Alain Delon, a polarizing figure known to some as a sex icon and to others as an egotistical chauvinist, died at the age of 88 on Sunday, his children announced in a statement to AFP.
“Alain Fabien, Anouchka, Anthony, and (his dog) Loubo are profoundly heartbroken to report the death of their father. He died quietly at home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and family,” according to the statement, which followed months of public family feuding over the star’s deteriorating health.
The actor, well known for his roles in classics like as “Purple Noon” (1960) and “Le Samurai” (1967), died at 3:00 a.m. (0100 GMT), according to his son Anthony.
Delon, a rare sight on film since the 1990s, made headlines in 2023 when his three daughters filed a complaint against his live-in assistant, Hiromi Rollin, accusing her of harassment and threatening behavior.
The siblings later engaged in a public struggle in the media and courts over the star’s health, which included a stroke in 2019.
Delon’s family has requested privacy following his passing.
Prior to his devastating stroke, Delon made his final significant public appearance on the red carpet, accepting an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019.
“It’s a bit of a posthumous tribute, but from my lifetime,” he had said upon receiving the award.
“I am going to leave, but I won’t leave without thanking you,” added the man who had lived out his final years at his home in a village in northeast France, surrounded by high walls, where he planned to be buried not far from his dogs.
“Alain is in a deep, chosen solitude, in another world, in the past with people he very much loved… His malaise has always been present,” his former partner Mireille Dard told AFP in 2015, before the star turned 80.
“The best and the worst, both inaccessible and so close, cold and hot,” fellow 1960s star Brigitte Bardot had described him on his 80th birthday.
Instinctive genius
Far from a cerebral actor, Delon was considered an instinctive genius. He prided himself on never having worked on his technique, rather relying on charisma.
“He’s not a normal actor, Alain Delon. He’s an object of desire,” said actor Vincent Lindon in a 2012 documentary.
His looks were cinematic gold for filmmakers in the 1960s, when he played pretty boy killers and secretive schemers in films such as “Purple Noon” (later reworked as “The Talented Mr Ripley”).
With his stunning performance as the silent murderer in Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Samurai” (1967), he established one of Hollywood’s most popular cliches — the enigmatic, cerebral hitman.
Directors ranging from Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino to Hong Kong’s John Woo all credit Delon’s contribution to the inner life of their elegant killer, despite the fact that the French actor himself never made it big in Hollywood.
While he was immensely admired, he also received scathing criticism and judgment.
Some criticised his support for polarising politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front (later renamed the National Rally), who advocated the death sentence and spoke out against homosexuality.
Prior to his 2019 return to Cannes, he was embroiled in a controversy about his relationship with women, with his sons accusing him of domestic violence.
Delon denied this, but acknowledged to slapping women who attacked him during arguments.
The self-proclaimed right-winger was also derided for his arrogance and habit of speaking about himself in the third person.
But aficionados of his will recall his opening statement in the film “Le Samurai”: “There is no deeper solitude than that of the samurai, except that of a tiger in the jungle.”