Alain Delon

French actor (1935–2024)

Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (French pronunciation: ​[alɛ̃ dəlɔ̃]; 8 November 1935 – 18 August 2024) was a French actor. He became famous quickly, and by the age of 23, he was already being compared to French actors like Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais. He was also compared to American actor James Dean. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot. During his career, Delon worked with many well-known directors. Some of these are Luchino Visconti, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, Michelangelo Antonioni and Louis Malle.

Alain Delon
Delon in 1961
Born
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon

(1935-11-08)8 November 1935
Died18 August 2024(2024-08-18) (aged 88)
Douchy, France
Cause of deathProblems caused by B-cell lymphoma
CitizenshipFrench, Swiss
Occupations
  • Actor
  • movie producer
  • screenwriter
  • singer
Years active1949–2019
Spouse
(m. 1964; div. 1969)
Partners
ChildrenAt least 4, including Anthony, Anouchka, Alain-Fabien, and Christian Aaron Boulogne
Websitealaindelon.ch

Delon was given Swiss citizenship in 1999. He had a company managing product company, and it was based in Geneva.

Early life

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Delon was born in Sceaux, Seine (now Hauts-de-Seine), Île-de-France, which is a suburb of Paris. His parents, Édith (née Arnold) and Fabien Delon, divorced when Delon was four.[1] Both remarried, and Delon has a half-sister and two half-brothers. He went to a Roman Catholic[2] boarding school. This was the first school he was removed from because of bad behavior.

When he was 14, Delon left school. He then worked for at his stepfather's butcher shop for some time. He joined the French Navy three years later. In 1953 and 54 he served as a fusilier marin in the First Indochina War. Delon has said that out of his four years of military service he spent eleven months in prison for being "undisciplined", meaning that his bad behaviour ended up getting him jailed. In 1956, he returned to France after being dishonourably discharged from the navy. He did not have any money, and lived on whatever money he could find.

Products

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Since his perfume company was started, Delon has had many products sold under his name. Some of these are wristwatches, clothes, eyewear, stationery and cigarettes.[3]

Delon's sunglasses brand became very popular in Hong Kong after actor Chow Yun-fat wore them in the 1986 movie A Better Tomorrow. He wore these in two movies after this. It is said that Delon wrote a letter to thank Chow for helping the sunglasses sell out in the region.[4] The movie's director John Woo has said that Delon is one of his idols. He wrote a short essay on Le Samourai as well as Le Cercle Rou for the Criterion Collection DVDs.[5]

Delon suffered a stroke in June 2019. In August 2019, he was recovering in a Swiss hospital.[6] In September 2022, he began treatment for a slow-progressing lymphoma. In the summer of 2023, Delon's three children made the decision to stop this treatment because it was weakening him.[7]

Delon died on 18 August 2024 at his home in Douchy, France at the age of 88.[8][9][10] He was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma earlier in the year.[11][12]

Honours

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Movies

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Year Movie Role Notes
2008 Asterix at the Olympic Games (Astérix aux Jeux Olympiques) Jules César
2003–2004 Frank Riva Frank Riva television series
1999 Les Acteurs himself
1997 Une chance sur deux Julien Vignal
1996 Le Jour et la nuit Alexandre
1995 A Hundred and One Nights (Les cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma) Alain Delon, en visite
1993 L'Ours en peluche Jean Rivière
1992 Un Crime Maitre Charles Durand
1992 The Return of Casanova (Le Retour de Casanova) Casanova
1990 Nouvelle Vague L'homme
1990 Dancing Machine Alan Wolf
1988 Ne réveillez pas un flic qui dort Commissaire Eugène Grindel
1985 Parole de flic Daniel Pratt
1984 Notre histoire Robert Avranche won– César Award for Best Actor
1984 Le Passage Jean Diaz
1983 Le Battant Jacques Darnay
1983 Swann in Love (Un amour de Swann) Baron de Charlus
1982 The Shock (Le choc) Martin Terrier
1981 Pour la peau d'un flic Choucas
1980 Trois hommes à abattre Michel Gerfaut
1980 Teheran 43 (Teheran 43. Nid d'espions) Foche
1979 The Medic (Le Toubib) Jean-Marie Desprès
1979 The Concorde ... Airport '79 Paul Metrand
1978 Attention, les enfants regardent L'homme
1977 Le Gang Robert le Dingue
1977 Death of a Corrupt Man (Mort d'un pourri) Xavier Maréchal nominated– César Award for Best Actor
1976 Monsieur Klein Robert Klein directed by Joseph Losey
nominated– César Award for Best Actor
1976 Armaguedon Dr. Michel Ambrose
1976 Comme un boomerang Jacques Batkin
1976 L'Homme pressé Pierre Niox
1975 Flic Story Roger Borniche
1975 Le Gitan Le Gitan
1975 Zorro Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro
1974 Les Seins de glace Marc Rilsen
1974 Borsalino & Co. Roch Siffredi
1973 Two Men in Town (Deux hommes dans la ville) Gino Strabliggi
1973 La Race des seigneurs Julien Dandieu
1973 The Burned Barns (Les granges brûlées) Larcher
1973 Scorpio Jean Laurier, alias Scorpio
1973 No Way Out (Tony Arzenta) Tony Arzenta
1972 Traitement de choc Devillers
1972 Il était une fois un flic Man searching Rodriguez
1972 La prima notte di quiete Daniele Dominici directed by Valerio Zurlini
1971 Un Flic Coleman
1971 La veuve Couderc Jean
1971 Red Sun (Soleil Rouge) Gauche directed by Terence Young
1971 Fantasia chez les ploucs A caïd
1971 The Assassination of Trotsky Frank Jackson directed by Joseph Losey
1970 Le Cercle rouge Corey directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
1970 Borsalino Rocco Siffredi
1970 Doucement les basses Simon
1969 The Sicilian Clan (Le Clan des Siciliens) Roger Sartet
1969 Madly Julian
1969 Jeff Laurent
1968 The Swimming Pool (La Piscine) Jean-Paul
1968 The Girl on a Motorcycle (La Motocyclette) Daniel
1968 Farewell Friend (Adieu l'ami) Dino Barran co-starring with Charles Bronson
1968 Spirits of the Dead (Histoires extraordinaires) William Wilson
1967 Le Samouraï Jef Costello directed by Jean Pierre Melville
1967 Diabolically Yours (Diaboliquement vôtre) Pierre
1966 The Last Adventure (Les Aventuriers) Manu
1966 Lost Command Capt. Philippe Esclavier
1966 Texas Across the Rive (Texas nous voilà) Don Andrea
1965 Is Paris Burning? (Paris brûle-t-il?) Jacques Chaban-Delmas
1965 Once a Thief Eddie Pedak directed by Ralph Nelson; written by Zekial Marko
1965 The Yellow Rolls-Royce Stefano
1964 L'Insoumis Thomas
1963 La Tulipe noire Count de Saint Preux
1963 The Leopard Tancredi
1963 Any Number Can Win (Mélodie en sous-sol) Francis
1963 Joy House (Les Félins) Marc
1962 The Devil and the Ten Commandments (Le Diable et les Dix Commandements) Pierre Messager
1962 Carom Shots (Carambolages) Lambert
1962 Eclipse Piero directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
1962 Love at Sea (L'Amour à la mer) The film actor
1961 Amours célèbres Prince Albert
1961 The Joy of Living (Quelle joie de vivre) Ulysse
1960 Purple Noon (Plein Soleil) Tom Ripley
1960 Rocco and His Brothers Rocco Parondi directed by Luchino Visconti
1959 Le chemin des écoliers Antoine Michaud
1959 Faibles femmes Julien Fenal
1958 Christine Franz Lobheiner
1957 Quand la femme s'en mêle Jo
1957 Sois belle et tais-toi Loulou

References

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  1. Alain Delon Biography (1935-)
  2. Cineman, About the person
  3. "ALAIN DELON - Products - Introduction". Archived from the original on 2011-11-29. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  4. The Films of John Woo and the Art of Heroic Bloodshed by Anthony Leong from MediaCircus.net
  5. "The Criterion Collection: Le samourai by Jean-Pierre Melville". Archived from the original on 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  6. "Alain Delon recovers in Switzerland after stroke". 8 August 2019. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  7. "Alain Delon: le cancer qui déchire sa famille". Le Point (in French). 24 January 2024. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  8. Gregory, James; Nanji, Noor (18 August 2024). "French film giant Alain Delon dies aged 88". BBC News. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024.
  9. Mintzer, Jordan (17 August 2024). "Alain Delon, Seductive Star of European Cinema, Dies at 88". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  10. "Alain Delon est décédé à l'âge de 88 ans". www.rtl.fr (in French). 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  11. "French President Leads Tributes After Critically-Acclaimed Actor Alain Delon Dies". Time. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  12. "Alain Delon dies: French actor and heartthrob was 88". The Denver Post. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  13. "Berlinale: 1995 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  14. "Décret du 10 mai 1995 portant promotion et nomination". JORF. 1995 (112): 8055. 1995-05-13. PREX9511324D. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  15. 15.0 15.1 "Décret du 25 mars 2005 portant promotion et nomination". JORF. 2005 (73): 5176. 2005-03-27. PREX0508238D. Retrieved 2009-03-18.

Other websites

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