Maria Simon (born 6 February 1976) is a German actress. Family and background Simon's German father originally hailed from Leipzig and studied mathematics in Leningrad. There he met Simon's Russian-Jewish mother, Olga, who studied electronics and originally hailed from Kazakhstan. The couple married while studying. Maria Simon is the younger sister of actress Susanna Simon, who was born on 23 July 1968, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Maria was born and brought up in the former East Germany, but moved to New York City in 1990 to live with her father, a computer expert with the United Nations, and her sister Dalena Simon. She also has a sister named Alyssa. Simon has four children, the first from a former relationship with the actor Devid Striesow, and three with her husband, the actor Bernd Michael Lade. Education After finishing school she moved back to the newly reunited Germany to study acting at the Academy of Performing Arts Ernst Busch in Berlin where she received her diploma in 1999. Roles and awards She won the award for Best Actress for her role in the film Zornige Küsse at the 22nd Moscow International Film Festival in 2000. Simon was nominated as the best supporting actress in the 2003 German Film Awards, and was named European Shooting Star (i.e., best newcomer) at the 2004 Berlinale. In the same year she played Polly in Bertolt Brechts Dreigroschenoper at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. Her TV movie Kleine Schwester was nominated for the Adolf Grimme Awards in 2005. Filmography Angry Kisses (1999), as Lea (2001), as Johanna Erste Ehe (2002), as Dorit (USA title: Portrait of a Married Couple) My Daughter's Tears (2002), as Stefanie (USA title: Against All Evidence, German title: Meine Tochter ist keine Mörderin) Good Bye, Lenin! (2003), as Ariane Kerner Distant Lights (2003), as Sonja Luther (2003), as Hanna TV Work Jenny Berlin: Tod am Meer (2000, TV series episode), as Tanja Schulz Mord im Swingerclub (2000, TV film), as Susanna Bach HeliCops – Einsatz über Berlin: Fehlgeleitet (2001, TV series episode), as Biene Virchow Balko: Der Schweinemann (2001, TV series episode), as Marischka Verbotene Küsse (2001, TV film), as Andrea Jonathans Liebe (2001, TV film), as Nina Buchwald Tatort: Verrat (2002, TV series episode), as Lisa Mattern Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei: Die Clique (2002, TV series episode), as Laura Friedrich Tatort: Reise ins Nichts (2002, TV series episode), as