R.I.P. Alain Delon, French superstar of Le Samouraï
R.I.P. Alain Delon, French superstar of Le Samouraï
Alain Delon, the enigmatic French star known for his striking features and coldly calculating villains in films like Le Samouraï and Purple Noon, has passed away at the age of 88.
Delon's family confirmed the news to France's AFP news agency, revealing he died on Sunday following years of health complications stemming from a 2019 stroke.
An icon of French cinema, Delon graced the silver screen for an impressive 60 years, captivating audiences with his mysterious grace, angelic face, and detached sorrow. This enigmatic persona made him a contradictory leading man, one that was both alluring and evasive, difficult to fully grasp.
French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute on Instagram, writing, "Mr. Klein or Rocco, The Leopard or The Samurai, Alain Delon has played legendary roles and made the world dream. Lending his unforgettable face to shake up our lives. Melancholic, popular, secretive, he was more than a star: a French monument."
Born in 1935, Delon seemingly entered the world of film through his parents, a projectionist and theatre usher. However, his early life was marked by instability, with his parents divorcing and him being placed in foster homes. By the age of 13, Delon was expelled from multiple schools. He joined the French Navy at 17 and celebrated his 20th birthday in prison for stealing a jeep.
"La solitude?" he once said of his childhood, "She comes from the tears of early childhood. I've been doing it forever. It's part of my life, I live well with it, I need it."
Despite his turbulent past, Delon found himself drawn to acting in the mid-1950s. He landed his first role in Yves Allégret's Quand la femme s’en mêle, captivating producers, including David O. Selznick, with his innate talent despite having no formal training. He quickly followed this with roles in Marc Allégret's Sois belle et taie-toi and the hit 1959 French comedy Women Are Weak.
By the early 1960s, Delon was on the cusp of international stardom. He played the first screen Tom Ripley in René Clement's Purple Noon, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel. His breakthrough role came in Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers, where he played the titular boxer, leading the film to international acclaim.
Throughout the decade, Delon continued his ascent, starring opposite Brigitte Bardot in Famous Love Affairs and leading Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Eclisse, the final installment of his trilogy that also included La Notte and L'Avventura. In Any Number Can Win, alongside Jean Gabin, he solidified his ability to portray cool criminals, effortlessly embodying a disciplined and crafty crook.
In 1963, Delon reunited with Visconti for The Leopard, an epic costume drama co-starring Burt Lancaster. The film won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and became one of the top French films of the year.
By the end of 1964, Delon had left France for Hollywood, working with studios like MGM, Columbia, and Universal, and starring alongside big names like Shirley MacLaine, Ann-Margret, and Dean Martin. However, he struggled to make a lasting impact in the American market.
Returning to France, Delon redefined the crime movie genre. Under the direction of Jean-Pierre Melville, he perfected the role of the supernaturally controlled assassin in Le Samuraï, an archetype he would later reprise in Melville's Le Cercle Rouge. This collaboration with Melville, along with his work with Antonioni, cemented Delon's status as a central figure of the French New Wave and its signature leading man, alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo. Ironically, however, he wouldn't work with Jean-Luc Godard until 1990's Nouvelle Vague.
Delon began producing his own films from 1969 onwards. He starred opposite Belmondo in Borsalino, a European hit that spawned a sequel, Borsalino & Co, but failed to gain traction in America. This pattern would continue throughout the 1970s, as Delon struggled to find success with English-speaking audiences, appearing in films like Red Sun with Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune, and Scorpio, reuniting him with Lancaster.
Despite his lack of success in Hollywood, Delon leveraged his fame from his crime and action films, starring as the masked avenger in Zorro and in a third collaboration with Melville, Un flic. He received his first César nomination for Mr. Klein, a Holocaust drama about a Parisian art dealer mistaken for a Jewish man.
Delon continued to act throughout the remainder of the century, winning his first and only César Award in 1985 for Our History, in which he played an alcoholic searching for a woman he shared a one-night stand with. He also starred in an adaptation of Marcel Proust's Swann In Love.
His final significant film role came in 1998, after which he largely retired from acting.
Delon was not without controversy. In 1968, an investigation into the murder of his bodyguard, whose body was found near Delon's Paris home, led to inquiries into alleged sex parties involving him and French politicians. Later in his life, he expressed support for France's far-right political party, the National Front. When Cannes announced they would present Delon with the 2019 Honorary Golden Palm, backlash ensued, with critics citing his history of racist and sexist remarks.
“We are not going to give Alain Delon the Nobel Peace Prize,” Cannes head Thierry Fremaux said at the time. “We’re giving him a Palme d’Or for his career as an actor.”
Following a stroke in 2019, Delon's health steadily declined.
Despite his controversies, Delon was a shrewd businessman, licensing various products, including the sunglasses worn by Chow Yun-fat in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow. He was also one of the few actors to have a brand of cigarettes named after him.
His personal life was often the subject of tabloid speculation. He was married to his only wife, Nathalie Barthélémy, from 1964 to 1969, but had long-term relationships with co-star Romy Schneider, actor Mireille Darc, and model Rosalie van Breeman.
Delon is survived by his sons, Anthony and Alain-Fabian, and daughter Anouchka. He denied paternity of Christian Aaron Päffgen, the son of singer Nico, who passed away in 2023.
Delon's family confirmed the news to France's AFP news agency, revealing he died on Sunday following years of health complications stemming from a 2019 stroke.
An icon of French cinema, Delon graced the silver screen for an impressive 60 years, captivating audiences with his mysterious grace, angelic face, and detached sorrow. This enigmatic persona made him a contradictory leading man, one that was both alluring and evasive, difficult to fully grasp.
French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute on Instagram, writing, "Mr. Klein or Rocco, The Leopard or The Samurai, Alain Delon has played legendary roles and made the world dream. Lending his unforgettable face to shake up our lives. Melancholic, popular, secretive, he was more than a star: a French monument."
Born in 1935, Delon seemingly entered the world of film through his parents, a projectionist and theatre usher. However, his early life was marked by instability, with his parents divorcing and him being placed in foster homes. By the age of 13, Delon was expelled from multiple schools. He joined the French Navy at 17 and celebrated his 20th birthday in prison for stealing a jeep.
"La solitude?" he once said of his childhood, "She comes from the tears of early childhood. I've been doing it forever. It's part of my life, I live well with it, I need it."
Despite his turbulent past, Delon found himself drawn to acting in the mid-1950s. He landed his first role in Yves Allégret's Quand la femme s’en mêle, captivating producers, including David O. Selznick, with his innate talent despite having no formal training. He quickly followed this with roles in Marc Allégret's Sois belle et taie-toi and the hit 1959 French comedy Women Are Weak.
By the early 1960s, Delon was on the cusp of international stardom. He played the first screen Tom Ripley in René Clement's Purple Noon, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel. His breakthrough role came in Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers, where he played the titular boxer, leading the film to international acclaim.
Throughout the decade, Delon continued his ascent, starring opposite Brigitte Bardot in Famous Love Affairs and leading Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Eclisse, the final installment of his trilogy that also included La Notte and L'Avventura. In Any Number Can Win, alongside Jean Gabin, he solidified his ability to portray cool criminals, effortlessly embodying a disciplined and crafty crook.
In 1963, Delon reunited with Visconti for The Leopard, an epic costume drama co-starring Burt Lancaster. The film won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and became one of the top French films of the year.
By the end of 1964, Delon had left France for Hollywood, working with studios like MGM, Columbia, and Universal, and starring alongside big names like Shirley MacLaine, Ann-Margret, and Dean Martin. However, he struggled to make a lasting impact in the American market.
Returning to France, Delon redefined the crime movie genre. Under the direction of Jean-Pierre Melville, he perfected the role of the supernaturally controlled assassin in Le Samuraï, an archetype he would later reprise in Melville's Le Cercle Rouge. This collaboration with Melville, along with his work with Antonioni, cemented Delon's status as a central figure of the French New Wave and its signature leading man, alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo. Ironically, however, he wouldn't work with Jean-Luc Godard until 1990's Nouvelle Vague.
Delon began producing his own films from 1969 onwards. He starred opposite Belmondo in Borsalino, a European hit that spawned a sequel, Borsalino & Co, but failed to gain traction in America. This pattern would continue throughout the 1970s, as Delon struggled to find success with English-speaking audiences, appearing in films like Red Sun with Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune, and Scorpio, reuniting him with Lancaster.
Despite his lack of success in Hollywood, Delon leveraged his fame from his crime and action films, starring as the masked avenger in Zorro and in a third collaboration with Melville, Un flic. He received his first César nomination for Mr. Klein, a Holocaust drama about a Parisian art dealer mistaken for a Jewish man.
Delon continued to act throughout the remainder of the century, winning his first and only César Award in 1985 for Our History, in which he played an alcoholic searching for a woman he shared a one-night stand with. He also starred in an adaptation of Marcel Proust's Swann In Love.
His final significant film role came in 1998, after which he largely retired from acting.
Delon was not without controversy. In 1968, an investigation into the murder of his bodyguard, whose body was found near Delon's Paris home, led to inquiries into alleged sex parties involving him and French politicians. Later in his life, he expressed support for France's far-right political party, the National Front. When Cannes announced they would present Delon with the 2019 Honorary Golden Palm, backlash ensued, with critics citing his history of racist and sexist remarks.
“We are not going to give Alain Delon the Nobel Peace Prize,” Cannes head Thierry Fremaux said at the time. “We’re giving him a Palme d’Or for his career as an actor.”
Following a stroke in 2019, Delon's health steadily declined.
Despite his controversies, Delon was a shrewd businessman, licensing various products, including the sunglasses worn by Chow Yun-fat in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow. He was also one of the few actors to have a brand of cigarettes named after him.
His personal life was often the subject of tabloid speculation. He was married to his only wife, Nathalie Barthélémy, from 1964 to 1969, but had long-term relationships with co-star Romy Schneider, actor Mireille Darc, and model Rosalie van Breeman.
Delon is survived by his sons, Anthony and Alain-Fabian, and daughter Anouchka. He denied paternity of Christian Aaron Päffgen, the son of singer Nico, who passed away in 2023.