PARIS – Alain Delonthe internationally acclaimed French actor who portrayed bad guys and cops and set hearts aflutter around the world, has died at his young age. 88French media reported.
With his handsome looks and gentle demeanor, this prolific actor combines toughness with a graceful and vulnerable quality, making him one of France’s leading men.
Delon was also a producer, appearing in plays and, in later years, in television films.
His children announced the death on Sunday in a statement to the French national news agency Agence France-Presse, a common practice in France. Tributes to Delon immediately began to spread on social platforms, and all the leading French media switched to full coverage of his rich career.
At the beginning of his career, in the 1960s and 1970s, Delon was sought after by some of the world’s top directors, from Luchino Visconti to Joseph Losey.
In recent years, Delon has become disillusioned with the film industry, saying that money has killed his dreams. “Money, commerce and television have destroyed the machine of dreams,” he wrote in a 2003 edition of the newsweekly Le Nouvel Observateur. “Me puppet has died. And me too.”
But he continued to work often, appeared in several TV movies in the 70s.
Delon’s presence is unforgettable, whether playing a morally corrupt hero or a famous man. He won acclaim in 1960 with “Plein Soleil,” directed by Rene Clement, in which he played a killer trying to identify his victims.
He made several Italian films, most notably with Visconti in 1961’s “Rocco and His Brothers,” in which Delon portrayed a brother who sacrifices himself to help his brother. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Visconti’s 1963 film “Le Guepard” (The Leopard) starring Delon won the Palme d’Or, the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival. Other films include Clement’s “Is Paris Burning,” with screenplays by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola among others; “La Piscine” (The Sinners), directed by Jacques Deray; and, on departure, Losey’s “The Assassination of Trotsky” in 1972.
In 1968, Delon began producing films – 26 of them in 1990 – part of a frenzied and confident momentum that he maintained throughout his life.
Delon’s confidence can be felt in his statement to Femme in 1996, ‘I like to be loved as much as I love myself!’ It echoes his charismatic screen persona.
Delon continued to wow audiences for years – while fending off critics for comments he deemed outdated. In 2010, he appeared in “Un mari de trop” (“One Husband Too Many”) and returned to the stage in 2011 with “An Ordinary Day,” together with his daughter Anouchka.
She briefly presided over the Miss France jury but resigned in 2013 after disagreeing with several controversial statements, including criticism of women, LGBTQIA+ rights, and migrants. Despite the controversy, he received the Palme d’Honneur at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, a decision that sparked further debate.
Born on November 8, 1935, in Sceaux, south of Paris, Delon was placed in a foster family after his parents separated at the age of 4. He then attended a Roman Catholic boarding school.
At 17, Delon joined the navy and was sent to Indochina. Back in France in 1956, he held various odd jobs from waiter to operator at a Paris meat market before turning to acting.
Delon had a son, Anthony, in 1964, with his then-wife Nathalie Canovas, who starred with him in Jean-Pierre Melville’s “The Samurai” in 1967. He had two more children, Anouchka and Alain-Fabien, with friends the next. , Rosalie van Breemen, with whom he produced a song and a video clip in 1987. He is also believed to be the father of Ari Boulogne, the son of German model and singer Nico, although he has never acknowledged paternity.
“I’m good at three things: my job, stupidity and children,” he said in a 1995 L’Express interview.
Delon juggled various activities throughout his life, from setting up a stable of trotting horses to developing cologne for men and women, followed by watches, glasses and other accessories. He also collected paintings and sculptures.
Delon announced the end of his acting career in 1999, only to continue, appearing in Bertrand Blier’s “Les Acteurs” (The Actors) the same year. Later he appeared in several television police shows. In 2022, in the last film he made before his retirement, he starred opposite Juliette Binoche in “The Empty House,” directed by Patrice Leconte.
His good looks kept him going. In August 2002, Delon told the weekly magazine, L’Humanite Hebdo, that he would not have stayed in the business otherwise.
“You will never see me old and ugly,” he said when he was almost 70, “because I will go before, or I will die.”
However, in 2019, Delon expressed his feelings about the meaning of his life during a gala event in his honor at the Cannes Film Festival. “One thing I’m sure I’m proud of, really, just one thing, is my career.”
With his handsome looks and gentle demeanor, this prolific actor combines toughness with a graceful and vulnerable quality, making him one of France’s leading men.
Delon was also a producer, appearing in plays and, in later years, in television films.
His children announced the death on Sunday in a statement to the French national news agency Agence France-Presse, a common practice in France. Tributes to Delon immediately began to spread on social platforms, and all the leading French media switched to full coverage of his rich career.
At the beginning of his career, in the 1960s and 1970s, Delon was sought after by some of the world’s top directors, from Luchino Visconti to Joseph Losey.
In recent years, Delon has become disillusioned with the film industry, saying that money has killed his dreams. “Money, commerce and television have destroyed the machine of dreams,” he wrote in a 2003 edition of the newsweekly Le Nouvel Observateur. “Me puppet has died. And me too.”
But he continued to work often, appeared in several TV movies in the 70s.
Delon’s presence is unforgettable, whether playing a morally corrupt hero or a famous man. He won acclaim in 1960 with “Plein Soleil,” directed by Rene Clement, in which he played a killer trying to identify his victims.
He made several Italian films, most notably with Visconti in 1961’s “Rocco and His Brothers,” in which Delon portrayed a brother who sacrifices himself to help his brother. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Visconti’s 1963 film “Le Guepard” (The Leopard) starring Delon won the Palme d’Or, the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival. Other films include Clement’s “Is Paris Burning,” with screenplays by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola among others; “La Piscine” (The Sinners), directed by Jacques Deray; and, on departure, Losey’s “The Assassination of Trotsky” in 1972.
In 1968, Delon began producing films – 26 of them in 1990 – part of a frenzied and confident momentum that he maintained throughout his life.
Delon’s confidence can be felt in his statement to Femme in 1996, ‘I like to be loved as much as I love myself!’ It echoes his charismatic screen persona.
Delon continued to wow audiences for years – while fending off critics for comments he deemed outdated. In 2010, he appeared in “Un mari de trop” (“One Husband Too Many”) and returned to the stage in 2011 with “An Ordinary Day,” together with his daughter Anouchka.
She briefly presided over the Miss France jury but resigned in 2013 after disagreeing with several controversial statements, including criticism of women, LGBTQIA+ rights, and migrants. Despite the controversy, he received the Palme d’Honneur at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, a decision that sparked further debate.
Born on November 8, 1935, in Sceaux, south of Paris, Delon was placed in a foster family after his parents separated at the age of 4. He then attended a Roman Catholic boarding school.
At 17, Delon joined the navy and was sent to Indochina. Back in France in 1956, he held various odd jobs from waiter to operator at a Paris meat market before turning to acting.
Delon had a son, Anthony, in 1964, with his then-wife Nathalie Canovas, who starred with him in Jean-Pierre Melville’s “The Samurai” in 1967. He had two more children, Anouchka and Alain-Fabien, with friends the next. , Rosalie van Breemen, with whom he produced a song and a video clip in 1987. He is also believed to be the father of Ari Boulogne, the son of German model and singer Nico, although he has never acknowledged paternity.
“I’m good at three things: my job, stupidity and children,” he said in a 1995 L’Express interview.
Delon juggled various activities throughout his life, from setting up a stable of trotting horses to developing cologne for men and women, followed by watches, glasses and other accessories. He also collected paintings and sculptures.
Delon announced the end of his acting career in 1999, only to continue, appearing in Bertrand Blier’s “Les Acteurs” (The Actors) the same year. Later he appeared in several television police shows. In 2022, in the last film he made before his retirement, he starred opposite Juliette Binoche in “The Empty House,” directed by Patrice Leconte.
His good looks kept him going. In August 2002, Delon told the weekly magazine, L’Humanite Hebdo, that he would not have stayed in the business otherwise.
“You will never see me old and ugly,” he said when he was almost 70, “because I will go before, or I will die.”
However, in 2019, Delon expressed his feelings about the meaning of his life during a gala event in his honor at the Cannes Film Festival. “One thing I’m sure I’m proud of, really, just one thing, is my career.”
