Alain Delon

Alain Delon
Alain Delon in Lost Command (1966)
Born	Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon 8 November 1935 (1935-11-08) (age 73) Sceaux, France
Years active	1957–present
Spouse(s)	Nathalie Barthélemy (1964-1968) Rosalie van Breemen (1987-2001)
Domestic partner(s)	Romy Schneider (1959-1963)
Official website

Alain Delon (born 8 November 1935) is a César Award-winning French actor. He rose quickly to stardom, and by the age of 23 he was garnering comparisons to famed French actors such as Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as American actor James Dean. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot. Over the course of his career, Delon has worked with many well-known directors, including Luchino Visconti, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, Michelangelo Antonioni and Louis Malle.

Delon acquired Swiss citizenship in 1999 and the company managing products sold under his name is based in Geneva.

Early life

Delon was born in Sceaux, Seine (now Hauts-de-Seine), Île-de-France, a suburb of Paris. His parents, Édith (née Arnold) and Fabien Delon, divorced when Delon was four.¹ Both remarried, and Delon has a half-sister and two half-brothers. He attended a Roman Catholic boarding school, the first of several schools from which he was expelled because of unruly behavior. Teachers once tried to convince him to enter the priesthood because of his aptitude in religious studies.

At 14, Delon left school, and worked for a brief time at his stepfather's butcher shop. He enlisted in the French Navy three years later, and in 1953/54 he served as a fusilier marin in the First Indochina War war. Delon has said that out of his four years of military service he spent 11 months in prison for being "undisciplined". In 1956, after being dishonorably discharged from the military he returned to Paris. He had no money, and got by on whatever employment he could find. He spent time working as a waiter, a porter, and a sales clerk. During this time he became friends with the actress Brigitte Auber, and joined her on a trip to the Cannes Film Festival, where his film career would begin.

Career

At Cannes, Delon was seen by a talent scout for David O. Selznick. After a successful screen test Selznick offered him a contract, provided he learn English. Delon returned to Paris to study English, but when he met French director Yves Allégret, he was convinced that he should stay in France to begin his career. Selznick allowed Delon to cancel his contract, and Allégret gave him his debut in the film Quand la Femme s'en Mêle (When the Woman Butts In). Delon then got to show a comedic aspect of himself in the film Faibles Femmes (Women Are Weak/Three Murderesses). This was also the first of his films to be seen in America, where it became a success.

In 1960, Delon appeared in René Clément's Purple Noon, which was based on the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. He played protagonist Tom Ripley to critical acclaim. He then appeared in Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers. Critic Bosley Crowther of the New York Times said Delon's work was : "touchingly pliant and expressive." John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said:

"Rocco's heartbroken steadfastness furnishes the film with the foremost of its ironic tragedies ... [I]ts believability rests finally on Mr. Delon's compelling performance."

Delon made his stage debut in 1961 in John Ford’s play, 'Tis Pity She’s a Whore alongside Romy Schneider in Paris. Visconti directed the production. Delon would work with him again for Il Gattopardo (The Leopard). Delon also worked with Jean-Pierre Melville, who directed him in Un Flic, Le Cercle Rouge, and Le Samouraï.

In 1964, the Cinémathèque Française held a showcase of Delon's films and Delon started a production company, Delbeau Production, with Georges Beaume. They produced a film called L’insoumis, which had to be re-edited due to legal issues. Delon then started his own production company, Adel, and starred in the company’s first film, Jeff. Delon followed the success of the film with Borsalino, which became one of France’s highest grossing films of the time. In 1973, he made a duet with the French pop singer Dalida on "Paroles, paroles". He also played Johnston McCulley's popular masked hero in 1975's Zorro. In 1976 Delon starred in the César awards (French equivalent of Oscars) - winning Monsieur Klein, which proved to be an impressively controlled performance and a golden opportunity for Delon to add psychological depth to his acting style.

He was awarded the Best Actor César Award for his role in Bertrand Blier's Notre histoire (1984), and portrayed the aristocratic dandy Baron de Charlus with a subtly restrained comic touch in Swann in Love in the same year. Then followed a string of box office failures in the late 1980s and 1990s, culminating in the failure of Patrice Leconte's Une chance sur deux. Delon announced his decision to give up acting in 1997, although he still occasionally accepts roles.

In 1990, he worked with auteur Jean-Luc Godard, on Nouvelle vague, in which he played twins. In 2003, the Walter Reade Theater showed a series of Delon's films under the aegis, Man in the Shadows: The Films of Alain Delon.

Products

Since the formation of a perfume label in his name, Delon has had a variety of products sold under his name including wristwatches, clothing, eyewear, stationery and cigarettes.²

Delon's sunglasses brand became particularly popular in Hong Kong after actor Chow Yun Fat wore them in the 1986 crime film A Better Tomorrow (as well as two sequels). Delon reportedly wrote a letter thanking Chow for helping the sunglasses sell out in the region.³ The film's director John Woo has acknowledged Delon as one of his idols and wrote a short essay on Le Samourai as well as Le Cercle Rouge for the Criterion Collection DVD releases.⁴

Relationships and family

On 20 March 1959, Delon was engaged to actress Romy Schneider, whom he met when they co-starred in the film Christine (1958). During their relationship, it was speculated he had an affair with German actress and singer Nico. On 11 August 1962 Nico gave birth to a son, Ari (Christian Aaron), who she claimed was fathered by Delon. The child was raised mostly by Delon's parents.

In December 1963, Schneider and Delon decided to break the engagement. On 13 August 1964, Delon married Nathalie Barthélemy. Their son, Anthony Delon, was born in September. The couple divorced on 14 February 1969.

In 1968, during the shooting of Jeff, he met French actress Mireille Darc with whom he had a long relationship over 15 years. They separated in 1982.

In 1987, Delon met Dutch model Rosalie van Breemen on the shooting of the video clip for his song "Comme au cinéma" and started a relationship. They had two children: Anouschka (1990) and Alain-Fabien (1994). The relationship ended in October 2002.

Scandal

In 1968, one of Delon’s bodyguards, Stevan Markovic, was found shot in the head in a dumpster outside Delon’s home. Delon’s friend, Corsican gangster François Marcantoni, was charged with accessory to murder. Delon himself was held by police for questioning, despite the fact that the murder took place in Paris, and Delon was filming in St. Tropez. Delon's then-wife, Nathalie, was also questioned.

Honours

• At the 60th Cannes Film Festival, he presented the Best Actress Award to South Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon for her role in Lee Chang Dong's Secret Sunshine. She became the first South Korean to win a prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
• At the 2008 César Awards on February 22, 2008, he presented the César Award for Best Actress to Marion Cotillard, whom in two days would win the Academy Award for Best Actress for La Vie En Rose. Marion Cotillard became only the second French national, after Simone Signoret, to win an Academy Award for Best Actress.
• Delon appears on the cover of the 1986 album The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths.
• He was made Officier (Officer) of the Ordre national du Mérite in 1995.⁵
• He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur on 21 February 1991 ⁶. He was promoted to Officier (Officer) in 2005.⁶

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alain Delon

• Alain Delon at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website

v â€¢ d â€¢ e César Award for Best Actor 1976 : Philippe Noiret • 1977 : Michel Galabru • 1978 : Jean Rochefort • 1979 : Michel Serrault • 1980 : Claude Brasseur • 1981 : Gérard Depardieu • 1982 : Michel Serrault • 1983 : Philippe Léotard • 1984 : Coluche • 1985 : Alain Delon • 1986 : Christophe Lambert • 1987 : Daniel Auteuil • 1988 : Richard Bohringer • 1989 : Jean-Paul Belmondo • 1990 : Philippe Noiret • 1991 : Gérard Depardieu • 1992 : Jacques Dutronc • 1993 : Claude Rich • 1994 : Pierre Arditi • 1995 : Gérard Lanvin • 1996 : Michel Serrault • 1997 : Philippe Torreton • 1998 : André Dussollier • 1999 : Jacques Villeret • 2000 : Daniel Auteuil • 2001 : Sergi López • 2002 : Michel Bouquet • 2003 : Adrien Brody • 2004 : Omar Sharif • 2005 : Mathieu Amalric • 2006 : Michel Bouquet • 2007 : François Cluzet • 2008 : Mathieu Amalric • 2009 : Vincent Cassel

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