Wat-Not Staff
According to French media on Sunday, French actor Alain Delon, who won over millions of moviegoers with his portrayals of hitmen, hoodlums, and murderers during his postwar prime, has passed away. He was 88.
Alain Delon: The heartthrob
The world was enthralled with the French actor Alain Delon, who played both the villain and the police officer and made people’s hearts race. The well-known actor was able to blend roughness with an endearing, vulnerable aspect, which combined with his good looks and gentle demeanor to make him one of France’s most unforgettable leading men.
Several of the best directors in the world, including Luchino Visconti and Joseph Losey, were interested in casting Delon during the height of his success in the 1960s and 1970s.
Later in life, Delon expressed his disillusionment with the film industry, claiming that the dream had been destroyed by money. He stated, “Money, commerce, and television have wrecked the dream machine,” in the newsweekly Le Nouvel Observateur in 2003. “My movie theater is no longer open. and myself as well.
Nevertheless, he kept up his busy schedule, making multiple TV film appearances in his 70s. Whether he was portrayed as a romantic leading man or as a morally reprehensible hero, Delon’s presence was indelible.
Alain Delon contribution to the French film industry
He produced a number of Italian films, most famously collaborating with Visconti on Rocco and His Brothers (1961), in which Delon plays a selfless brother determined to support his sibling. At the Venice Film Festival, the film took home the Special Jury Prize.
The highest honor of the Cannes picture Festival, the Palme d’Or, went to the 1963 Visconti picture Le Guepard (The Leopard), starring Al Pacino. His other films were Jacques Deray’s La Piscine (The Sinners), which starred Jacques Deray; Clement’s Is Paris Burning, which had a screenplay by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola; and, in a departure, Losey’s The Assassination of Trotsky (1972).
Delon started making pictures in 1968 and finished 26 of them by 1990. This was the start of a crazy and confident streak that he carried with him for the rest of his life. When Delon said, “I like to be loved the way I love myself,” to Femme in 1996, it was clear that he was confident. This complemented his captivating on-screen presence.
He attracted criticism for remarks deemed out of date yet captivating audiences for years on end. He had an appearance in Un Mari De Trop (One Husband Too Many) in 2010 and, with his daughter Anouchka, made a comeback to the stage with An Ordinary Day in 2011.
Actor’s deteriorating health leading to his death
His son Anthony had reported earlier this year that Delon had received a cancer diagnosis of B-cell lymphoma. Delon’s precarious health had been the focal point of a family conflict over his treatment during the previous year, which resulted in acrimonious interactions among his three children via the media.
His children announced the death on Sunday in a statement to French national news agency Agence France-Presse. Following the announcement of his passing, social media was flooded with tributes, and all major French media outlets began to fully cover his illustrious career.
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