CNN —
Alain Delon, the French actor, producer and writer whose cool, enigmatic good looks made him an international sex symbol, has died at the age of 88.
“He died peacefully at his home in Douche, surrounded by his three children and family,” a family statement published by AFP said. Delon had been in poor health in recent years and suffered a stroke in 2019.
French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the actor: “Melancholic, popular and secretive, he was more than just a star, he was a monument to France,” Macron said.
Delon will be remembered as an icon of French and European cinema, having worked with many notable directors, but he was criticized for his controversial political views and attitude towards women, and feminists were stunned when he received an honorary Palme d’Or late in life.
Born in Sceaux, a suburb south of Paris, Delon had a turbulent childhood, including his parents’ divorce and being expelled from school several times, before serving in the French Navy and then doing odd jobs in Paris.
He made his first film appearance in 1957, playing a hitman in the thriller When the Devil Fails (in English: When the Devil Fails, Send the Woman).
This was the first of many anti-hero roles that Delon would play, and he went on to become a key figure in European cinema in the 1960s, working with such renowned directors as René Clement (Purple Noon, 1960, and High Noon Purple in the US), Luchino Visconti (Rocco and His Brothers, 1960, Les Leopards, 1963) and Jean-Pierre Melville (Le Samourai, 1967).
In 1968, Delon was embroiled in a sex, drugs and murder scandal that engulfed French high society known as the Malkovich Affair. He was questioned but never charged.
He also appeared in a number of English-language films, including the anthology film The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964) and the westerns Texas (1966) and Red Sun (1971), but was never able to replicate the success he had enjoyed in European films.
Delon won the César Award for Best Actor in 1985 for his role as an alcoholic in Bertrand Blier’s “Our Story,” and was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his role as the passionate, penniless Tancredi in “The Leopard.”
In 1990, he played the hitchhiker Lennox in Jean-Luc Godard’s ambitious drama Nouvelle Vague.
His popularity waned in his later years, but he returned to television around the turn of the century, playing a veteran detective in two miniseries, “Fabio Montale” (2002) and “Frank Riva” (2003-2004).
In 2005, Delon was awarded the French Legion of Honor as an Officer for his contributions to world cinema.
Family feuds and disputes
Delon’s last major public appearance was when he won the career-long Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. Women’s rights groups criticized the move, saying Delon’s past comments acknowledged that he had slapped women, and a petition calling for him not to be honoured garnered more than 25,000 signatures.
He was married to actress and model Nathalie Delon from 1964 to 1969, and the couple had one child, Anthony.
Delon had three other children: son Christian Boulogne with singer and actress Nico, and daughters Anouschka Delon and Alain-Fabien Delon with Dutch actress Rosalie van Bremen.
A controversial figure, Delon has been criticised for his close ties to Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Front party, but BFMTV reported that he has said he has a “50-year friendship” with Le Pen.
According to Reuters, he also expressed regret over the abolition of the death penalty and opposed same-sex marriage and the right to adopt for same-sex couples.
As Delon’s health declined, his children became embroiled in a public dispute over their father’s health and care.
According to CNN affiliate BFMTV, Anthony and Alain Fabian accused Anouchka of hiding information about Delon’s health and manipulating the actor.
According to the French news broadcaster, this follows a legal battle in 2023, in which Delon’s children filed a complaint against the actor’s close friend Hiromi Laurent, who claimed to be Delon’s partner, alleging violence, harassment and abuse, including against their father.
Meanwhile, Rolland has filed charges of gang violence and theft against Delon’s children after they were evicted from his property in Douchy, in north-central France. All charges have been dismissed, according to BFMTV.