HISTORY: French actor Alain Delon, who melted the hearts of millions of film fans in his post-war roles as murderers, gangsters and contract killers, has died at the age of 88, his three children announced on Sunday (August 18).

Delon rose to film fame in the 1960s and was idolized for his looks, but he never made his big breakthrough in Hollywood.

This was his last major public appearance – the awarding of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019.

Delon became a star in two films by Italian director Luchino Visconti: “Rocco and His Brothers” (1960) and “The Leopard” (1963).

His other greatest successes included the erotic thriller “La Piscine” (1969), “The Swimming Pool” and “Borsalino” (1970).

President Emmanuel Macron praised him on Sunday as a giant of French culture who “made the world dream”.

Delon had striking blue eyes and was sometimes called the “French Frank Sinatra” because of his appearance, a comparison that Delon disliked.

Unlike Sinatra, Delon openly admitted to having shady friends in the underworld of the French port city of Marseille.

He had a bad start in life: he was born near Paris in 1935 and was placed in foster care at the age of four after his parents divorced.

He served in the Marines and was then discovered in the bohemian café scene in Paris in the 1950s.

His death was met with “great sadness” on the streets of Paris on Sunday.

“I thought it would last forever,” says this woman.

But offstage, Delon caused controversy: He expressed his regret over the abolition of the death penalty and criticized gay marriage, which was legalized in France in 2013.

He publicly defended the far-right Front National and was friends with its late founder Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Delon had been in poor health since suffering a stroke in 2019 and rarely left his estate in Douchy in France’s Loire region.