French acting icon and heartthrob dies at the age of 88
Alain Delon, the attractive star of European cinema of the 1960s and 1970s, who was also called “the French Frank Sinatra” and “the male Brigitte Bardot”, has died at the age of 88.
His family confirmed his death to the news agency Agence France-Presse. He had previously suffered a stroke in 2019.
“It is with deep sadness that Alain Fabien, Anouchka, Anthony and (his dog) Loubo announce the death of their father. He passed away peacefully at his home in Douchy (in the Val de Loire region of France),” the statement said.
French President Emmanuel Macron also paid tribute to the acting icon on X (formerly Twitter) and called him “a French monument.”
“Melancholic, popular, mysterious, he was more than a star,” Macron wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
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Adored by fans alike for his acting skills and heartthrob looks, Delon was born outside Paris on November 8, 1935, and was placed in foster care at age four after his parents divorced. He ran away from home at least once and was expelled from boarding schools several times before joining the Marines at 17.
He worked as a porter in a Paris food market and spent time in the red-light district of Pigalle before turning to acting in 1957’s Quand la femme s’en mele (Send a Woman When the Devil Fails) and getting his big break in two films by Luchino Visconti, Rocco and His Brothers (1960) and The Leopard (1963). His many roles included The Samourai (The Godson) in 1967, in which he played a philosophical hitman, and 1969’s La Piscine (The Swimming Pool), in which he starred alongside his lover Romy Schneider in a story about seduction.
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He made the leap to Hollywood with films such as “Once a Thief” (1965) with Ann-Margret and Jack Palace or “Scorpio” (1973) alongside Burt Lancaster, although with lesser success.
However, the star has often been involved in controversy and openly admitted to having friends in the mafia underworld.
“Most of the gangsters I know were my friends before I became an actor,” he told the New York Times in a 1970 interview. “I don’t worry about what a friend does. Everyone is responsible for his own actions. It doesn’t matter what he does.”
The biggest scandal occurred when his former bodyguard Stefan Markovic was found dead with a bullet in his head in a bag in a garbage dump; the actor was then interrogated.
Delon later said he regretted the abolition of the death penalty and made derogatory comments about gay marriage.
His career accolades include the César award for Best Actor at the French Oscars for Our Story in 1985. He was recently awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes International Film Festival in May 2019.
Contributors: Kim Willis, USA TODAY, and John Irish, Dominique Vidalon and Benoit Van Overstreaten, Reuters
