French Actor and Heartthrob Alain Delon Passes Away at 88

PARIS — Alain Delon, the internationally acclaimed French actor who captivated global audiences with his portrayal of both villains and heroes, died at age 88, French media reported.

With his striking looks and tender demeanor, Delon combined ruggedness with a vulnerable charm, making him one of France’s iconic leading men.

Delon was also a producer, appeared in plays, and, in later years, in television movies.

French president Emmanuel Macron paid tribute, calling Delon “a French monument.”

“Alain Delon has played legendary roles and made the world dream,” he wrote. “Melancholic, popular, secretive, he was more than a star.”

Delon’s children announced his death on Sunday in a statement to French national news agency Agence France-Presse. Tributes to Delon immediately started pouring in on social media, with all major French media outlets providing extensive coverage of his illustrious career.

Earlier this year, his son Anthony revealed that Delon had been diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma, a type of cancer.

Over the past year, Delon’s fragile health condition became a point of contention within his family, leading to public disputes amongst his three children.

During his peak in the 1960s and 1970s, Delon was highly sought after by top directors, including Luchino Visconti and Joseph Losey.

Later in life, he expressed disillusionment with the film industry, lamenting that commercialization had killed the dream of cinema. “Money, commerce, and television have wrecked the dream machine,” he said in a 2003 issue of Le Nouvel Observateur. “My cinema is dead. And me, too.”

However, he continued to work, appearing in several TV movies well into his 70s.

Delon’s screen presence was unforgettable, whether he played morally complex characters or romantic leads. He gained critical acclaim in 1960 with “Plein Soleil,” directed by René Clément, where he portrayed a murderer taking on the identity of his victims.

He starred in several Italian films, most notably Visconti’s 1961 “Rocco and His Brothers,” where he played a self-sacrificing brother. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

The 1963 Visconti film “Le Guepard” (The Leopard) starring Delon, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His other notable films included Clément’s “Is Paris Burning?” and Losey’s “The Assassination of Trotsky” in 1972.

In 1968, Delon ventured into film production, producing 26 movies by 1990.

Delon’s charisma was evident in his statement to Femme magazine in 1996, “I like to be loved the way I love myself!”

Despite criticisms for some of his controversial remarks, Delon continued to captivate audiences. In 2010, he appeared in “Un mari de trop” (“One Husband Too Many”) and returned to the stage in 2011.

He briefly presided over the Miss France jury but stepped down in 2013 after making controversial statements. Despite this, he was honored with a Palme d’Honneur at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, sparking further debate.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation, dedicated to animal protection, called Delon “an exceptional man, an unforgettable artist and a great friend of animals.” He was a close friend of Brigitte Bardot, who was deeply saddened by his passing.

French film producer Alain Terzian said Delon was “the last of the giants,” calling his death a significant loss for French cinema. Terzian recalled that Delon commanded almost mystical respect wherever he went.

Born on Nov. 8, 1935, in Sceaux, just south of Paris, Delon was placed with a foster family after his parents’ separation at age 4. He later attended a Roman Catholic boarding school.

At 17, Delon joined the navy and was sent to Indochina. After returning to France in 1956, he held various jobs before turning to acting.

Delon had a son, Anthony, in 1964 with his then-wife Nathalie Canovas, who co-starred with him in Jean-Pierre Melville’s “The Samurai” in 1967. He had two more children, Anouchka and Alain-Fabien, with Rosalie van Breemen, and was widely believed to be the father of Ari Boulogne, although he never publicly acknowledged this.

“I am very good at three things: my job, foolishness, and children,” he said in a 1995 L’Express interview.

Delon was involved in various ventures, from horse stables to developing cologne and other accessories. He also collected art.

Although he announced his retirement in 1999, Delon continued acting, appearing in Bertrand Blier’s “Les Acteurs” the same year and in various television police dramas.

In August 2002, Delon acknowledged that his enduring good looks kept him in business. “You’ll never see me old and ugly,” he said.

In 2019, during a gala event at the Cannes Film Festival, he reflected on his life’s work, saying, “One thing I’m sure about is that if there’s something I’m proud of, really, the only thing, it’s my career.”

——

Source: AP News