Who Was the First French Actress to Receive an Oscar?

Among the great names in film in 1960, one French actress reached stardom by receiving the prestigeous cinema award.

When Rock Hudson read out the Best Actress nominees at the sumptuous Oscars ceremony of 1960, it was a list of the greatest actresses of the era: Doris Day, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and the winner, for Room at the Top – Simone Signoret. Room at the Top was, of course, the sombre but brilliant British-made film which catapulted her to international fame. She was the first French actress to receive an Oscar, paving the way for future generations of French actors to gain recognition on the global stage.

And it was the first of numerous accolades she would receive throughout her career, including three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Born in Germany in 1921, Signoret grew up in Paris, where, during the Second World War, she worked as a typist to support her family after her father, who had a Polish/Hungarian Jewish background, fled to escape the Nazi occupation. Signoret’s acting career began with minor roles in the early 1940s, but she soon gained attention and in 1950 she got her breakthrough in Max Ophüls’ La Ronde, which won the BAFTA for Best Film.

In 1951, she married actor Yves Montand, whom she’d met at La Colombe d’Or in Saint-Paul de Vence in 1949. The couple made several films together throughout their career but it was Montand’s appearance with another famous blonde which caused a stir. His very public affair with Marilyn Monroe during the filming of Let’s Make Love in 1960 may have hurt Signoret but she wasn’t about to let the public know. “If Marilyn is in love with my husband, it proves she has good taste, for I am in love with him too,” she said. The couple remained together until her death aged 64 in 1985 in Autheuil-Authouillet, Normand.

She starred in more than 70 films and TV productions, including the fantastic psychological thriller, Les Diaboliques (1955). Outside of cinema, Signoret was known for her political activism and left-wing beliefs (hence her support for Pierre Goldman) and was outspoken on social issues. In her autobiography, Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used To Be, published in 1978, she observed: “I have often thought that if I had been born a man, I would have been a revolutionary.” The political arena’s loss is cinema’s gain.

Simone Signoret’s 10-second CV

Name: Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker

Born: March 25, 1921, in Wiesbaden, Germany

Died: September 30, 1985, in Autheuil- Authouillet (Eure)

Early career:

A few minor roles in the early 1940s soon led to success in 1950 with her first major part in La Ronde.

I know the name…

That’s not surprising! She was one of France’s most respected actresses, winning numerous awards, including becoming the first ever French woman to win an Oscar.

What should I watch first?

Look no further than Henri-Georges Clouzot’s masterclass in suspense, Les Diaboliques (1955) which apparently inspired Hitchcock to make Psycho. Then follow it up with the gritty Room at the Top.

C’est pas vrai!

US singer-songwriter Nina Simone took her stage name from Signoret. Bom Eunice Kathleen Waymon, she chose the name Simone’ as a tribute to the French actress, whom she had seen in the movie Casque d’Or (1952).

From France Today Magazine