Alain Delon, who starred in some of the biggest hits of French cinema and was recognised worldwide for his good looks, has died at the age of 88. The actor’s children Alain Fabien, Anouchka and Anthony Delon, announced the news in a statement to AFP Sunday morning. “He passed away peacefully in his home in Douchy,” the statement reads.
“His family asks you to please respect his privacy, in this extremely painful moment of mourning,” they wrote. French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute on Sunday to Delon, calling him not just a legendary actor but a “monument”. “Alain Delon played legendary roles and made the world dream.
Lending his unforgettable face to turn our lives upside down,” Mr Macron wrote on X. “Melancholy, popular, secretive, he was more than a star: he was a French monument.” Described as a “sacred monster” of French cinema, Delon appeared in 88 movies and seven TV films, produced and directed dozens of feature films and performed in seven plays throughout his illustrious career which began at the age of 23.
Some of the cult classics that made him a world famous actor included Plein Soleil, Rocco and His Brothers, The Leopard, Mélodie en sous-sol, Le Samouraï, La Piscine and Monsieur Klein. His “devilish beauty” made him a heartthrob for many, while his string of romances with Romy Schneider, Brigitte Bardot and Dalida were pored over by the press. A rarity on the screen since the 1990s, Delon made headlines in 2023 when his .