Maria Simon was born on February 6, 1976, to a German father and a Russian-Jewish mother, Olga, who met while studying in Leningrad. Maria's father was a mathematician, and her mother was an electronics student from Kazakhstan. The couple married while pursuing their studies.
Maria is the younger sister of actress Susanna Simon, born on July 23, 1968, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Maria was raised in the former East Germany, but moved to New York City in 1990 to live with her father, a computer expert at the United Nations, and her sister Dalena Simon. She also has a sister named Alyssa. Maria has four children, including one from a former relationship with actor Devid Striesow and three with her ex-husband, actor Bernd Michael Lade.
After completing her education, Maria returned to Germany to study acting at the Academy of Performing Arts Ernst Busch in Berlin. She earned her diploma in 1999.
Maria's notable achievements include winning the Best Actress award at the 22nd Moscow International Film Festival in 2000 for her role in Zornige Küsse. She was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2003 German Film Awards and was named European Shooting Star at the 2004 Berlinale. In the same year, she played Polly in Bertolt Brecht's Dreigroschenoper at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin.
Maria's TV movie, Kleine Schwester, was nominated for the Adolf Grimme Awards in 2005.
