Trivia

Renée Simonot was one of the first French actresses to begin the dubbing of American films in France from the beginning of the talkies in 1929 through the 1930s.

On 1 April 2020 at the age of 108 years, 204 days, Simonot became the the longest-lived French personality ever, after surpassing the previous record of Madame Simone ( = actress Simone Le Bargy).

She was, after the death of Yvette Lebon in 2014, the oldest actress and actor in the world, ahead of the Belgian Sabine André (born in 1913) and the American Marsha Hunt (1917-2022).

Mother of Daniele Clariond Tappou with ex-boyfriend, Aimé Clariond; and Françoise Dorléac, Catherine Deneuve and Sylvie Dorléac with her late husband, Maurice Dorléac.

She was officially engaged when she was eighteen by Firmin Gémier (1863-1933), who took over the management of the Odéon Theater in 1921.

Her daughter Catherine chose to use her maiden name, Deneuve, as her stage name. Simonot is Renée's stage name, which she took from an opera singer and family friend.

She was the voice of Olivia de Havilland (in most of her films), Sylvia Sidney, Judy Garland, Donna Reed and Esther Williams, among others.

She had her first daughter, Danielle, out of wedlock on 27 October 1936 with actor Aimé Clariond. Simonot told Le Point magazine in 2013: "Mr. Clariond was not my husband. He was married, not divorced and separated from his wife for a long time. The only happiness he gave me is a child. For the rest, he was charming, but we could not count on him.".

She debuted at the Odéon Theatre in 1918 at the age of seven. Primarily a stage actress, she remained there for 28 years, holding the post of "leading lady".

In 2019, ahead of her 108th birthday, daughter Catherine told Gala: "It's pretty amazing, it comes from her genes. My sisters and I are holding her. She has been in a home for two or three years. At the same time it's a little scary, it still seems very far in life. I am all the more surprised by her longevity that she is not sick.".

The tuberculosis that she contracted in 1951 and which led her to attend a sanatorium also played a role in her decision of ceasing her acting activities. Nevertheless, she continued her dubbing activity until the 1990s .

Simonot had been a widow since 1979 and lived in Paris.

Grandmother of Christian Vadim, Chiara Mastroianni and Delphine Cantelli.

Great-grandmother of Igor Divetain-Vadim, Milo Thoretton and Anna Biolay.

Ex-grandmother-in-law of Benjamin Biolay.