Simone Signoret
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person
Simone Signoret ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}; born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker; 25 March 1921 – 30 September 1985) was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Golden Globe Awards.
Early lifeEdit
Signoret was born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker in Wiesbaden, Germany, to Georgette (née Signoret) and André Kaminker. She was the eldest of three children, with two younger brothers. Her father, a pioneering interpreter who worked in the League of Nations, was a French-born army officer from an assimilated and middle-class Polish-Jewish and Hungarian-Jewish family,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> who brought the family to Neuilly-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris. Her mother, Georgette, from whom she acquired her stage name, was a French Catholic.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Signoret grew up in Paris in an intellectual atmosphere and studied English, German and Latin. After completing secondary school during the Nazi occupation, Simone was responsible for supporting her family and forced to take work as a typist for a French collaborationist newspaper Les nouveaux temps, run by Jean Luchaire.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
CareerEdit
During the occupation of France, Signoret mixed with an artistic group of writers and actors who met at the Café de Flore in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter.Template:Sfn By this time, she had developed an interest in acting and was encouraged by her friends, including her lover Daniel Gélin to follow her ambition.Template:Cn In 1942, she began appearing in bit parts and was able to earn enough money to support her mother and two brothers as her father, who was a French patriot, had fled the country in 1940 to join General De Gaulle in England. She took her mother's maiden name for the screen to help hide her Jewish roots.Template:Sfn
Signoret's sensual features and earthy nature led to type-casting and she was often seen in roles as a prostitute.<ref name="nytobit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="timesobit">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name="monush">Template:Cite book</ref> She won considerable attention in La Ronde (1950),Template:Sfn a film which was banned briefly in New York City as immoral.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She won further acclaim, including an acting award from the British Film Academy, for her portrayal of another prostitute, Amélie Élie, in Jacques Becker's Casque d'or (1951).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="1953bafta">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She appeared in many French films during the 1950s, including Thérèse Raquin (1953), directed by Marcel Carné,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Les Diaboliques (1954),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and The Crucible (Les Sorcières de Salem; 1956), based on Arthur Miller's The Crucible.Template:Sfn
In 1958, Signoret acted in the English independent film Room at the Top (1959),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and her performance won numerous awards, including the Best Female Performance Prize at Cannes<ref name="timesobit" /> and the Academy Award for Best Actress.<ref name="1960oscars" /> She was offered films in Hollywood, but turned them down for several years,Template:Sfn<ref name="monush" /> continuing to work in France and England—for example, with Laurence Olivier in Term of Trial (1962).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She earned another Oscar nomination for her work on Ship of Fools (1965),<ref name="1966oscars" /> appeared in a few other Hollywood films, and returned to France in 1969.<ref name="monush" />
In 1962, Signoret translated Lillian Hellman's play The Little Foxes into French for a production in Paris that ran for six months at the Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt. She played the Regina role as well. Hellman was displeased with the production, although the translation was approved by scholars selected by Hellman.<ref>Signoret 1978, pp. 324–328.</ref>
Signoret's one attempt at Shakespeare, performing Lady Macbeth with Alec Guinness at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1966 proved to be ill-advised, with some harsh critics; one referred to her English as "impossibly Gallic".<ref>Sutcliffe, Tom. "Sir Alec Guinness". Film Guardian, 7 August 2000.</ref>
Signoret won acclaim for her portrayal of a weary madam in Madame Rosa (1977)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn and as an unmarried sister who unknowingly falls in love with her paralyzed brother via anonymous correspondence in Template:Interlanguage link (1980).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She continued to act until her death, working on the miniseries Music-Hall while terminally ill.<ref name="latobit" />Template:Sfn
Personal lifeEdit
Signoret's memoirs, Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be, were published in 1976.<ref name="timesobit" /> She also wrote the novel Adieu Volodya, published in 1985, the year of her death.<ref name="latobit">Template:Cite news</ref>
Signoret first married filmmaker Yves Allégret (1944–1949), with whom she had a son (Patrick) and a daughter Catherine Allégret. Patrick died nine days after his birth. Privately, Signoret blamed the hospital for his death as they had taken Patrick to a chapel for baptism and he shortly thereafter caught a cold and died. Signoret never spoke publicly about his death.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Her second marriage was to the Italian-born French actor Yves Montand in 1951, a union which lasted until her death; the couple had no children.<ref name="nytobit" />Template:Sfn They were both active in left-wing and humanitarian causes, although as they grew older she gravitated towards the political centre and he to the right.<ref name="timesobit" /><ref name="latobit" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Signoret died of colon cancer in Autheuil-Authouillet, France, aged 64.Template:Sfn<ref name="latobit" /> She was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris,<ref name="nytobit" /> and Yves Montand later was buried next to her.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Signoret identified as Jewish. She was a supporter of a variety of Jewish causes, including the Zionist movement and the Soviet Jewry movement. She maintained relationships with many Israeli leaders and was critical of antisemitism in the French Communist Party. Because she was of patrilineal Jewish ancestry and was therefore not considered Jewish under traditional halakha, there was no religious ceremony at her funeral.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
FilmographyEdit
Awards and nominationsEdit
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Academy Awards | Best Actress | Room at the Top | Template:Won | <ref name="1960oscars">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1965 | Ship of Fools | Template:Nom | <ref name="1966oscars">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | ||
| 1971 | Berlin International Film Festival | Best Actress | Le Chat | Template:WonTemplate:Efn | <ref name="berlinale 1971" /> | |
| 1952 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Foreign Actress | Casque d'Or | Template:Won | <ref name="1953bafta" /> | |
| 1957 | The Crucible | Template:Won | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | ||
| 1958 | Room at the Top | Template:Won | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | ||
| 1965 | Ship of Fools | Template:Nom | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | ||
| 1967 | The Deadly Affair | Template:Nom | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | ||
| 1968 | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Games | Template:Nom | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| 1959 | Cannes Film Festival | Best Actress | Room at the Top | Template:Won | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1977 | César Awards | Best Actress | Madame Rosa | Template:Won | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1982 | L'Étoile du Nord | Template:Nom | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | ||
| 1977 | David di Donatello Awards | Best Foreign Actress | Madame Rosa | Template:WonTemplate:Efn | ||
| 1959 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Room at the Top | Template:Nom | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1965 | Ship of Fools | Template:Nom | ||||
| 1959 | Jussi Awards | Best Foreign Actress | Room at the Top | Template:Won | ||
| 1957 | Karlovy Vary International Film Festival | Best Actress | The Crucible | Template:WonTemplate:Efn | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1959 | Laurel Awards | Top Female Dramatic Performance | Room at the Top | Template:Draw | ||
| 1959 | National Board of Review Awards | Best Actress | Template:Won | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| 1959 | New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Actress | Template:Draw | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| 1966 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Template:Small |
Template:Won | <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Popular cultureEdit
- A BBC TV film, Madame Montand and Mrs Miller (1992), depicted the relationship between Signoret and Marilyn Monroe during the filming of Let's Make Love, when Monroe had an affair with Yves Montand. Sue Glover wrote the script and Pauline Larrieu played Signoret.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Glover's subsequent stage-play on the same subject, Marilyn, premiered at the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow in 2011.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Singer Nina Simone (Born Eunice Waymon) took her last name from Simone Signoret.<ref>Source: "What Happened, Miss Simone", documentary on Nina Simone's life, 2015</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Cinema of France
- César Award for Best Actress
- List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
- List of French Academy Award winners and nominees
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
Works CitedEdit
Further ReadingEdit
- DeMaio, Patricia A. "Garden Of Dreams: The Life of Simone Signoret," 2014
- Signoret, Simone. Nostalgia Isn't What It Used To Be. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1978. Template:ISBN.
External linksEdit
- [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 797531
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