Simone Mareuil

Simone Mareuil was a French actress best known for appearing in Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali's surrealist film Un Chien Andalou.

Biography

Mareuil was born Marie Louise Simonne Vacher in Périgueux, France, on August 25th, 1903. Her mother was Marie Marguerite Soulet, and her father was François Vacher, a captain in the 50th Infantry regiment and prominent figure in the First World War. She had a brother named Raymond.
In 1925, she and her parents moved to Paris. A friend introduced her to Paul Caroux, a collaborator of Louis Feuillade, the leading director at Gaumont Studios. This led Simone to her first uncredited roles as extras in various films, working behind stars including Blanche Montel, Suzanne Bianchetti, Pierre Blanchar, Armand Tallier,, Paul Ollivier, Sessue Hayakawa, and Roger Karl.
On June 15, 1940, she married actor Philippe Hersent.
After the Second World War, she settled with her mother in Coursac near Périgueux. She subsequently fell into a depression after losing her father and her brother Raymond, and dealing with her own divorce. She died by suicide on October 24, 1954, after dousing herself in gasoline and burning herself to death.
She is buried in the in Périgueux.