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The French actor, born on November 8, 1935, died at the age of 88. Delon was born in Saus (now Hauts-de-Seine), Île-de-France, a wealthy suburb of Paris. His parents, Edith (née Arnold, 1911–1995) and Fabian Delon (1904–1977), divorced when Delon was four years old. Both remarried, and as a result, Delon has a half-sister and two half-brothers. His paternal grandmother was Corsican, from Prunelli di Fiumorbo. When his parents divorced, Delon was sent to live with foster parents. After the death of the foster parents, Delon’s parents jointly assumed custody of him, but the arrangement did not prove satisfactory. He attended a Catholic boarding school, the first of many schools from which he was expelled for unruly behavior. Delon left school at 14 and worked briefly in his stepfather’s butcher shop. He enlisted in the French Navy three years later, aged 17, and during 1953-1954 served as a marine in the First Indochina War.
In 1956, after his naval service, Delon returned to France and began working as a waiter, porter, secretary and sales assistant. During this time he befriended the actress Brigitte Aubert, and joined her on a trip to the Cannes Film Festival, where his film career would begin.
In Cannes, Delon was spotted by a talent scout of American producer David O. Selznick. After an audition, Selznick offered him a contract, on the condition that he learn English. Delon returned to Paris to learn the language, but there he met the French director Yves Alegre, who was convinced that he should stay in France to start his career. Selznick allowed Delon to cancel his contract, and Alegre gave him his first film role in Send a Woman When the Devil Fails (French: Quand la femme s’en mêle, 1957). Marc Alegre (Yves’ brother) gave Delon his first leading role in the film Sois belle et tais-toi (1958), which also featured the young actor Jean-Paul Belmonteau. Delon then starred in the romantic film Christine (1958), based on a novel by Arthur Schnitzler, opposite Romy Snyder. Delon and Snyder began a love affair, which was highly publicized at the time.
Delon took the lead role in the comedy Faibles femmes (1959), which was a big hit in France and was the first of Delon’s films to be screened in America. Delon made some personal appearances in New York to promote the film.
International recognition for Alain Delon
Delon then starred in two films that brought him international fame. In 1960, he appeared in the US film Plein Soleil opposite Maurice Ronet directed by René Clément, which was based on the novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. Delon portrayed Tom Ripley, receiving critical praise for his performance. Highsmith said she was a fan of Delon’s performance. The film was a big hit in France and on the art house circuit in English-speaking countries. He then played the title role in Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and his Brothers (1960). Film critic Bosley Crowder of The New York Times wrote that Delon’s performance was “emotionally flexible and expressive”.
Delon made his theater debut in 1961 in John Ford’s play Crime Whores with Romy Snyder in Paris. Luchino Visconti directed the record-breaking show. He reunited with René Clément in the Italian comedy about fascism, Che gioia vivere (1961). It was a minor success. More popular was a multi-starrer spin-off, Amours célèbres (1961), in which Delon played Albert III of Bavaria opposite Brigitte Bardot. Around this time Delon was mentioned as a possibility for the lead role in Lawrence of Arabia. Peter O’Toole was eventually cast, but then Delon signed a four-film deal with Seven Arts, including a big-budget international history film of Marco Polo and the King of Paris, who was related to Alexandre Dumas. Neither film was completed. Instead, he was cast in Michelangelo Antonioni’s The Eclipse (1962), a major critical success, although the audience was small.
In 1963, producer Jacques Barre made the movie The Great Casino Robbery starring Jean Gabin and backed by MGM. Gabin’s co-star was to be Jean-Louis Trentignan until Delon lobbied Barr for the role. Delon got the rights to distribute the film in some countries in exchange for a simple salary. Because this had never been done before in France, it became known as the “Delon method”. The gamble paid off, with Gabin later claiming that Delon earned 10 times more money than he was paid. However, in 1965, Delon claimed that “no one else has tried it since then and made money”. However, the experience gave Delon a taste for filmmaking. He also signed a five-film deal with MGM, of which The Big Casino Heist was the first.
His reputation was further enhanced when he worked again with Luchino Visconti for Il Gattopardo with Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale. This was the seventh biggest hit of the year in France and The Grand Casino Heist was the sixth. Cheetah was also widely shown in the US by 20th Century Fox. Delon was now one of the most popular stars in France. He starred in La tulipe noire (1964), another success.
Les Félins (1964), which reunited him with René Clément and co-starred with Jane Fonda, was filmed in French and English versions. The film was distributed by MGM, but was not a success. In 1964, Delon founded a production company, Delbeau Production, with Georges Beaumé. They produced the film L’insoumis (1964), in which Delon played an OAS assassin. It had to be reviewed due to legal issues. Despite being distributed by MGM, audiences were small.
Alain Delon: The women who marked his life
Women have always played an important role in Alain Delon’s life. As he had said “for them I always wanted to be the most beautiful, the biggest, the strongest and to see it in their eyes. Women have been the biggest motivator.” After his breakup with Romy Snyder, in 1963 he met Natalie Barthelemy, a fiery woman of Moroccan origin. He married her (in the only marriage of his life) and with her he had his first child, actor Anthony Delon. After three years of passion and big fights they will separate.
He will then meet Mireille Darque, whom he met on the set of Jean Herrmann’s film “Jeff” (1968). They will live together for 15 years, but will not marry. At that time, he will meet many actresses – from stars and starlets to unknown girls from film crews – and will have romantic adventures with them.
Some of his best-known relationships are with actresses Ann Parisio and Jane Fonda and with singers Marian Faithful, Nico and Dalida. In 1987 he will meet Rosalie Van Bremen, a charming model from the Netherlands who is much younger than him. He fell madly in love with her and together they had two children, Anouska and Alain-Fabien. In October 2002 they will divorce and it is said that she was the first woman to leave him.
His awards and desire for euthanasia
For his contribution to the art of cinema, Alain Delon was made a member of the French Legion of Honor in 2005 and in May 2019 he was awarded the “Phoenix d’Or” at the Cannes Film Festival. A month later he suffered a stroke that continues to plague him to this day. In fact, at the beginning of 2022, he expressed the desire to end his life by euthanasia.
Alain Delon lived a full and “unbelievable” life. “So improbable that no journalist would be capable of writing it,” as he once said.
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