Simone Signoret Wins Best Actress: 1960 Oscars

Rock Hudson presenting Simone Signoret with the Oscar® for Best Actress for her performance in "Room at the Top" at the 32nd Academy Awards® in 1960. Hosted by Bob Hope.

[@survivoraras]

Imagine how sensational her performance was, a (controversial) French actress up against some of the most popular women in the industry, i.e., Audrey and Katharine Hepburn (both winners) and Elizabeth Taylor. But like fellow nominee Anna Magnani (who won a few year earlier), Signoret, won because she indeed gave an unforgettable performance in a still haunting film.

[@NB801]

Elizabeth Taylor also was awarded an academy award for best actress. (Katherine Hepburn won 4, Elizabeth Taylor 2, and Audrey Hepburn 1. She and Taylor also won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.)

[@janel342]

@@NB801 I love Audrey Hepburn. But she’s not an actress. You don’t have to be when you look like that.

[@topogigio2879]

I guess you never saw her performance in THE NUN'S STORY. A beautiful performance in every way. Probably the best of her career.@@janel342

[@davidfriscic3009]

Yes, she was a great actress. She won the BAFTA and the New York Film Critics for the Nuns Story. A very demanding role and she deserved the Oscar for this role. She was also exemplary in Two For the Road. She also won a Tony for great acting in Ondine.

[@betsylalich4570]

This is a charming clip of days long gone...real gentlemen, kind humor, brilliant talent and more. Simone is absolutely irresistible ! She was not only a great performer, but person.

[@LPMAN02]

RIP Simone Signoret (March 25, 1921 - September 30, 1985), aged 64 You will be remembered as a legend.

[@Daviysoh]

France has so many talented beautiful actors.

[@PlayIt4MeAgainSam]

Great! Signoret should have also been nominated for "Les Diaboliques" (1955)

[@tikbalangbukid]

Yes,, I agree and she could have won that one too..., IF only....

[@marilynwillett804]

INDEED I watch that almost every night.

[@margeshilling7983]

I love that movie.

[@poetcomic1]

And as the resistance leader in Army of Shadows.

[@deborahwilson4684]

Yes I agree 100%!

[@Loulou-sr3tk]

She deserved an Oscar for her role in Ship of fools. Her and Oscar Werner were magnificent.

[@betsylalich4570]

Agreed. Both were movingly brilliant.

[@litanas18]

Simone was a great actor and writer too, such a great woman!

[@JerseySurvivor]

What a class act!! There never has and never will be anyone who even comes close to La Signoret!!

[@sanfordpress8943]

She was magical

[@Haerton]

Just watched 'Room at the Top ' and fell in love with Simone. she also was so natural, disconcerting at times, like I wasn't watching a movie at times; certain things she did were so natural, so normal, weren't like acting but were.

[@Haerton]

Haerton To some extent, was reminded of my first love, someone just like her, built like her, and a bit older than I, so she drove as I was 15; should have married her as she understood me like Simone does him; forgives before she's asked, knows all. I moved away with my parents,married, yet still regret.

[@TheSaltydog07]

"Ship of Fools"

[@victoremmanuell_ptbr1902]

I watched "Room at the top" three times (I love old movies) and I can surely say that her performance was powerful, genuine and flawless. All female performances were great in that year but she TRULY deserved the Oscar.

[@trumancapote9097]

Interesting bit of trivia. SIMONE SIGNORET and ROCK HUDSON died only TWO DAYS apart. SIMONE on September 30, 1985 from pancreatic cancer at age 64 and ROCK on October 2, 1985 from AIDS at age 59. She was also the very first FRENCH actor to ever win the Oscar in 1960. FYI

[@JaHi34]

Before SINGORET there was COLBERT. She won back in 1930 something.

[@Dadou8910]

Claudette Colbert in 1934

[@logansmovieoutlet9622]

I always love it when an leading actor can pull of a great performance with limited screen time. She deserved that Oscer

[@gabrioxxx]

Simone Signoret deserved it. She is just a wonderful actress and gives a most subtle performance.

[@EddieLensweiger]

she's so deserving!, as an oscar observer, everybody must see madame signoret in room at the top

[@XX-gy7ue]

SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT

[@devolutionone]

Wow, I just finished watching 'La vie devant soi' (Life before us- Madame Rosa) for the fifth time and Simone Signoret is simply amazing. So happy that she was recognized in her lifetime and won an Oscar among huge Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn, so well deserved. 👑 💜

[@melisagalvalizi6982]

taylor should have won

[@Syuhnebba1]

top 5: 1: Audrey Hepburn- The Nun's Story 2: Simone Signoret- Room At The Top 3: Elizabeth Taylor-Suddenly Last Summer 4: Doris Day- Pillow Talk 5: Katharine Hepburn- Suddenly Last Summer And people need to stop saying Marilyn Monroe should have been nominated! Yes Some Like It Hot has a legendary status as being one of the best comedy's ever! BUT her performance was no where near as good as it was in The Misfits!

[@milesmontemore5060]

Actually, Marilyn Monroe won the Golden Globe as Best Actress for " Some Like It Hot."

[@amysteppe6485]

Marilyn's acting in "The Misfits" is heart breaking because she is so clearly feeling every single emotion that Rosalynn felt. "The Misfits" is my favorite Marilyn Monroe move ever. And what a stellar cast!

[@davidmuller9938]

Katharine was better is Suddenly last summer, than Elizabeth.

[@lray1948]

That was for a performance I a musical or comedy. It excluded dramatic performances like Signoret's

[@screenactorsguilable]

@@milesmontemore5060 yeah but not always a winner 4 musical or comedy got an Oscar nomination. Eg like Amy Adams

[@richl]

I cried to watch her now. I remember " you are a timid soul" to him in the film. I have just lost "a timid soul".

[@betsylalich4570]

Prayers for you. Memories never leave.

[@jhengleone]

DORIS DAY AUDREY HEPBURN KATHARINE HEPBURN SIMONE SIGNORET ELIZABETH TAYLOR

[@HAL-vm3wn]

Yes, we know that. No need to scream at all.

[@SRSM198]

Loved Simone Signoret her acting, and her personality, she had a quality that the camera loved,also Simone came through as being very magnetic and mysterious, an extremely feminine lady

[@gatewayski1]

I thought everyone was great in this film. For me, Miss Signoret was the perfect blending of actress and role and her part was significant. Having said that, "Room at the Top" was blessed with a great script, great music, and great direction.

[@amysteppe6485]

If anybody ever deserved an Oscar it is Simone Sigoret for "Room at the Top"! She is one of the most talented actresses of the 29th Century!

[@danielvarga2729]

Do you mean in the 2800's?

[@monichat]

@@danielvarga2729 hahahaha !!!!!

[@michaelmuldowney8]

A performance for the ages... although she is equally powerful and moving in MADAM ROSA

[@henrybyrd5402]

Just watched this film again. A masterclass performance by Simone. The other nominees didn't come near.

[@TheChannelTV-bt8em]

+Henry Byrd Audrey Hepburn comes pretty damn near. It was the one time in her career where her performance upstaged her beauty. She brought such communicative depth to Sister Luke that even the men among us experienced what she felt right along with her. And Kate gave one of her most creative performances as the decadent, elegantly twisted "widowed" mother in SLS. You can just forget about the other two.

[@screenactorsguilable]

@@TheChannelTV-bt8em yeah Doris is too ordinary and Liz is exaggerating

[@milzijex7340]

She was such a beautiful person. Very very beautiful.

[@johnfulton4921]

She was amazing for a brief time I had a.part time job working with actors and they shared with me that she was well known and respected among them as an actors actor that says it all!!!!

[@padroneoso]

All the Best Actress nominees were good that year, but Signoret's work in ROOM AT THE TOP was probably the best - when Oscar meant something. Echoing Michael Muldowney's praise for her work in MADAME ROSA. She deserved a nomination, perhaps the award again, for that picture.

[@msdenardin]

Marvelous actress.

[@jamesmonroe7751]

Her and Yves Montamd were the it couple of the sixties. Forget Burton and Taylor! The affairs. Monroe especially. The constant fighting. Loved every minute of it! Two of the most passionate people on Hollywood.

[@patriciamartinez5836]

Just beautiful. So sad she was taken so young with pancreatic cancer. Phenomenal actress.♥️♥️♥️🌹🌹

[@christinemartin63]

Stunning, understated performance in Room at the Top. If she had no dialogue, the superb acting is evident on her face, in her gestures. I watch the movie often for this exact reason.

[@davorpavlovic948]

Great movie, great actress... great emotion....

[@EddieLensweiger]

i couldn't agree more, today's oscar most seems like a beauty pageant. popularity wins over quality.

[@almanook3005]

Esteemed actors like George C. Scott and Marlon Brando stated the same; although Marlon Brando was happy to finally win one on his fourth try. He then began to downgrade the Oscars. Woody Allen is one other who has no use for the Oscars. There may have been lesser names who didn't care, one way or the other. Then, on the other side, there are some who use cutthroat tactics to even get a nomination, over more deserving candidates. One gets the feeling that some would sell their immortal souls to own an Oscar. If you're able, or even care, there is much written about tactics used for, or against performers/performances in any year. And this is why one may agree with the above superstars' opinions.

[@gossipdrcnews3408]

Simone signoret the great actress ...Immortallity

[@1luiszepol]

I'm watching "Room at the Top" and you'll love her performance and her".

[@robertosoto1370]

Id like to be honest always, i was born in 1955 & during the 60s i was just a chid , but then i dont know when my oldest brother & sisters took me to see a movie of Ms Simone Signoret all i remember was my sisters & brother couldn' take their eyes off Ms Signoret then yrs later in 1969 or 1970 i remember how Talented & a great actress she was she possess this magnetism that make you look at her & nothing else there were people like her with such a talent & magnetism Bancroft, Crawford, monroe, Hayward, magnani , Audrey H, Mastroiani, Loren, Davis, D Reynolds, Taylor,Agnes Moorehead, Dietrich & some many more Talented STARS of that Era they dont make like them anymore...

[@donaldhenriques5290]

She deserved this Oscar. A masterpiece performance. I'm watching the movie right now.

[@maoryssyo]

ugh she is so lovely

[@patriciamarianoandrade5395]

She was a Great artist !

[@anitahudson1570]

Rock Hudson looks like the Prince Charming that I've searched for eversince I was a child.

[@betsylalich4570]

Surely he fit the part. Sadly, he needed to hide his sexuality all the years as a Star. Many great performers and other professionals found, or still find, that necessary too.

[@Proteus007]

My mother was a big fan and completely shocked upon his death of AIDs in 1985 to find he was gay!

[@esquibelle]

@@Proteus007 My mother was also in complete shock & initial disbelief about Rock's tragic demise but also truly very sad Roy the man suffered in silence for so many years. I lived in LA & had seen him [& entourage] at a couple of dance bars so I already knew but after I "outed" a few other of my mother's "movie star crushes" to her, I stopped telling her because she would be sad that her fantasies were just that ... fantasies. Times have really changed!

[@deegeraghty9426]

Simone so modest. Delighted she won a Oscar.

[@patricknavoizatdautricourt5953]

the movie is fantastique and Simone incredible💛💛💛

[@henriettedyer2410]

Loved her in Room at the Top. ☺️

[@MrLoaded2012]

An incredible actress.

[@hb0x]

this is golden.

[@donsarde]

L' une des plus grandes actrices du cinéma Français. Elle a été brillante dans ce film. Bravo Madame. ❤

[@grecogrant2511]

wonderful!!!! ...also read her biographies very good!

[@NiVi192]

Mighty lord, what a nominees list! 😲

[@oscarman42]

Very deserving win. The orchestra played the same music when Greer Garson accepted for Sophia Loren two years later.

[@thriftedbygrace910]

Rock sure did swagger onstage.

[@esquibelle]

When I was a child I fell in love w his voice first 🎵Mellifluous 🎶

[@TheSaltydog07]

She's fabulous.

[@GWEN1957100]

Grandissima attrice

[@glennmalimban5256]

Probably, this was the one of the very few thank you speeches in Oscar history that is short but very meaningful and heartfelt. And this should be how to say a thank you speech. Just plain short and brief..

[@kellie-nd1yp]

It sounded like she was a popular choice by the appluse and cheers. I love her performance so much .She made me feel so much for her character. I'm glad she won.

[@loftyskies3956]

Beautiful

[@bman560]

As usual comedy gets pushed aside at the Oscars and in the comments. Doris Day is great in Pillow Talk. Isn't it about time she gets a Kennedy Center Honor?

[@screenactorsguilable]

@INTERNETWORK is that her at 1:16??

[@hjarten]

she deserved it.

[@drstrangelove6558]

abseloty

[@klaramoni1239]

hatten

[@albadeffa5398]

Una donna meravigliosa e talentuosa🌹❤️

[@heli-crewhgs5285]

:20 Note the Masonic handshake between Bob Hope and Rock Hudson

[@Dennisanyone-]

Rip Doris her only Oscar nom. David Niven, last years winner, should’ve given this out, but Rock worked with two of the nominees so that was cool.

[@thomasmagnum3588]

Wow what an ovation!

[@edersonsouza8606]

Andrey Hepburn, Catherine Hepburn, Signoret, Elisabeth Taylor... oh my god... the battle of olympus

[@marilynwillett804]

About a year later Sophia Loren won it for Two Women, I was about 12 when I saw it, in a way it made me grow up.

[@betsylalich4570]

Two Women was Loren's favorite film that she performed in, according to her, in an interview. Who could disagree? What impact and depth, with much sorrow too, in that film.

[@andreawilkerson2006]

A class act! Well deserved!!!

[@claranism]

Imo. Audrey is the best actress o 1959! Years o playing the sweet delicate fashionable gamine, she finally proves her detractors wrong w this strong dramatic role tt her talent outshone her beauty! Liz is my runner-up. Simone is good but the MVP o Room at the Top is Larry Harvey. Afterall, it IS his story.

[@MarioBeart]

Signoret was such a great actress, but, don't get me wrong, it's just my humble opinion, Taylor should have get it here. Her performance is Suddely Last Summer was so true, so vivid and intense... more than Signoret. To me... Hope you agree :)

[@Dadou8910]

Impossible to match Simone Signorets performance! Closest would be K. Hepburn.

[@betsylalich4570]

I agree that Elizabeth was outstanding in that performance. Tough choices. But both were brilliant.

[@Dennisanyone-]

Where was david niven to present since he won the year before? Oscars arent the same when all of previous winners from year before dont come back to crown new acting winners.

[@MrGatewayski]

Agreed. But they had to give ROOM AT THE TOP something...like they did THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK. But I don't think Miss Winters and Miss Signoret gave the best performances in the lead and supporting actress categories. They were really rewarding the films respectively, my opinion. Yet I'm not unhappy that they won either.

[@jamesmonroe7751]

Would they have given them to Liz Taylor and Thelma Ritter? I think not!

[@davidfriscic3009]

Love Signoret, but Audrey's performance in the dramatic The Nun's Story was a masterclass in interior thoughts being externalized. Audrey had already nabbed the NY Film Critics and BAFTA for her meticulous and sensitive performance. Audrey should have won this year. Signoret was unforgivably ignored without even a nomination the year she did Madame Rosa. I wish Signoret could have filmed a work by Tennessee Williams-- she has that depth.

[@drstrangelove6558]

Mr. Hope is a goddamn legend and genius and one of the best actors of all time. The best Oscar host ever too, but Lewis comes Close though. He was funny as hell in the Big Boadcast of 1938, the Paleface, Road to Morroco, the Lemmon Drop Kid, the Facts of Life, Road to Utopia, the Cat and the Canary, the Ghost Breakers, the Seven Little Foys, My Favorite Blonde, Son of Paleface, Road to Zanzibar, My Favorite Spy, My Favorite Brunette, the Princess and the Pirate, Road to Rio, Alias Jesse James, Casanovas Big Night and so many more Pictures. Anybody who does not Think the great Hope is funny or great must be silly teens who just wants to be cool and have zero sense of humor and should only go and love those silly superhero Movies.

[@janel342]

Dr strange love You do have strange loves. Bob Hope is brilliant- but not as an actor- as Bob Hope. He was a comedian, some Comedians can act. But not this one. Are you one of these who thinks everyone they like are brilliant?

[@janel342]

PS I’m 76

[@sanfordpress8943]

Simone Simone Simone. ❤❤❤

[@witchingours4432]

all those actresses were great, I wish Marilyn Monroe had been acknoledged for some Like It Hot.

[@user-eo9ie7zn9p]

Celtic Power Alert.😮🦅☘️☘️☘️🇨🇵

[@laurajones1773]

Marilyn Monroe deserves.

[@betsylalich4570]

Monroe was tremendously underrated, as was Taylor. So many could not see beyond their beauty.

[@VTMCompany]

Elizabeth Taylor won the Golden Globe for "Suddenly, Last Summer."

[@frederiquecouture3924]

Passing by...

[@ALia4888]

old days XD

[@peerrepe]

Simone Signoret sempre foi uma atriz maravilhosa, e a França merecia uma representação na História do Oscar. No entanto, em comparação ao mérito real das concorrentes, Elizabeth Taylor, é quem merecia incontestavelmente, o Prêmio daquele certame. Seu desempenho em Suddenly Last Summer, é uma antologia do Cinema, e ela está soberba! Arrependida do erro, a Academia de Hollywood tratou de recompensar a atriz no seguinte com o Prêmio por Butterfield 8.

[@nestorstelluto5051]

1959 fue un año de excelentes actuaciones femeninas, también lo hubiera merecido Audrey Hepburn por su inolvidable interpretación en Historia de una monja.

[@fabianferrada2501]

Las cinco son geniales, si yo hubiera estado entre los electores no habría sabido por cual votar.

[@TheChannelTV-bt8em]

Ms Signoret was unforgettable as seemingly tough but fragile Alice, Laurence Harvey's mistreated paramour in RATT. But it is arguable whether her role was a lead. There were so many scenes without her. Audrey Hepburn, on the other hand, was in every minute of The Nun's Story, a long but absorbing film. And it was the performance of her career. Marilyn Monroe should have been nominated as Sugar Kane in Some Like It Hot and Deborah Kerr as Sheila Graham in Beloved Infidel (a really underrated portrayal) instead of Doris Day, typically obnoxious in Pillow talk and Liz Taylor who was forced and emotionally detached throughout Suddenly Last Summer.

[@drstrangelove6558]

Very well said about Mrs. Signoret, she richly deserved this Oscar. But Monroe, `should have been nominated´.....you must be kidding me!!!! ;D;D .

[@alexfernandohuenten1374]

Genial

[@gjmaztr7]

If Doris Day would've won ...ROck, her friend, would have picked 'her up in a Giant Hug'

[@meenyminymoe]

Doris Day gets my vote!

[@TheChannelTV-bt8em]

+howard gee Then you must be a relative.

[@betsylalich4570]

I knew someone would "dismiss" Doris. She had great talent and wonderful comedic timing and energy ! She also was a great person, according to many.

[@addabboo]

Elizabeth Taylor should have won here instead of the following year.

[@TheMizmalice]

Er næsten færdig med at genlæse Simone Signorets fremragende biograf 'Nostalgi er ikke mere, hvad den har været', og har fået en gevaldig lyst til at gense hende i 'En plads på toppen', som hun da også modtog adskillige priser for. Bl.a. en Oscar. Og se lige her, hvem hun var oppe imod. Whauu.

[@johnedwards6318]

Should of went to Marilyn Monroe for Somelike It Hot. Simone Signoret is my second choice.

[@laurajones1773]

Poor Marilyn. She is such a Hollywood legend, yet the Academy constantly snub her. This is probably her best performance in her entire career. As a matter of fact, she won a Golden Globe in a Comedy or Musical for this same role.

[@screenactorsguilable]

@@laurajones1773 yeah, but her performance is not as solid as Doris's

[@fabianferrada2501]

She's rather a pop icon than a real actress.

[@m.alejandrosifuentesgonzal1058]

Simone signoret should be won the oscar for madame rosa, not for this; that oscar is for Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn.

[@Canalgaby.]

Gostei

[@notnek202]

This was for 1959.

[@babakbabak1414]

💚💚💚💚💐💐💐💜

[@Joey-dt1vn]

Audrey Hepburn should have been a winner this year

[@johnfulton4921]

Audrey showed in that film that she was a real actress not just a glamorous star and she gave a sensitive performance about a conflicted character with very little dialogue she was superb simone nailed it for me with that scene where Laurence Harvey comes to her apt and breaks it off with her simone known as an actors actor she was brilliant

[@barbarawebb7185]

Should have gone to Doris Day for Pillow Talk.

[@roter13]

oh rock hudson! what a tragic ending he had

[@elidNow]

Why are they walking so fast??? Lol

[@betsylalich4570]

I think Simone just walked that way.

[@trickydick6152]

How could Montand marry her (and stay married) is a great mystery.

[@betsylalich4570]

Where is mystery? They adored each other. Everything perfect? Certainly not. But they remained together, are buried together.

[@Cunninghamily]

1:13

[@wadedavid4375]

Hepburn and Taylor canceled each other out, so it was Simone’s to lose!

[@davefuller3311]

Elizabeth should have won

[@runnerlegend7726]

Did she ever work again after this award?

[@grecogrant2511]

yes of course she did ship of fools for one and many more French films she is great

[@VTMCompany]

And an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for "Ship of Fools."

[@kennethbrady]

And also check her out in Melville's masterpiece "Army of Shadows".

[@alanbehrens4231]

Great film

[@Shopmyst]

Still hard to believe Rock Hudson was gay.

[@betsylalich4570]

Not hard to believe at all. But who cares? This is what many professionals had to do and STILL do.