Alain Delon, the French film actor who starred in classics including Plein Soleil, The Samourai And Rocco and his brothershas died at the age of 88, as his children have confirmed.

“His children Alain Fabien, Anouchka, Anthony and (his dog) Loubo are deeply saddened to announce the death of their father,” said a statement made available to French media.

Delon died peacefully in his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and family.

The actor has been in poor health in recent years and suffered a stroke in 2019.

Often referred to as the “male Brigitte Bardot,” Delon had a hypnotic screen presence and was often cast in roles as an attractive but fearful man prone to sudden outbursts of anger.

His other films include Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard René Clements Purple NoonMichelangelo Antonioni’s The solar eclipse Joseph Losey Mr Kleinand Jean-Pierre Melville’s The Red CircleDespite his success in Europe, he never quite made it in Hollywood.

Delon was born in 1935 in the Paris suburb of Sceaux. His mother Edith worked in a pharmacy and his father Fabien ran a local cinema. At the age of four, after his parents divorced, Delon was sent first to a foster family and then to a Catholic boarding school.

The actor left school at 14 after being expelled from several schools and worked in his stepfather’s butcher shop before briefly joining the Navy, where he served in the French colonial war in Vietnam. In 1956, he was dishonorably discharged for stealing a Jeep and causing an accident.

The Plein Soleil The star began his acting career when he was discovered by Hollywood producer David O. Selznick at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956. Selznick offered Delon a seven-year contract if he improved his English and took him to Rome to do screen tests for Gone with the wind, But the star decided to pursue French cinema and took on his first role in Yves Allégret’s thriller Send a woman if the devil fails.

Delon later told Vanity Fair about his first role: “I didn’t know how to do anything. Yves Allégret took one look at me and said: ‘Listen to me carefully, Alain: speak as you speak to me. See how you look at me. Listen as you listen to me. Don’t look, live.’ That changed everything.”

After his debut, Delon worked continuously and was quickly cast in the lead role in Marc Allégret’s Be beautiful and keep your mouth shut in 1958. In the same year he starred alongside German actress Romy Schneider in Pierre Gaspard-Huit’s drama Christine.

The couple began a highly publicized romance and became engaged the following year. They remained together until 1963 and, after their separation, starred in two more films: Jacques Deray’s The swimming pool and Losey’s The assassination of Trotsky.

In 1960, Delon gained international recognition for his leading role in a French-language adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s book The talented Mr. Ripley, Full sun, Clément directed the film. In the same year he was awarded for his performance in Rocco and his brothers by the famous Italian authors Visconti and Antonioni, who cast him in the Sicilian epic The Leopard and the stockbroker drama The Little Palace respectively.

Despite his continued success in Europe, Delon only managed to play small roles in English-language films, including Anthony Asquith’s comedy The yellow Rolls-RoyceMark Robson’s Lost Commandthe Western by Dean Martin Texas across the river And Paris is burning next to Kirk Douglas.

More to follow …