ABOVE: Alain Delon.
Alain Delon
Born in a Parisian suburb in 1935, Alain Delon had a troubled childhood. His parents divorced when he was a child and he was expelled from numerous schools for disruptive behaviour. Delon enlisted in the army at 17 and fought in the First Indochina War. He has estimated that he spent 11 months of his five years’ military service in prison for being ‘undisciplined’.
Following a series of odd jobs, Delon made his debut in 1957’s Quand La Femmes S’en Mêle. But it was his performance as the sacrificial title character in Luchino Visconti’s Rocco And His Brothers (1960) that proved his breakthrough. There followed a succession of starring roles in classics including L’Eclisse (1962), The Leopard (1963) and his trilogy of crime films for director Jean-Pierre Melville, Le Samouraï (1967), Le Cercle Rouge (1970) and Un Flic (1972).
Delon remained one of French cinema’s top draws throughout the 1970s. Among his movies in this period was the popular gangster film Borsalino (1970), which spawned a sequel. Less successful was Delon’s attempt to crack Hollywood. While Scorpio (1973) was a decent spy flick, the sequel Airport ’79: The Concorde (1979) proved an embarrassment to all involved.
In 1981, Delon made his directorial debut with the crime picture Pour La Peau D’un Flic (1981).
While Delon has gained legendary status at home long ago, his cultural influence also seeped into the British and American consciousness, countries not known for embracing French stars. Most notably, a photograph of Delon adorns the cover of English band The Smiths’ classic 1986 album The Queen Is Dead. Earlier, his 1973 duet with French singer Dalida, Paroles, Paroles, proved a smash hit around the world.
Delon’s own brand of sunglasses became de rigueur in Hong Kong after local superstar Chow Yun Fat wore them in John Woo’s 1986 film A Better Tomorrow and its two sequels. Among the other products to bear Delon’s name are perfume, clothing, watches and stationery. His manufacturing company is based in Geneva, where he has lived for over 25 years. In 1999, he obtained Swiss citizenship.
As a heart-throb, Delon’s private life has long been in the public domain. He was married to actress Nathalie Barthélemy for four years in the 1960s, and they had a son. He had previously been engaged to actress Romy Schneider and has always denied fathering the son of German singer Nico, born in 1962. He has also had relationships with actress Mireille Darc and Dutch model Rosalie Van Breemen, with whom he has two children.
More macabre was the murder of his bodyguard Stevan Markovic in 1968. The minder was found shot in the head outside Delon’s Paris home. Police questioned Delon, who was out of town on location, and his wife, while his friend, Corsican gangster François Marcantoni, was at one point charged with accessory to murder. Although the investigation unleashed a scandal involving pornographic photographs of numerous celebrities and politicians, nobody was ever found guilty of the crime.
Delon announced his retirement from acting in 1999, although he continues to accept the occasional role, most recently alongside Gérard Depardieu in this year’s sequel Astérix Aux Jeux Olympiques. At 72, he is unlikely to star in a film as pivotal as Le Samouraï again, but Delon’s shadow will continue to loom large for generations to come.