Michel Simon

Actor
Michel Simon

About

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Also Known As
Francois Simon
Birth Place
Switzerland
Born
April 09, 1895
Died
May 30, 1975

Biography

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Former boxer and acrobatic clown who metamorphosed into one of the greatest French character players of all time. Simon first earned acclaim in the stage and film versions of "Jean de la Lune" (1931) and gained wide popularity for his commanding, soulful performances--usually as coarse commoners or unscrupulous rustics--in the films of Jean Renoir ("Boudu Saved From Drowning" 1932), Jean...

Filmography

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Scent Of A Woman (1992)
L' Ibis Rouge (1975)
Zizi
La Piu Bella Serata Della Mia Vita (1972)
Prosecuting Attorney
Blanche (1971)
The Marriage Came Tumbling Down (1968)
Grandfather
The Two of Us (1968)
Gramps [Pépé]

Photos & Videos

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La Chienne (a.k.a. The Bitch) (1931) -- (Movie Clip) You Spoil Me, Darling
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La Chienne (a.k.a. The Bitch) (1931) -- (Movie Clip) Men Are Such Bores

Biography

Former boxer and acrobatic clown who metamorphosed into one of the greatest French character players of all time. Simon first earned acclaim in the stage and film versions of "Jean de la Lune" (1931) and gained wide popularity for his commanding, soulful performances--usually as coarse commoners or unscrupulous rustics--in the films of Jean Renoir ("Boudu Saved From Drowning" 1932), Jean Vigo ("L'Atalante" 1934), Marcel Carne ("Quai des Brumes" 1938), Julien Duvivier ("End of a Day" 1939) and Rene Clair ("Beauty and the Devil" 1950). Although Simon's career tailed off in the 1950s after an accident which affected his central nervous system, he resurfaced with a triumphant performance in Claude Berri's poignant "The Two of Us" (1967). Father of actor Francois Simon.

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Scent Of A Woman (1992)
L' Ibis Rouge (1975)
Zizi
La Piu Bella Serata Della Mia Vita (1972)
Prosecuting Attorney
Blanche (1971)
The Marriage Came Tumbling Down (1968)
Grandfather
The Two of Us (1968)
Gramps [Pépé]
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1967)
Boudu
The Two of Us (1967)
The Train (1965)
Papa Boule
Ecco (1965)
The Devil and the Ten Commandments (1963)
Jérome Chambard
Candide (1962)
Nanar
The Head (1961)
Professor Abel
Austerlitz (1960)
Three Make A Pair (1957)
Inspector
Saadia (1954)
Bou Rezza
La Vie d'un honnete homme (1953)
Albert
Altri Tempi (1952)
("The Hand Of Providence")
Beauty and the Devil (1949)
Panique (1946)
Le quai des brumes (1939)
Fric-Frac (1939)
L'Atalante (1934)
Pere Jules
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932)
Boudu
La Chienne (1931)
Maurice Legrand
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927)
Jean Lemaitre
Feu Mathias Pascal (1925)
Jerome Pomino

Producer (Feature Film)

Boudu Saved From Drowning (1967)
Producer
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932)
Producer

Life Events

1918

Stage debut

1925

Screen debut, "The Late Matthew Pascal"

Videos

Movie Clip

La Chienne (a.k.a. The Bitch) (1931) -- (Movie Clip) You Spoil Me, Darling Some time into their affair, far-from-wealthy bureaucrat LeGrand (Michel Simon) ends an evening with his mistress Lulu (Janie Parèse), sending her up to the apartment he pays for, furnished with his own paintings, still unaware that she’s giving his money to her boyfriend and de facto pimp Dèdè (Georges Flamant), in Jean Renoir’s La Chienne, a.k.a. The Bitch, 1931.
La Chienne (a.k.a. The Bitch) (1931) -- (Movie Clip) Men Are Such Bores Jean Renoir directing his second sound feature, at a Paris art-scene salon, prostitute Lulu (Janie Parèse), who’s posing as fictional Clara, a suddenly popular painter, in a dancing-fight with her pimp-partner Dèdè (Georges Flamant) works with cohorts Alexandre Rignault, Pierre Desty and Lucien Mancini to schmooze a new customer (Jean Gehret), in La Chienne, a.k.a. The Bitch, 1931.
La Chienne (a.k.a. The Bitch) (1931) -- (Movie Clip) You Call That Passion? Following his first meeting with Paris streetwalker Lulu, cashier LeGrand (Michel Simon), known around his office as a boring fellow with a domineering wife, returns home to her (Madeleine Berubet), angered over his timing and his painting hobby, in director Jean Renoir’s celebrated second sound feature, La Chienne, a.k.a. The Bitch, 1931.
La Chienne (a.k.a. The Bitch) (1931) -- (Movie Clip) Get Your Claws In This Guy From director Jean Renoir, shooting on location in Paris, the first scene (following an earlier introduction) for Lulu (Janie Marèse) and Dèdè (Georges Flamant), meeting LeGrand (Michel Simon), the notoriously dull guy who chose not to attend the after-party following a company banquet, early in La Chienne, a.k.a. The Bitch, 1931.
La Chienne (a.k.a. The Bitch) (1931) -- (Movie Clip) Open, A Stirring Social Drama The opening credits to Jean Renoir’s sensational second sound feature (he first made a quick farcical comedy, to show producers his ability with the new medium), then a framing device, using puppets to introduce his stars, Michel Simon, Janie Marese and Georges Flamant, in La Chienne, a.k.a. The Bitch, 1931.
Train, The (1965) -- (Movie Clip) Get Off My Train! First proving sabotage, which he's apparently arranged himself, to his German boss, French rail inspector Labiche (Burt Lancaster, doing his own stunts) tries to get crotchety engineer Papa Boule (Michel Simon) to escape an Allied air raid, in John Frankenheimer's The Train, 1965.
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932) -- (Movie Clip) Such A Perfect Tramp We’ve met the title character, vagrant Boudu (Michel Simon), disconsolate because his dog ran off, now trudging around Paris, observed by philosophical bookseller Lestingois (Charles Gravnal), his maid (Severine Lerczynska) baffled, director Jean Renoir’s premise emerging, in Boudu Saved From Drowning, 1932.
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932) -- (Movie Clip) You Are Like The Nymphs Director Jean Renoir opens his celebrated comedy, fantasy to introduce Paris bookseller Lestingois (Charles Gravnal) and his assistant Anne-Marie (Severine Lerczynska), from a play by Renè Fauchois, starring Michel Simon, Boudu Saved From Drowning, 1932.
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932) -- (Movie Clip) If The Letters Are Big Michel Simon (title character), rescued from the Seine by bookseller Lestingois (Charles Gravnal), taking to the notion that the man who saved him is now responsible for him, his wife and maid (Marcelle Hainia, Severine Lerczynska) less happy, in Jean Renoir’s Boudu Saved From Drowning, 1932.
Feu Mathais Pascal (1925) -- (Movie Clip) Whom She Secretly Admires Ivan Mosjoukine (title character) has a chance encounter with Romilde (Marcelle Pradot) who, we suspect, is the beloved of his clownish friend Pomino (Michel Simon), in Marcel L’Herbier’s film from the Pirandello novel, Feu Mathias Pascal, a.k.a. The Late Mathias Pascal, 1925.
Port Of Shadows (1939) -- (Movie Clip) No One Likes My Face Panama (Edouard Delmont), at his waterfront hide-out, has just repelled gunmen who, he learns, were after Zabel (Michel Simon) who happens to be the guardian of Nelly (Michele Morgan) who, with deserter Jean (Jean Gabin), is among the outcasts on hand, in Marcel Carne's Port Of Shadows, 1939.
L'Atalante (1934) -- (Movie Clip) Tired Of Village Life Attribution and opening credits, the first scenes from the initially reviled final film by the then 29-year old French director Jean Vigo, who died the year it was released, L'Atalante, 1934, starring Michel Simon, Dita Parlo and Jean Daste.

Trailer

Saadia - (Original Trailer) A young doctor (Mel Ferrer) in the Sahara clashes with the local witch doctor in Saadia (1954).

Family

Francois Simon
Son
Actor.

Bibliography

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