French actor Alain Delon has died at the age of 88, his three children announced on Sunday. Delon had been in poor health since suffering a stroke in 2019 and rarely left his estate in Douchy, located in France’s Val de Loire region.
President Emmanuel Macron hailed Delon as a giant of French culture. “Alain Delon played legendary roles and made the world dream, lending his unforgettable face to shake up our lives. Melancholic, popular, secretive, he was more than a star: he was a French monument,” Macron posted on X.
With striking blue eyes, Delon was sometimes referred to as the “French Frank Sinatra” for his handsome looks, a comparison Delon disliked. Unlike Sinatra, who always denied connections with the Mafia, Delon openly acknowledged his shady pals in the underworld.
In a 1970 interview with the New York Times, Delon was asked about such acquaintances, one of whom was among the last “Godfathers” of the underworld in the Mediterranean port of Marseille.Delon was sometimes referred to as the “French Frank Sinatra” for his handsome looks, a comparison he disliked. Unlike Sinatra, who consistently denied any connections to the Mafia, Delon openly acknowledged his ties to shady figures in the underworld. In a 1970 interview with The New York Times, Delon was asked about such acquaintances, including one who was among the last “Godfathers” of the underworld in the Mediterranean port of Marseille.
Delon was outspoken off-stage and often courted controversy—most notably when he expressed regret over the abolition of the death penalty and spoke disparagingly of gay marriage, which was legalized in France in 2013. He publicly defended the far-right National Front, even calling its founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, an old friend, to congratulate him when the party performed well in local elections in 2014.
Delon’s romantic life was also widely publicized. His lovers included Romy Schneider and German model-turned-singer Nico, with whom he had a son. In 1964, he married Nathalie Barthelemy and had a second son, but the marriage ended, and he embarked on a 15-year relationship with Mireille Darc. He had two more children with Dutch model Rosalie van Breemen.
In a 2018 interview with Paris Match, Delon expressed his dissatisfaction with modern life and revealed that he had a chapel and tomb prepared for himself on the grounds of his home near Geneva, along with a resting place for his Belgian shepherd dog, Loubo.
Delon’s last major public appearance was in May 2019 when he received an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In recent years, Delon became the center of a family feud over his care, which made headlines in French media. In April 2024, a judge placed Delon under “reinforced curatorship,” limiting his ability to manage his assets. He had already been under legal protection due to concerns about his health and well-being.
