Diminutive, fiery-tempered Simone Simon was born in France, but spent much of her early childhood in Madagascar, where her father managed a graphite mine. Her schooling was somewhat unsettled, her family moving from city to city (Berlin, Budapest, Turin) before finally establishing themselves in Paris in 1930. Simone started as a dress designer, fashion model and occasional performer in stage musicals. She eventually met the director Marc Allégret , who took her under his wing. Her film debut was in 1931 and she had her first major hit as Jean Gabin 's co-star in Bestie Mensch (1938), directed by Jean Renoir . There were two halves to Simone's history in Hollywood. In 1936, Darryl F. Zanuck signed her to a contract at 20th Century Fox on the strength of a picture she had made two years earlier, Allegret's Lac aux dames (1934). She was launched with an expensive publicity campaign which accentuated her continental allure, particularly, her 'sexy pout'. During her tenure, problems surfaced regarding her command of English and also her limited singing skills. Dissatisfied with the roles she was given, Simone returned to France and 'La Bete Humaine'. She made a second attempt at Hollywood, acting in William Dieterle 's Der Teufel und Daniel Webster (1941) as Belle, the devil's handmaiden. The New York Times review of October 17 considered her 'completely out of key'. Simone's best work, however, was to come in the shape of the cult horror classic Katzenmenschen (1942). Producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur used her triangular-faced feline qualities to best effect in the story of a girl who obsesses about an ancient Balkan curse turning her into a panther. The film was stylish and subtle, creating imagined rather than actual menace. Simone's performance was commensurate with perfectly studied cat-like mannerisms. During the production of 'Cat People', Simone was under FBI surveillance because of her relationship with MI5 spy Dusko Popov. She made two further, less successful, films at RKO, then returned to France for good. Simone made several films there and worked on the stage. In spite of many affairs and relationships, she never married. - IMDb Mini Biography By: I.S.Mowis

Her maid revealed that she rewarded men to whom she was attracted with a gold key to her boudoir. Jean Renoir offered her the role of "Christine de la Chesnaye" in Die Spielregel (1939), but she preferred to go back to Hollywood. Had an affair with composer George Gershwin . It has been suggested by Gershwin scholars that "Love Walked In" was likely written with her in mind. Simone would state in a 1991 interview that "Above anything else in the relationship, Gershwin and I shared a common interest in music". Had an affair with a famous WWII spy, Dusko Popov, who was Yugoslavian and thought by the Germans to be a spy for them but in fact was a spy for the British. Popov was a very successful double agent and a well-known ladies man, and during WWII was also acquainted with another spy, Ian Fleming , who later used Popov as the basis for James Bond. It sounds like a movie in itself but it's completely true.