French acting star Alain Delon has died in France at the age of 88 years-old. He was considered to be one of the last surviving icons of French film from the 1960’s and 70’s.
Delon’s children said in a statement that their father had passed away in the early hours of Sunday, surrounded by his family and beloved Belgian Shepherd Loubo, in his long-time chateau home in the village of Douchy.
In 1957, Delon attracted the attention of producer David O. Selznick at Cannes Film Festival.
Delon’s first film appearance was as a young gangster in Allégret’s Quand la femme s’en mêle (1957; U.K. title Send a Woman When the Devil Fails), and he had his first starring role in the romance Christine (1958), opposite Romy Schneider.
Delon quickly won international attention in Plein soleil (1960; “Bright Sun”; U.S. title Purple Noon), based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Delon went on to even greater fame with roles in Luchino Visconti’s Roccco e i suoi fratelli (1960; Rocco and His Brothers) and Il gattopardo (1963; The Leopard) and Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Eclisse (1962), as well as Mélodie en sous-sol (1963; “Basement Melody”; Any Number Can Win) and La Piscene (1969; The Swimming Pool).
In France, he was known for gangster films such as Le Samouraï (1967; “The Samurai”) and Le Clan des Siciliens (1969; The Sicilian Clan).
Delon also appeared in such diverse English-language motion pictures as The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), Texas Across the River (1966), and Red Sun (1971).
Delon was made an Officer in the French Legion of Honor in 2005 for his contributions to cinema.
In 2019, the actor suffered a stroke in 2019.
