A legend gone: Alain Delon dies

The legendary French actor Alain Delon has died, AFP reports. He was 88 years old.

Alain Delon was a favourite of modernists such as Luchino Visconti, Jean-Pierre Melville and Michelangelo Antonioni, who were seduced by his striking good looks and air of cool detachment.

Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon was born on November 8, 1935. He quickly became a celebrity, and by the age of 23 he was already being compared to French actors Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as the American actor James Dean. He was even called the “male Brigitte Bardot”.

 "Alain Fabien, Anoushka, Anthony and (his dog) Loubo announce with great sadness the death of their father. He passed away peacefully at his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and family," his children said in a statement.

Alain Delon was a favorite of modernists such as Luchino Visconti, Jean-Pierre Melville and Michelangelo Antonioni, who were seduced by his striking good looks and air of cool detachment.

Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon was born on November 8, 1935. He quickly became a celebrity, and by the age of 23 he was already being compared to French actors Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as the American actor James Dean. He was even called the “male Brigitte Bardot”.

During his career, Delon worked with many famous directors, including Luchino Visconti, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, Michelangelo Antonioni and Louis Malle.

 For the French, Delon remains the greatest embodiment of the big-bodied seductress who captivated Europe in the heady 1960s. He captivated audiences in such cinematic masterpieces as The Leopard and Rocco and His Brothers.

Delon had three children from two different women: sons Anthony and Alain-Fabien and daughter Anoushka. He also had a third son from the singer Nico, whom the actor never acknowledged and who suffered from drug addiction and died in 2023.

Delon's childhood and youth were far from cloudless. Perhaps the difficult events of the past left such a deep mark on his soul that he was never able to establish normal relations with his sons.

He was born on the outskirts of Paris in 1935. At the age of four, after his parents divorced, he had to live in a foster family.

He did not like school and often skipped classes. He joined the military and took part in the Indochina War, but was court-martialed for stealing a jeep. Returning to Paris in the late 1950s, Delon lived among prostitutes and gangsters, but then, thanks to his extraordinary appearance, he entered the world of cinema.

As Le Monde wrote: “There is no doubt that his enormous but never fully realized self-importance led him to consider his sons potential rivals whose ambitions needed to be nipped in the bud.”

It is no secret that Delon treated his sons very harshly, who as a result abused drugs, dabbled in guns and had trouble with the law.

But with his daughter, everything was completely different. In 2008, he said of Anoushka that “I have never told a woman so often that I love her.”

Delon’s third son was even less fortunate. His mother was the German rock star Nico (one of the Velvet Underground). Ari Boulogne was born in 1962, but Delon never acknowledged his paternity.

Delon's mother helped raise the boy, convinced that he was indeed her grandson. Ari died last year in Paris from a drug overdose.

According to Delon's will, half of his fortune will go to Anoushka, and the other half will be divided between his two sons.

Over the past 20 years, in almost every interview, Alain Delon has told journalists that he is very tired of life, of the world in which some completely unbearable things are happening, and of himself - of illness, loneliness, memories. "It's all in the past, it's all over," he said from the stage of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes when he received the honorary Palme d'Or in 2019.

Delon announced his retirement from acting in 2017. In 2019, he suffered a stroke. In recent years, the actor has been battling cancer and has also suffered from nervous disorders.

After suffering a stroke, Delon told the Swiss publication L’Illustre that he would not be against euthanasia. In March 2022, the actor’s son Anthony Delon said that he would accompany his father if he decided to take this step.

In January 2024, the court limited Delon’s legal capacity and established guardianship over him. According to the ruling, the actor could only perform everyday activities, but more complex tasks, such as selling real estate, were unavailable to him.

Based on materials from BBC, Forbes, RTVI