The iconic French actor Alain Delon has died at the age of 88.
Per a statement released to AFP news agency, he “passed away peacefully in his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and his family”. Delon had been in poor health in recent years and had become reclusive in his later life.
Delon was a major star in the golden age of cinema, particularly in the 1960s, often stepping into tough guy roles in films such as The Samurai, Borsalino, The Leopard and Rocco and his Brothers. He was even once described as “the most beautiful man in the movies”, even though he never quite made it into Hollywood.
In total, he appeared in 90 films across his career. His roles became less frequent from the 1990s and he hadn’t been seen in public since 2019 when he received an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. There, he delivered an emotional speech that was interpreted as him bidding farewell to cinema.
President Emmanuel Macron is among those paying tribute, saying Delon “made the world dream” and was not just a star but “a French monument”.
Monsieur Klein ou Rocco, le Guépard ou le Samouraï, Alain Delon a incarné des rôles légendaires, et fait rêver le monde. Prêtant son visage inoubliable pour bouleverser nos vies.
Mélancolique, populaire, secret, il était plus qu’une star : un monument français. pic.twitter.com/1JTqPfVo5n
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 18, 2024
Deloin’s prolific love life had been the subject of French tabloid gossip for decades, while he had also made headlines more recently over issues in his family.
He had three children – Alain Fabien, Anouchka and Anthony – by two different women, and a third son, who is now dead, who he never acknowledged. His surviving children had spoken out about their grievances towards him in a series of insults, accusations, lawsuits and secret recordings. There were also disagreements over his medical treatment following his stroke in 2019.
In April, a judge placed Delon under “reinforced curatorship”, so he no longer had full freedom to manage his assets.
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