| Renee Simonot | |
 Renee (aged 108-109) in 2020 | |
| Birth: | 10 September 1911 Le Havre, Normandy, France |
| Death: | 12 July 2021 Paris, Ile-de-France, France |
| Age: | 109 years, 305 days |
| Country: |  FRA
|
| Centenarian | |
Jeanne Renee Deneuve (French: Renée; 10 September 1911 – 12 July 2021), known professionally as Renee-Jeanne Simonot, was a French centenarian, retired actress and voice artist. She was the widow of actor Maurice Dorleac, the mother of actresses Catherine Deneuve and Francoise Dorleac, and the grandmother of actors Christian Vadim and Chiara Mastroianni.
Biography[]
Early life and career[]
Simonot was born in Le Havre, France to Joseph-Severe 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.
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. She was the voice of Olivia de Havilland (in most of her films), Sylvia Sidney, Judy Garland, Donna Reed and Esther Williams, among others.
Personal life[]
She had her first daughter, Daniele, out of wedlock on 27 October 1936 with actor Aime Clariond.
While dubbing for MGM, she met Maurice Dorleac and they married in 1940. The couple had three daughters: Francoise (1942–1967), Catherine (born 22 October 1943), and Sylvie (born 14 December 1946).
Simonot was 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: "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.
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.
Simonot died in Paris, Ile-de-France, France on 12 July 2021 at the age of 109 years, 305 days. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living retired actress in the world.
Gallery[]
References[]
- Maurice Dorleac et sa femme Renée Simonot Getty Images
- Family tree of Antoinette-Jeanne SCHENARDI Geneanet
- Family tree of Joseph-Sévère DENEUVE Geneanet
- Catherine Deneuve : "Je n'ai aucune envie de jouer une grand-mère modèle" Le Monde.fr, 31 August 2012
- Les secrets d'alcôve sur CATHERINE DENEUVE RMC, 15 February 2013
- Renée Dorléac ou la traversée du siècle Le Point, 18 May 2013
- Catherine Deneuve se confie sur sa mère Renée, âgée de 108 ans : C’est assez incroyable Gala, 4 September 2019
- Renée Simonot, un nouveau record LES CENTENAIRES FRANÇAIS, 1 April 2020
- Renée Dorléac, actor and mother of Catherine Deneuve, dies aged 109 The Guardian, 15 July 2021