The end of a legend: French actor and conservative Alain Delon dies

Alain Delon, one of the great stars of world cinema in recent decades, died Sunday at the age of 88. The world renowned movie star appeared in more than 90 films and was famous for his intense and cold blue eyes.

With a career spanning more than six decades, which led him to work with great French directors René Clement, Jean-Pierre Melville, Louis Malle, and Jacques Deray as well as Italian directors Luchino Visconti and Michelangelo Antonioni, Delon marked an entire era of cinema.

But Delon was much more than that. His look and his indisputable beauty made him a symbol, not only of French cinema, but of a new, more modern masculinity, which transcended from cinema to daily life.

The son of a cinema owner and a pharmacy assistant, Delon was born in 1935 in Sceaux on the outskirts of Paris, and fell in love with the seventh art when, as a child, his father took him to see movies.

Abandoned by his father when he was four years old, he was cared for by a foster family until his mother married a buoyant butcher shop, which forged in him a rebellious character.

Several expulsions from schools and a runaway from home at the age of 14 with the intention of reaching Chicago, although he did not go further than Bordeaux, marked a turbulent adolescence, which continued when at 17 when he enlisted in the Navy during the Indochina War.

Returning to civilian life, he continued his indomitable course, settling in slums in the then turbulent neighborhood of Pigalle. He was a porter at the Les Halles market, a waiter, a petty criminal and even a gigolo.

From the slums of Pigalle to a world star

The chronicles say that he was saved from that world by a romantic encounter with an actress who took him to the other side of the Seine, to the Latin Quarter, where he became familiar with the artistic world.

Thanks to his physique and his self-confidence, he handled himself well in that environment and in 1957 he achieved his first role, a prelude to the second and to “Christine,” the following year, where he met Romy Schneider, with whom he starred in a romance that was widely talked about. Europe.

The consecration came with “Plein Soleil,” and “Purple Noon,” an adaptation of “The Talented Mr. Ripley” by Patricia Highsmith, and from there he went to Italy, where Visconti directed him in the legendary “Rocco and his brothers” and "”he Leopard.”

Delon became famous throughout the world as the archetype of the dynamic and handsome young man, but also often devoid of moral principles.

His steely gaze, of icy coldness, led him to successfully play criminals, hitmen and gangsters, as in “Le Samourai,” “The Clan of the Marseilles,” “Le Cercle Rouge” and "Le Gitan."

Another film of this nature was “Borsalino,” where for the first time he shared the bill as the protagonist with the other great French star of the moment, Jean-Paul Belmondo. On that occasion there was an intense duel, not at all friendly, to see who would win the cinematic battle, although they later reconciled and were dear friends until Belmondo's death.

But his physique also helped him play tough and hieratic police officers, as in “Un flic,” “Flic story” and “Pour la peau d'un flic.”

He was the frustrated and seductive writer of "La Piscine", again with Romy Schneider, the tortured amnesiac of “Diaboliquement vôtre” and even, already mature, the inveterate seducer of “Le retour de Casanova.”

A great star of the world screen, Delon did not disdain theater, television, film production (35), directing (3) and even music. He even made a foray into Hollywood, an environment he did not like.

Once back from everything, he allowed himself to play the ridiculed Julius Caesar in “Astérix aux Jeux Olympiques” (2008).

An aura of seducer

Delon was also immensely famous for his romances. Romy Schneider went to live with him to shake off her angelic image of Sissi, something scandalous for many in 1959, when they were considered “Europe's sweethearts.”

Actresses Nathalie Delon, Mireille Darc and Anne Parillaud, and singers Nico (from the Velvet Underground) and Dalida appear on his extensive list of known romantic relationships.

Three recognized children were born to them: Anthony, with Nathalie Delon, and Anouchka and Alain-Fabien from his relationship with the Dutch model Rosalie van Breemen, to whom he was united for fourteen years.

Beyond his many love affairs, Delon was also a friend of unwavering fidelity. Thus, he secretly paid for the specialized residence where Annie Girardot lived her last years, a victim of Alzheimer's, until her death, which occurred in 2011.

He did not mind showing his political preferences and, although he was traditionally conservative, first a Gaullist and then a supporter of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. Some of his statements in favor of the far-right National Front generated a lot of controversy.

In 2019, and now at 83 years old, Alain Delon suffered a stroke from which he recovered, although he was somewhat diminished. His state of health, the way he was cared for and his royal will were the subject of disagreements between his children that came to the public spotlight.

One of his last public appearances was in September 2021 during the funeral of his rival and friend Jean-Paul Belmondo, where Delon could be seen still in good shape, although leaning on a cane and helped by his son Anthony.