Alain Delon, the legendary actor known for his roles in classic films such as Plein Soleil, Le Samouraï, and Rocco and His Brothers, has passed away at the age of 88, according to a statement from his children shared with French media.
“Alain Fabien, Anouchka, Anthony, and [his dog] Loubo are deeply saddened to announce the passing of their father. He passed away peacefully at his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and his family,” the statement read, adding that the family requests privacy during this time.
Delon was a prominent figure in the resurgence of French cinema during the 1960s, known for playing a series of iconic roles as cops, hitmen, and charismatic anti-heroes in films by some of France’s greatest directors, including Jean-Pierre Melville, René Clément, and Jacques Deray. He also worked with celebrated auteurs such as Luchino Visconti, Louis Malle, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Jean-Luc Godard, though his attempts to break into Hollywood were less successful. French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute on X, stating that through his roles, Delon “made the world dream… he offered his unforgettable face to shake our lives.”
“He was more than just a star. He was a French monument,” Macron added.
Brigitte Bardot, who starred alongside Delon in the 1961 film Amours Célèbres, expressed her devastation at his passing through the animal protection foundation she now runs.
“Today, we learn with heavy hearts of Alain Delon’s passing. He was an exceptional man, an unforgettable artist, and a great friend to animals,” the Brigitte Bardot Foundation said in a statement.
“Alain was a close friend of our president, Brigitte Bardot, who is devastated by his death. Their friendship, built on a shared love for animals and a mutual concern for their welfare, was both precious and genuine. Alain understood the profound connection between humans and animals.” Delon, a devoted dog lover, once expressed a wish to be reincarnated as a Malinois.
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati wrote: “We believed he was immortal… his talent, charisma, and aura made him destined for a Hollywood career at a young age, but he chose France.”
Born in 1935 in Sceaux, a suburb of Paris, Delon had a troubled youth, being expelled from several schools before leaving at 14 to work in a butcher’s shop. After a stint in the navy, where he saw combat in France’s colonial war in Vietnam, he was dishonorably discharged in 1956 and drifted into acting. He was discovered by Hollywood producer David O. Selznick at Cannes and signed to a contract but chose to pursue a career in French cinema instead. He made his debut in Yves Allégret’s 1957 thriller Send a Woman When the Devil Fails.
Delon’s striking good looks quickly made an impact, and he soon advanced to leading roles. In 1958, he starred opposite Romy Schneider in Christine, playing a soldier who falls in love with a musician’s daughter. Their on-screen romance blossomed into a high-profile real-life relationship, further cementing Delon’s status as a sex symbol.
In 1960, Delon starred in two films that brought him international recognition: the Patricia Highsmith adaptation Plein Soleil (also known as Purple Noon) and Rocco and His Brothers. The former, a French-language version of The Talented Mr. Ripley, made Delon a major star, while Rocco, a tale of a southern Italian peasant family migrating to the prosperous north, introduced him to Luchino Visconti, one of Europe’s leading auteurs. Another Italian auteur, Michelangelo Antonioni, cast him as a suave stockbroker in the 1962 film L’Eclisse. Delon reunited with Visconti in 1963 for The Leopard (also known as Il Gattopardo), a grand epic set in Risorgimento Sicily, adapted from the celebrated Lampedusa novel.
Delon’s growing international profile led him to pursue a career in English-language films. He appeared in The Yellow Rolls-Royce, directed by Anthony Asquith, followed by roles in Lost Command, Texas Across the River with Dean Martin, and Is Paris Burning?, a World War II epic starring Kirk Douglas. However, none of these films achieved the level of success needed to establish him in Hollywood, and Delon returned to France.
In 1967, Delon starred in the cult classic Le Samouraï, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, playing a stoic hitman. The film’s success in France sparked a series of crime films featuring Delon, including The Sicilian Clan with Jean Gabin, Borsalino set in Marseille, and another Melville classic, The Red Circle. Delon also found time to appear opposite Marianne Faithfull in Girl on a Motorcycle, where Faithfull rides across Europe in leather, as well as in La Piscine opposite his former lover Schneider—a film later remade in 2016 as A Bigger Splash with Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes.
La Piscine coincided with a major public scandal known as the “Markovic affair,” which rocked the French elite after Delon’s bodyguard, Stefan Markovic, was found dead in a rubbish dump in 1968. François Marcantoni, a notorious underworld figure and long-time friend of Delon, was charged with murder, but the charges were eventually dropped. The scandal deepened when compromising photos allegedly showing members of the French elite, including the wife of presidential candidate Georges Pompidou, were discovered. Although nothing was conclusively proven, Delon’s close ties to unsavory characters became widely known.
Throughout the 1970s, Delon continued to make films at a steady pace, though none matched the impact of his earlier work. He won the César for Best Film in 1977 for Monsieur Klein, where he played an art dealer during World War II whose identity is confused with that of a Jewish fugitive. In 1985, he won the César for Best Actor for his role in Bertrand Blier’s surreal fable Notre Histoire. Delon also expanded his career by producing films through his own company, directing his first film Pour la Peau d’un Flic in 1981, and even branching into promoting boxing and designing furniture.
Delon began to slow down in the 1990s, making fewer films after his dual role in Jean-Luc Godard’s Nouvelle Vague. In 1997, he announced his retirement from acting, though he made a brief return in 2008 to play Julius Caesar in the French live-action hit Asterix at the Olympic Games.
Delon’s personal life was complex, marked by long-term relationships with Romy Schneider, Mireille Darc (from whom he separated in 1982 after 15 years), and Rosalie van Breemen, a Dutch model with whom he had two children and from whom he separated in 2002. He was married to Nathalie Delon from 1964 to 1968, and they had a son, Anthony, born in 1964. In 1962, singer and model Nico gave birth to a son, Christian, whom Delon denied paternity of, but the child was later adopted by Delon’s mother.
Former Culture Minister Jack Lang spoke fondly of Delon’s kindness and their 20-year friendship, describing him as “an acting giant, prodigious… a prince of the cinema.”
“He was extremely modest, reserved, and shy, but when he expressed himself, even brutally, it was with flair,” Lang said.
Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region, wrote on X: “Goodbye dear Alain.” Éric Ciotti, leader of Les Républicains, remarked that Delon was a star like no other: “France mourns a sacred giant who was a part of daily life for generations of French people and will continue to captivate us for years to come.”
Writer and director Philippe Labro added: “Goodbye, friend. A marvelous collection of films, an incredible and captivating personality. Beauty alone cannot explain the exceptional evolution of his talent. He was the ultimate star. The Samurai.”
