SIMON, MICHEL

(1895-1975)

Actor. Born François Michel Simon in Geneva, Michel Simon got his start as a stage actor in the renowned Pitoëff theater troupe in Geneva. He came to France in the 1920s to start a film career and appeared in a number of silent films, includingJacque Catelain'sLa Galerie des monstres(1924),Jean Choux'sLa Vocation d'André Carel(1925), Carl Theodor Dreyer'sLa Passion de Jeanne d'Arc(1928), andJean Renoir'sTire-au-flanc(1928). Simon was not really appreciated, however, until the sound era. He was one of the most popular and arguably most gifted actors to appear on the screen, and he appeared in more than one hundred films over the course of his career.

The 1930s and 1940s marked the peak of Simon's career. He reprised a part he had played on the stage in Choux'sJean de la lune(1931) and had a number of excellent roles early in the 1930s, including lead roles in Renoir'sLa Chienne(1931),On purge bébé(1931), andBoudou sauvé des eaux(1932),Marc Allegret'sLac aux dames(1934),Marcel L'Herbier'sLe Bonheur(1934), andJean Vigo'sL'Atalante(1934). These roles established him as a formidable actor with a broad range, able to perform comedy, drama, and everything in between. Simon also appeared in several less artistic, broadly popular films, includingHenri Diamant-Berger'sMiquette et sa mère(1933), which demonstrated a willingness as well as an ability to perform in all sorts of films. Simon went on to appear in Allegret'sSous les yeux d'occident(1935), Raymond Bernard'sAmants et voleurs(1935), Alexandre Ryder'sMirages(1937),Marcel Carné'sDrôle de drame(1937) andLe Quai de brumes(1938),Sacha Guitry'sFaisons un rêve(1937), Pierre Billon'sLa Bataille silencieuse(1937) andVautrin(1944), Jean Boyer'sLa Chaleur du sein(1938) andCirconstances attenuantes(1939),Christian-Jacque'sLes Disparus de Saint-Agil(1938),Georges LacombeandYves Mirande'sDerrière la façade(1939),Pierre Chenal'sLe Dernier tournant(1939), Carl Koch and Renoir'sTosca(1941), L'Herbier'sLa Comédie du bonheur(1942), André Cayatte'sAu bonheur des dames(1943), andHenri Decoin'sLes Amants du pont Saint-Jean(1947), among other films.

Simon continued to be a draw in the 1950s and 1960s, and he continued the trend of acting in popular films as well as in more critically appreciated cinema.Among the films in which he appeared wereRené Clair'sLa Beauté du diable(1951), Guitry'sLa Poison(1951) andLa Vie d'un hônnete homme(1953),Henri Verneui'sBrelan d'as(1952), Billon'sLa Marchand de Venise(1953), Pierre Foucard andAndré Hunébelle'sMémoires d'un flic(1956), René Jolivet'sUn certain Monsieur Jo(1958),Abel Gance'sAusterlitz(1960) andCyrano et d'Artagnan(1963), Norbert Carbonneaux'sCandide ou l'optimisme auXXe siècle(1961),Julien Duvivier'sLe Diable et les dix commandements(1962), andClaude Berri'sLe Vieil homme et l'enfant(1967).

Simon appeared in only a handful of films in the 1970s, including Gérard Brach'sLa Maison(1970), Walerian Borowczyk'sBlanche(1971), andJean-Pierre Mocky'sL'Ibis rouge(1975), which was his last film. Simon remains an icon of the cinema, and it is for his work with Renoir, Vigo, and Carné that he is best remembered.