French actor Alain Delon takes a short walk from the set of the new film “The Sicilians” during a break in filming in central Rome on March 27, 1969.
15:36 JST, August 18, 2024 (updated at 17:15 JST)
French film legend Alain Delon, a polarizing star known to some as a sex symbol and to others as an egotistical chauvinist, has died aged 88, his children said in a statement to AFP on Sunday.
“Alain Fabien, Anouchka, Anthony and (his dog) Loubo are deeply saddened to announce the death of their father. He died peacefully at his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and family,” said the statement, which came after months of public family disputes over the star’s deteriorating health.
The actor, known for his roles in the classics “Purple Noon” (1960) and “The Samurai” (1967), died at around 3:00 a.m. (01:00 GMT), his son Anthony told AFP.
Delon, a rarity on screen since the 1990s, made headlines in 2023 when his three children filed a complaint against his live-in assistant, Hiromi Rollin, accusing her of harassment and threatening behavior.
The siblings then engaged in a public dispute in the media and in court, arguing about the health of the star, who had suffered a stroke in 2019, among other things.
Delon’s family asked for privacy following his death.
Before his severe stroke, Delon made his last major public appearance on the red carpet in May 2019 to accept the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
“It’s a bit of a posthumous tribute, but from my lifetime,” he said as he accepted the award.
“I will leave, but I will not leave without thanking you,” added the man who spent his last years in his high-walled house in a village in northeastern France and wanted to be buried not far from his dogs.
“Alain is in deep, chosen solitude, in another world, in the past with people he loved very much… His malaise was always present,” his former partner Mireille Dard told AFP in 2015, before the star turned 80.
“The best and the worst, unattainable and yet so close, cold and hot,” is how Brigitte Bardot, his star colleague from the 1960s, described him on his 80th birthday.
Instinctive genius
Delon was not an intellectual actor, but was considered an instinctive genius. He prided himself on never having worked on his technique, relying instead on his charisma.
“He is not a normal actor, Alain Delon. He is an object of desire,” said actor Vincent Lindon in a 2012 documentary.
His looks were worth their weight in gold to 1960s filmmakers who played roles as pretty-boy killers and mysterious schemers, such as in “Purple Noon” – later remade as “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”
With his breathtaking portrayal of the silent killer in Jean-Pierre Melville’s “The Samurai” (1967), he created the template for one of Hollywood’s most popular clichés – the mysterious, intellectual contract killer.
Directors from Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino to Hong Kong’s John Woo all know what they have to say about the inner life Delon gave to his stylish killer – even though the French actor himself never had a big break in Hollywood.
But although he was widely admired, he also faced harsh criticism and condemnation.
Some criticized his support for polarizing politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right Front National (later renamed Rassemblement National), who supported the death penalty and opposed homosexuality.
72nd Cannes Film Festival – Honorary Palme d’Or – Cannes, France, May 19, 2019. Actor Alain Delon gestures as he accepts his Honorary Palme d’Or.
Before his return to Cannes in 2019, he was criticized for his relationships with women after his sons had previously accused him of domestic violence.
Although Delon denied this, he admitted to slapping women who attacked him during arguments.
The self-proclaimed right-winger was also ridiculed for his ego and his habit of speaking about himself in the third person.
But fans who admired him will remember his first line in the movie “The Samurai”: “There is no deeper loneliness than that of the samurai, except that of a tiger in the jungle.”
