‘Angel-faced’ Alain Delon, French actor of instinctive genius who often played dark characters – gangsters and, in Le Samourai, a hitman – remembered by fellow actors, film directors and French president.
French film legend Alain Delon, a divisive star known to some as a sex symbol and to others as an egotistical chauvinist, has died aged 88.
The actor, known for his roles in classic films Purple Noon (Plein Soleil, 1960) and Le Samourai (1967), had been suffering from cancer.
“Alain Fabien, Anouchka, Anthony, as well as (his dog) Loubo, are deeply saddened to announce the passing of their father,” Delon’s children said in a statement on August 18, which came after months of public family feuding over the star’s weakening health.
French President Emmanuel Macron called Delon a “French monument” who “played legendary roles and made the world dream”.
Fellow 1960s star Brigitte Bardot said he left “a huge void that nothing and no one will be able to fill”.
Delon had millions of fans but also legions of critics, with feminists appalled by the lifetime achievement award the Cannes Film Festival gave him in 2019.
He lived his later years largely as a recluse, though his personal life kept him in the headlines.
In 2023, his three children filed a complaint against his live-in assistant Hiromi Rollin, accusing her of harassment and threatening behaviour.
The siblings went on to wage a public battle in the media and the courts, arguing over his health, which worsened after a stroke in 2019.
Far from a cerebral actor, Delon was considered an instinctive genius. He prided himself on never working on his technique, instead relying on charisma.
