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On 26 February 2024, police raided Delon's home where they seized 72 firearms and 3,000 rounds of ammunition. A court-appointed official had been sent to the home of Delon, who was not authorised to own a firearm, and alerted a judge after noticing a weapon in the residence. |
Personal life |
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Habits |
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Delon was known to frequently refer to himself in the third person. |
Relationships and family |
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On 20 March 1959, Delon became engaged to actress Romy Schneider, whom he met when they co-starred in the film Christine (1958). After their first film together, the couple became iconic. Schneider, already a highly acclaimed star, and Delon, a rising talent, were affectionately nicknamed "les amants magnifiques" (the magnificent lovers), "les fiancés éternels" (eternal fiancés), and "les amants terribles" (the terrible lovers) due to their passionate and tumultuous relationship, which was the subject of intense media scrutiny, with paparazzi relentlessly pursuing them. Schneider's family remained opposed to their union, adding further complexities to their romance. In 1964, Delon and Schneider ended their relationship. Following the breakup, and during the early period of his marriage, Delon made attempts to resume his relationship with Schneider, efforts which continued over the following years. Their love story continued to captivate audiences and cemented their status as one of the most beautiful couples in cinema history. In 2009, Delon admitted his regret at not marrying Schneider, and In 2018 he referred to her as the love of his life. |
On 11 August 1962 in Paris, German singer Nico gave birth to her son Ari Boulogne. She always maintained that Alain Delon was the child's father. Ari was raised by his paternal grandparents, Alain Delon's parents and later on adopted. Delon never acknowledged his paternity and refused to submit to a DNA test, even though Ari was considered his son by his family. |
Nevertheless, Alain Delon admitted to having had a relationship with Nico once at the time of the conception. |
In 1963, Delon met the young divorcée Francine Canovas (birth name), a model known professionally as Nathalie Barthélémy. He was also involved in an affair with Marisa Mell both before and after publicly announcing his engagement to Barthélemy during a press conference. This liaison continued even after his marriage in 1964 and persisted into 1965. On 13 August 1964, he married Barthélemy due to her pregnancy, and thereafter she took the name Nathalie Delon. Their son, Anthony Delon, her second child, was born on 30 September 1964. Nathalie later revealed that Delon's love for Romy Schneider remained a constant presence in their relationship, with Delon often displaying a deep sadness indicative that his heart still belonged to Schneider. In 1964-1965, Delon's relationships also included affairs with Ann-Margret and Lana Wood. In October 1964, Delon met Ratna Sari Dewi, at the Tokyo Olympics, and the two began a relationship. They remained close in the following years, including a meeting in Paris in 1967. In 1967, Delon filed for divorce. The couple divorced on 14 February 1969. |
In August 1968, during the shooting of the film Jeff (1969), Delon met the French actress Mireille Darc and asked her to appear with him in a movie. They started a relationship that lasted until 1982. He later had short relationships with the actresses Anne Parillaud, as well as Catherine Bleynie, the ex-wife of Didier Pironi. |
In 1987, Delon met the Dutch model Rosalie van Breemen on the set of the music video for his song "Comme au cinéma" and started a relationship. They had two children: Anouchka Delon (25 November 1990) and Alain-Fabien Delon (18 March 1994). The relationship ended in 2001. |
Political opinions |
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Delon described himself as a Gaullist, explaining that he was raised "in the spirit of General de Gaulle". When de Gaulle resigned from the French presidency after losing a nationwide referendum in 1969, Delon told him in a letter: "Always, and even more in these years thanks to you, I was proud to be French," then writing about the result: "I feel with fright a sense of shame that breaks my heart." Delon later supported the center-right candidate Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in his successful 1974 presidential campaign, and again in his failed attempt to be reelected in 1981. He gave his support to Raymond Barre in 1988 and to Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007. In 2017, he endorsed the Gaullist candidate François Fillon, who came third in the presidential election of that year, but said he did not vote in the second run-off between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. He later endorsed Valérie Pécresse in 2022, calling her "the only woman he wants to be president". |
During an interview in 2013, Delon expressed sympathy for the French far-right National Front's electoral successes, saying: "The National Front, like the MCG [Geneva Citizens' Movement] in Geneva, is very important... I encourage it and I perfectly understand it." However, in another interview in 2018, he denied having ever voted for Marine Le Pen. |
Delon was good friends with the Argentine world champion boxer Carlos Monzón, even visiting Monzon during his stint in prison. |
In 2022, the 86-year-old Delon was invited by Volodymyr Zelenskyy to travel to Ukraine. |
Health |
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Delon suffered a stroke in June 2019. He was admitted to hospital after experiencing dizziness and headaches. In August 2019, he was recovering in a Swiss hospital. In September 2022, he began experimental treatment for a slow-progressing lymphoma. In the summer of 2023, Delon's three children made the decision to stop this treatment because it was weakening him. |
In a 2021 interview with Paris Match, Delon expressed support for euthanasia, calling it "the most logical and natural thing". In 2022, Delon's son Anthony revealed in his autobiography Entre chien et loup that, following the death of his (Anthony's) mother Nathalie Delon, Alain said he wanted to be removed from life support if he were to succumb to a coma, and had asked Anthony to fulfill his request if such a circumstance arose. Shortly thereafter, some news organizations reported that Delon was planning to imminently end his life through euthanasia, but the reports were adamantly denied by his son, Alain-Fabien, who said that quotes from Anthony Delon's book had been taken out of context. |
In January 2024, Delon was reported to be in poor health and living a reclusive lifestyle at his La Brûlerie estate in Douchy. At the same time, a public feud concerning Delon's health arose between three of his children – Anthony, Anouchka and Alain-Fabien – all of whom acknowledge Delon was "ailing but lucid and aware of the feud". The rift began when Anthony publicly accused Anouchka, his half-sister, of "lying" and "manipulation" for concealing the results of cognitive tests Swiss doctors had performed on their father. The children, however, united in mid-2023 to successfully evict Delon's former companion Hiromi Rollin, whom they accused of abusing their father. |
Death |
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Delon died on 18 August 2024 at his home in Douchy, surrounded by family members, at the age of 88. He had been diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma earlier in the year. Before his death, Delon requested that his Belgian Shepherd named Loubo be euthanized and buried alongside him, although Delon's family elected to not euthanize the dog. |
Tributes |
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A number of personalities paid tribute to him, including Brigitte Bardot, Claudia Cardinale, Céline Dion, Costa-Gavras, Patricia Kaas (president of the Cinémathèque française), Gilles Jacob, Jean-Michel Jarre, actors Dany Boon, Arielle Dombasle, Pierre Arditi, Jean Dujardin, Richard Berry, and Patrick Chesnais, writer Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Mireille Mathieu, and Carla Bruni. Internationally, actors Sarik Andreasyan, Antonio Banderas, Susana Giménez, Mirtha Legrand, Sophia Loren, Ekaterina Klimova, Ornella Muti, Ottavia Piccolo, Jean-Claude Van Damme, British journalist and television host Piers Morgan, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, and director Jim Jarmusch also paid their respects. |
The Academy of Arts and Techniques of Cinema released a statement mourning the loss of "an eternal icon of the seventh art." Alberto Barbera, president of the Venice Film Festival, praised him as "a popular star who left his indelible mark on the works of the greatest authors of European cinema." |
Numerous political figures also honored the actor's memory, including Emmanuel Macron, Nicolas Sarkozy, Gabriel Attal, Marine Le Pen, François Fillon, Culture Minister Rachida Dati. French President Emmanuel Macron described him as "melancholic, popular, secretive" while being "more than a star : a French monument." International reactions include those of Matteo Salvini (Deputy Prime Minister of Italy), Lucia Borgonzoni (Italian Secretary of State for Culture), Andriy Yermak (Head of the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine), Nicolae Ciucă (President of the Romanian Senate and former Prime Minister of Romania), Dominique Ouattara (First Lady of Côte d'Ivoire) and Boyko Borissov, (leader of GERB and former Prime Minister of Bulgaria). The Ministry of Culture in Armenia offers its condolences. |
On the evening of his death, several French television channels altered their programming to broadcast films featuring Alain Delon throughout his career. The same occurred in Switzerland, China, Italy, and Iran. |
The next day, Alain Delon's death made headlines worldwide and garnered significant media attention. Foreign press referred to him as "the last great myth of French Cinema." The New York Times stated that "the intense and intensely beautiful French actor played cold Corsican gangsters as convincingly as passionate Italian lovers." The Guardian praised Alain Delon, calling him "a symbol of the lost beauty of the 1960s." According to the Japan Times, "his idol image and James Dean-like persona made him one of the most acclaimed actors in his country." The series Plus belle la vie paid tribute to him in episode 153 on 22 August 2024, referencing the police series Fabio Montale, filmed in Marseille. |
Having declined any national tribute and ceremony, Alain Delon was buried on 24 August 2024, in a private chapel on the Brûlerie estate in Douchy, as he wished, near his thirty-five dogs. About fifty guests attended the funeral, including the actor's three children. The ceremony was officiated by Catholic bishop Jean-Michel Di Falco. |
During his lifetime and after his passing, tributes to Alain Delon take place in numerous countries around the world, reflecting the actor's international stature. In the United States, the American French Film Festival (TAFFF), the Cinémathèque Américaine, and the American Film Institute organize screenings and retrospectives in his honor. |
In Brazil, the Varilux French Cinema Festival, the largest French film festival outside of France, also pays tribute to him by screening Plein Soleil and featuring him on the official poster for its 2024 edition. The French Film Festival in Cuba organized a tribute to Alain Delon during its 25th edition, screening many of the actor's films in theaters in Havana. |
In Asia, from December 16, 2024, to January 16, 2025, the retrospective Remember Alain Delon in Hanoi, Vietnam, showcases three of his iconic films on the continent: Red Sun, The Red Circle, and Plein Soleil. In Tokyo, the Institut Français du Japon organizes a retrospective titled Proof of a Star's Existence, featuring screenings of his major works, conferences, and discussions led by film specialists. The 40th edition of the French Film Festival in Singapore pays homage to Delon with screenings of Le Samouraï and Plein Soleil. |
In Europe, the Ciné Lumière at the Institut français du Royaume-Uni dedicate retrospectives to the actor. In his honor, the French Embassy and the Institut Français of Bulgaria organize screenings of Rocco and His Brothers in the country's three largest cities. |
The 2024 Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, taking place a few days after Alain Delon's death, changed its programming to screen Notre histoire by Bertrand Blier. The 2024 Lumière Festival concluded with a screening of Plein Soleil (1960) by René Clément and a speech by Anthony Delon, who recounted his father's career. |
During the opening ceremony of the 2024 Venice Film Festival, images of Gena Rowlands, Roberto Herlitzka, and Alain Delon were projected in tribute. |
In October 2024, the Paris Council voted on a proposal to name a street or facility in the capital in honor of Alain Delon, which included the installation of a plaque in his name on the Normandie building on the Champs-Élysées (8th arrondissement). |
Delon featured in In Memoriam segments of 2025 BAFTA and SAG Awards ceremonies. However, the French actor was not included in the "In Memoriam" segment at the 2025 Oscars. At the opening of the 50th César Awards, a tribute was paid to Alain Delon with a sequence retracing the actor's career. |
Influence and legacy |
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Reception |
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Alain Delon is one of the best-known French actors abroad, alongside Gérard Depardieu, Jean Reno, Catherine Deneuve, and Audrey Tautou. Jean-Michel Frodon, a film critic and historian, points out that in post-war French cinema, Delon is a unique figure, whose energy and intelligence on screen were superbly exploited by filmmakers such as Jean-Pierre Melville. According to Nick Rees-Roberts and Darren Waldron, "Few male European actors have been as iconic and influential for generations of filmgoers as Alain Delon." They consider his status as a cinema icon and the longevity of his career as making a scholarly inquiry into his image and persona necessary. LaCinetek and The Criterion Collection have unveiled several lists wherein various professionals in the field recommend and/or specify their favorite films. Several of the productions in which Delon plays the leading role are cited. |
Many contemporary filmmakers such as Daniel Brühl, Michael Douglas, Stephen Frears, Jack Huston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kyle MacLachlan, Mickey Rourke, Mark Strong, Quentin Tarantino, Bruce Willis, have expressed respect or admiration for Alain Delon's career, roles, style, and longevity. |
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