2024-08-20 19:23:15
The famous French actor Alain Delon died, he lived to be 88 years old. His three children told AFP this Sunday in a joint statement. Delon had been ill in recent years. He died surrounded by his family at his home in Douchy, about 100 kilometers south of Paris.
“Alain Fabien, Anouchka, Anthony and also (the dog) Loubo announce the passing of their father with immense pain. He died peacefully at his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and family. In this extremely painful time of grief, the family asks for privacy,” wrote the Delons descendants in the statement.
The actor, producer and director was born on November 8, 1935. He was one of the most important figures in European cinema. Delon, at one time a symbol of male beauty, starred in almost a hundred films, the audience knows him for example from the films Black Tulip, Two Men in the City or Borsalino. In 2008, he portrayed Julius Caesar in the comedy Asterix and the Olympic Games.
He had been ill in recent years. For example, in 2019, he suffered circulatory problems and suffered a minor brain bleed, after which he spent several weeks in hospital.
I will leave this world without regret, the actor said four years ago in an interview with the Paris-Match weekly. “Life doesn’t bring me much anymore. I’ve already known and seen everything. But above all, I hate this time, it makes me sick,” he said at the end of the interview, in which he took stock of his 60-year career.
“Little Wild Monster”
He was born in the village of Sceaux and for some time he also grew up with foster parents who lived near the prison. “I was a wild little monster,” he recalled of his youth full of running away from home and being kicked out of school. He trained as a butcher, but preferred to join the army, with which he fought in Indochina and from which he was finally kicked out.
He easily fit into Parisian bohemia, where he made a living in all sorts of ways. He was helped by an interesting boyish appearance, which was first used by director Yves Allégret in 1957 in the film When a Woman Gets Involved.
He played one of his first leading roles in the drama In Full Sunlight (1960) directed by René Clément. Followed by successful titles Rocco and His Brothers (1960; with Annie Girardot), Cheetah (1963; with Claudia Cardinale), The Black Tulip (1964), The Sicilian Clan (1969), Two Men in the City (1973; with Jean Gabin), Death of a Villain (1977; with Ornella Muti) or Swann’s Love (1984).
Delon also appeared in the detective series Fabio Montale (2001) and Frank Riva (2003 to 2004). He also starred in the TV romantic comedy One More Husband (2010).
Women formed a special chapter of his life. He lived with the actress Romy Schneider at the turn of the fifties and sixties, but at the same time he was in a relationship with the German singer Nico, who performed with the band The Velvet Underground. In 1962, she gave birth to a son, Christian Aaron.
Among other things, he also lived with the singer Dalida and the actress Mireille Darcová (1968 to 1982) and from 1987 for fourteen years with the former Dutch beauty queen Rosalia van Breemenová. In addition to their daughter Anouchka, their son Alain-Fabien was born in 1994. He was married only once, in 1964 to actress Nathalia Canovas, with whom he has a son, Anthony (born in September 1964). They divorced after five years.
In 2005, Delon, who has also held Swiss citizenship since 1999, was promoted to the rank of officer of the Legion of Honor for his personal contribution to world cinema.
In 2011, he was part of the official French delegation that came to Prague for the funeral of Václav Havel. The friendship between the two personalities and film and theater lovers dates back to roughly the beginning of the 1990s. As a “women’s connoisseur”, in 2008 he was entrusted with the role of chairman of the jury of the Czech Miss beauty contest.
He was also known for his controversial political views. When Delon was awarded the Palme d’Or for lifetime achievement at the Cannes festival in May 2019, the American organization Woman and Hollywood called him a “racist, homophobe and misogynist” in its petition.
The female idol of several generations previously said: “Did I say I slapped a woman? Yes. And I should have added that I received more slaps than I gave. I have never molested a woman in my life. They were the ones who molested me enough,” he said in an interview . On another occasion, he made it known that homosexuals should not raise children.
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