Actress. Known for a slender, feline red-head with a little girl voice and pout, Simone Simon gave her most memorable performance in the classic of French cinema, "La Bête Humaine" (1939), but is probably best known for her role in the 1942 horror film "Cat People." Simon began her career as a model, and was noticed by 20th Century Fox Hollywood studio head Darryl F. Zanuck. She made 11 films in the U.S., including Seventh Heaven in 1937 which also stared James Stewart. Unhappy with Hollywood, she left the U.S. and returned to France, becoming re-established as an international star in "La Bête Humaine" in 1939. During World War II she returned to the U.S. and starred in a series of horror films including "All That Money Can Buy" (1941), "Cat People" (1942), and its sequel "Curse of the Cat People" (1944). Simon made a handful of films in France in the 1950s before retiring in 1956, but had one last film role in "La Femme en Bleu" (1973).
Actress. Known for a slender, feline red-head with a little girl voice and pout, Simone Simon gave her most memorable performance in the classic of French cinema, "La Bête Humaine" (1939), but is probably best known for her role in the 1942 horror film "Cat People." Simon began her career as a model, and was noticed by 20th Century Fox Hollywood studio head Darryl F. Zanuck. She made 11 films in the U.S., including Seventh Heaven in 1937 which also stared James Stewart. Unhappy with Hollywood, she left the U.S. and returned to France, becoming re-established as an international star in "La Bête Humaine" in 1939. During World War II she returned to the U.S. and starred in a series of horror films including "All That Money Can Buy" (1941), "Cat People" (1942), and its sequel "Curse of the Cat People" (1944). Simon made a handful of films in France in the 1950s before retiring in 1956, but had one last film role in "La Femme en Bleu" (1973).
Bio by: The Perplexed Historian
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