Jeanne Renée Deneuve (; 10 September 1911 – 11 July 2021), known professionally as Renée-Jeanne Simonot (), was a French actress and voice artist. She was married to actor

Maurice Dorléac Georges Maurice Edmond Dorléac (; 26 March 1901 – 5 December 1979) was a French actor of the stage and screen. He was the father of actresses Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac and Sylvie Dorléac. He was the husband of actress Renée S ...

, the mother of actresses

Catherine Deneuve Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress. She is considered one of the greatest European actresses on film. In 2020, ''The New York Times'' ranked her as one of th ...

and

Françoise Dorléac Françoise Paulette Louise Dorléac (; 21 March 194226 June 1967) was a French actress. She was the elder sister of Catherine Deneuve, with whom she starred in the musical comedy film, '' The Young Girls of Rochefort'' (1967). Her other films ...

and the grandmother of actor Christian Vadim and actress

Chiara Mastroianni Chiara Charlotte Mastroianni (born 28 May 1972) is a French actress and singer. She is the daughter of actors Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve. Early life Mastroianni was born to French actress Catherine Deneuve and Italian actor ...

Early life and career

Born in

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

, France to Joseph-Sévère Deneuve and Antoinette-Jeanne Deneuve (née Schenardi), 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". 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. Renée Simonot was one of the first French actresses to begin the

dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...

of American films in France from the beginning of the talkies in 1929 through the 1930s. She was the voice of

Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British and American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her tim ...

(in most of her films),

Sylvia Sidney Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow; August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen, and film actress whose career spanned 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She was nominated for the Academy ...

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

Donna Reed Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American actress. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her portrayal of Mary Hatch Bailey in ...

and

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

, among others.

Personal life

She had her first daughter, Danièle, out of wedlock on 27 October 1936 with actor

Aimé Clariond Aimé Clariond (10 May 1894 – 31 December 1959) was a French stage and film actor. Clariond was born in Périgueux, Dordogne, France and died in Paris. Selected filmography * '' The Brothers Karamazov'' (1931) - Ivan Karamazoff * '' Amourous ...

. Simonot told ''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and conservative news magazine published in Paris. It is one of the three major French news magazines. ''Le Point'' was founded in 1972 by former journalists of ''L'Express'' and quickly rose to be ...

'' 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." While dubbing for MGM, she met Maurice Dorléac and they married in 1940. The couple had three daughters:

Françoise Françoise () is a French feminine given name (equivalent to the English Frances or Italian Francesca) and may refer to: * Anne Françoise Elizabeth Lange (1772–1816), French actress * Claudine Françoise Mignot (1624–1711), French adventuress ...

(1942–1967),

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

(born 22 October 1943) and Sylvie (born 14 December 1946). Simonot had been a widow since 1979 and lived in Paris. In an interview conducted a few months before her 102nd birthday in 2013, she said: "My old age is not sad. I am lucky to be very surrounded. There is not a day where I don't get a phone call or a visit from my children and grandchildren." In 2019, ahead of her 108th birthday, daughter Catherine told ''

Gala Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush * Gala (singer), Italian singer and songwriter *'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman * GALA Choruses, an association of ...

'': "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." Simonot died in Paris in July 2021 at the age of 109.Mort de Renée Simonot, mère de Catherine Deneuve et doyenne des actrices
/ref>

Selected stage work

*1921: ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' (

Cosette Cosette () is a fictional character in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo and in the many adaptations of the story for stage, film, and television. Her birth name, Euphrasie, is only mentioned briefly. As the orphaned child of an ...

) by

Paul Meurice Paul Meurice (5 February 1818 – 11 December 1905) was a French novelist and playwright best known for his friendship with Victor Hugo. Biography Meurice was born and died in Paris. In 1836, aged eighteen, he was introduced to Hugo by his fr ...

and Charles Hugo based on the novel by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, Odéon Theatre *1922: ''Molière'' by Henry Dupuy-Mazuel and Jean-José Frappa, directed by

Firmin Gémier Firmin Gémier (; 1869–1933) was a French actor and director. Internationally, he is most famous for originating the role of Père Ubu in Alfred Jarry, Alfred Jarry’s play ''Ubu Roi''. He is known as the principal architect of the popular theat ...

, Odéon Theatre *1928: ''La Belle Aventure'' by

Gaston Arman de Caillavet Gaston Arman de Caillavet (13 March 1869 – 13 January 1915) was a French playwright. Early life Gaston Arman de Caillavet was born on 13 March 1869. He was the son of Albert Arman de Caillavet and Léontine Lippmann. His maternal grandfath ...

Robert de Flers Robert Pellevé de La Motte-Ango, marquis de Flers (25 November 1872, Pont-l'Évêque, Calvados – 30 July 1927, Vittel) was a French playwright, opera librettist, and journalist. Pierre Barillet, ''Les Seigneurs du rire: Flers – Caillavet � ...

and

Étienne Rey Étienne Rey (1 March 1879 – 16 February 1965) was a French writer, dramatist and literary critic and one of the first best-seller writers of the Grasset publisher. His play ''La belle aventure'', co-written with Robert de Flers and Gaston Arm ...

, Odéon Theatre *1932: ''Le Favori'' by Martial Piéchaud, Odéon Theatre *1934: ''Jeanne d'Arc'' by Saint-Georges de Bouhélier, Odéon Theatre

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonot, Renee 1911 births 2021 deaths 20th-century French actresses Dorléac family French child actresses French film actresses French people of Norman descent French stage actresses French voice actresses Actresses from Le Havre French women centenarians