembles, away from the suggestive horror that suited her so well. Try *La Ronde* next, to see what Ophüls could do with her among a larger company.

## Biography

Simone Simon, also credited as Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon, was a French actress. She played Irena Dubrovna Reed in the 1942 film *Cat People*.

Born on 23 April 1911 in Marseille, she began her film career in 1931 and appeared in French and Hollywood productions until the 1970s. She is also known for roles in *La Bête Humaine* (1938), *All That Money Can Buy* (1941), *The Curse of the Cat People* (1944), *La Ronde* (1950), *Olivia* (1951) and *Le Plaisir* (1952).

Simon died in Paris on 22 February 2005.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Cat People* (1942), Fi1m 86, as Irena Dubrovna Reed — [page](https://film.one/film/cat-people.md)

## Complete filmography (37)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Woman in Blue* (1973), as la dame de Meudon
- *The Extra Day* (1956), as Michele Blanchard
- *Double Destiny* (1954), as Françoise Dunoyer
- *The Three Thieves* (1954), as Doris Ornano
- *Le Plaisir* (1952), as Joséphine
- *Olivia* (1951), as Mademoiselle Cara
- *La Ronde* (1950), as Marie, la femme de chambre
- *Women Without Names* (1950), as Yvonne Dubois
- *Temptation Harbour* (1947), as Camelia
- *Pétrus* (1946), as Migo
- *Mademoiselle Fifi* (1944), as Elizabeth Bousset
- *Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore* (1944), as Kathie Aumont
- *The Curse of the Cat People* (1944), as Ghost of Irena
- *Tahiti Honey* (1943), as Suzie Durand
- *Cat People* (1942), as Irena Dubrovna Reed — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/cat-people.md)
- *All That Money Can Buy* (1941), as Belle
- *Cavalcade of Love* (1939), as Juliette
- *La Bête Humaine* (1938), as Séverine
- *Josette* (1938), as Renee LeBlanc
- *Love and Hisses* (1937), as Yvett Guerin
- *Seventh Heaven* (1937), as Diane
- *Ladies in Love* (1936), as Marie Armand
- *Girls' Dormitory* (1936), as Marie Claudel
- *Happy Days* (1935), as Sylvie
- *Dark Eyes* (1935), as Tania
- *Ladies Lake* (1934), as Puck
- *Le Voleur* (1933), Actor
- *L'Étoile de Valencia* (1933), as Rita
- *Mind the Paint* (1933), Actor
- *The Sad Sack* (1933), Actor
- *Pour vivre heureux* (1932), Actor
- *King of Hotels* (1932), Actor
- *A Son from America* (1932), Actor
- *The Chocolate Girl* (1932), as julie
- *The Unknown Singer* (1931), as Pierette
- *Durand versus Durand* (1931), as Éliane
- *Mam'zelle Nitouche* (1931), as (uncredited)

## Gallery

- ![Publicity portrait of Simone Simon for film Love and Hisses (1937)](https://film.one/media/person/3859298/gallery-b5851ef8b241.jpg) Publicity portrait of Simone Simon for film Love and Hisses (1937) — 20th Century Fox studios, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Simone_Simon.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Simone Simon lors d'une présentation du radio-théâtre Lux diffusé par la station de radio CKAC de Montréal](https://film.one/media/person/3859298/gallery-5429eba2195a.jpg) Simone Simon lors d'une présentation du radio-théâtre Lux diffusé par la station de radio CKAC de Montréal — Conrad Poirier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Simone_Simon_1942_Montr%C3%A9al.jpg/1280px-Simone_Simon_1942_Montr%C3%A9al.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Simone Simon lors d'une présentation du radio-théâtre Lux diffusé par la station de radio CKAC de Montréal](https://film.one/media/person/3859298/gallery-5592f83d3f14.jpg) Simone Simon lors d'une présentation du radio-théâtre Lux diffusé par la station de radio CKAC de Montréal — Conrad Poirier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Face_detail%2C_Simone_Simon_1942_Montr%C3%A9al_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Simone Simon](https://film.one/media/person/3859298/gallery-6cfd2bbbbac3.png) Simone Simon — Studio Harcourt., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/SimoneSimon-StudioHarcourt-1956.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Simone Simon](https://film.one/media/person/3859298/gallery-ff9e773b5842.jpg) Simone Simon — Image via TMDB
- ![Simone Simon](https://film.one/media/person/3859298/gallery-9f8e17f912f5.jpg) Simone Simon — Image via TMDB
- ![Simone Simon](https://film.one/media/person/3859298/gallery-5babfa8c84cd.jpg) Simone Simon — Image via TMDB
- ![Simone Simon and Kurt Kreuger in Mademoiselle Fifi (1944) - publicity still (cropped : see source)](https://film.one/media/person/3859298/gallery-d49428a3cded.jpg) Simone Simon and Kurt Kreuger in Mademoiselle Fifi (1944) - publicity still (cropped : see source) — unknown (RKO Pictures), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Simone_Simon-Kurt_Kreuger_in_Mademoiselle_Fifi.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Cat People promotional still featuring, left to right: Tom Conway, Simone Simon, and Kent Smith (1942)](https://film.one/media/person/3859298/gallery-433e29a81067.jpg) Cat People promotional still featuring, left to right: Tom Conway, Simone Simon, and Kent Smith (1942) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Cat_People_promotional_still_-_Tom_Conway%2C_Simone_Simon%2C_and_Kent_Smith.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Simone Simon](https://film.one/media/person/3859298/gallery-270816636601.jpg) Simone Simon — Image via TMDB

---
© 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-simon