Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years.

She was the only French cinema actress to receive an Oscar until Juliette Binoche in 1997 (Supporting Actress) and Marion Cotillard in 2008 (Best Actress) and the first woman to win the award appearing in a foreign film. In her later years Simone Signoret was often criticised for gaining weight and letting her looks go but Signoret who was never concerned with glamour ignored the insults and continued giving finely etched performances. She appeared in many notable films in France during the 1950s including Thérèse Raquin (1953) directed by Marcel Carné Les Diaboliques (1954) and The Crucible (Les Sorcières de Salem; 1956) based on Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

In her lifetime Simone Signoret also received a César three BAFTAs an Emmy a Golden Globe Cannes Film Festival recognition and the Silver Bear for Best Actress. She became the first French person to win an Academy Award for her role in Room at the Top (1959).