ALAIN DELON

'Alain Delon' (born 8 November, 1935) is a French actor, one of the best known outside his native country. Delon’s star rose quickly, and by the age of twenty-three he was garnering comparisons to French screen legends such as Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as American actor James Dean. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot. Not wanting to fall back on his looks, Delon tried to take roles that presented him with more of a challenge. In particular he took parts playing a thief or gangster. One of the remarkable qualities about Delon’s performances is that despite the immorality of many of the characters he plays, he manages to make them charming, even likeable. Over the course of his career, Delon has worked with legendary directors, including Luchino Visconti, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Louis Malle.
Delon acquired, as well as his French nationality, Swiss citizenship in 1999 and the company managing products sold under his name is based in Geneva.

Contents

Youth

Career

Relationships and family

Scandal

Filmography

External links

Youth

Delon was born in Sceaux, Île-de-France, not far from Paris.
His parents, Fabien and Édith, divorced when Delon was young. Both remarried, and Delon has a half-sister, and two half-brothers. He attended a Catholic boarding school, the first of several schools from which he was expelled, because of unruly behavior. Despite this behavior he was more than competent as a student. Teachers once tried to convince him to enter the priesthood because of his aptitude in religious studies.
At fourteen Delon left school, and worked for a brief time at his stepfather's butcher shop. He enlisted in the army three years later, and in 1953 was sent to fight in the First Indochina War. Delon has said that out of his five years of military service he spent 11 months in prison for being "undisciplined". After being dishonorably discharged from the army 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''). This was also the first of his films to be seen in America, where it became a success.
The first role to really test Delon as a serious actor was in René Clement's ''Purple Noon'', which was based on the Patricia Highsmith novel ''The Talented Mr. Ripley''. Delon played killer Tom Ripley, and the film went on to be very well received.
But it was Visconti's ''Rocco and His Brothers'' that helped solidify Delon's status as an important new actor. 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... Its believability rests finally on Mr. Delon's compelling performance." In 1964, the Cinémathèque Française held a showcase of Delon's films. That he received this honor so soon into his career distinguished him from most other young stars.
Delon’s stage ''début'' came in 1961. He performed John Ford’s play, '''Tis Pity She’s a Whore'' co-starring Romy Schneider in Paris. The production was directed by Visconti, who Delon would work with again for ''Il Gattopardo'' (''The Leopard'').
Many directors chose to work with Delon time and time again. Among these is Jean-Pierre Melville. Melville directed Delon in ''Un Flic'', ''Le Cercle Rouge'', and most notably in ''Le Samouraï'', which is widely regarded as one of Delon’s finest performances.
In 1964, 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. He produced 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", which was a big hit in France, Japan, Canada, and many other countries.
He was awarded the Best Actor César Awards (French equivalent of Oscars) for his role in Bertrand Blier's "Notre histoire" (1984). But, after a string of box office failures in the late 1980s and 1990s, culminating in the surprising box-office failure of Patrice Leconte's ''Une chance sur deux'', Delon announced his decision to give up acting in 1997. Now in his early 70s, Delon occasionally accepts roles. In 1990, he worked with auteur Jean-Luc Godard, on a film called ''Nouvelle vague'' in which he played twins.
In 2003, the Walter Reade Theater did a series entitled ''Man in the Shadows: The Films of Alain Delon''.
Most recently, it has been announced that he will play a role in a film called ''L’Ennemi public n°1'', a biopic on the life of Jacques Mesrine, "the biggest gangster France has ever known", with Vincent Cassel in the title role.
In January 2007, he will perform stage ''The Bridges of Madison County'' with Mireille Darc at Théâtre Marigny in Paris. Before they gave the play's first representation's money to the IFRAD Fondation in a Gala attended by his friend, French actress Annie Girardot who is currently fighting against Alzheimer herself.
There is a popular cigarette brand, available only in Southern Asia, that bears his name.

Relationships and family

Delon was engaged to actress Romy Schneider, whom he met when they appeared together in the film ''Christine''. In August of 1964, shortly after the broken engagement, he married Nathalie Barthélemy. Their son, Anthony Delon was born in September. The couple divorced four years later. He had a long relationship with French actress Mireille Darc over the following years. In the 1990s, he became a father again to two children, Anouchka and Alain-Fabien who attended the International School of Amsterdam, with Dutch model, Rosalie van Breemen (they met in 1987 on the shooting of the video clip of his song "''Comme au cinéma''"). Delon and Van Breemen separated in 2002.
It was speculated that he had an affair with German actress and singer Nico. In 1962, Nico had a son, Christian Aaron Boulogne, and claimed that he was fathered by Delon. Delon has stated many times that he is not the father.

Scandal

In 1968, Delon’s bodyguard, a Serb - 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. His ex-wife Nathalie was taken in for questioning as well.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2006	''L'Instinct de mort
2006	''Astérix aux Jeux Olympiques ''	Jules César
2004	''Frank Riva	Frank Riva	TV series, 2nd season
2003	''Frank Riva	Frank Riva	TV series, 1st season
1999	''Les Acteurs ''	Himself
1997	''Une Chance sur deux	Julien Vignal
1996	''Le Jour et la nuit	Alexandre
1994	''Les Cent et une nuits	L'acteur d'un jour
1993	''L'Ours en peluche
1992	''Un Crime	Maitre Charles Durand
1992	''Le Retour de Casanova	Casanova
1990	Nouvelle vague	L'homme
1990	''Dancing machine	Alan Wolf
1988	''Ne réveillez pas un flic qui dort	commissaire Eugène Grindel
1985	''Parole de flic	Daniel Pratt
1984	''Notre histoire	Robert Avranche
1984	''Le Passage	Jean Diaz
1983	''Le Battant	Jacques Darnay
1983	''Swann in Love	Baron de Charlus
1982	''Le Choc	Martin Terrier
1981	''Pour la peau d'un flic	Choucas
1980	Trois hommes à abattre	Michel Gerfaut
1980	''Teheran 43. Nid d'espions	Foche
1979	''Le Toubib	Jean-Marie Desprès
1979	''	Paul Metrand
1978	''Attention, les enfants regardent	L'homme
1977	''Le Gang	Robert le Dingue
1977	''Mort d'un pourri	Xavier Maréchal
1976	''Monsieur Klein	Robert Klein	by Joseph Losey
1976	''Armaguedon	Dr. Michel Ambrose
1976	''Comme un boomerang	Jacques Batkin
1976	''L'Homme pressé	Pierre Niox
1975	''Flic Story	Roger Borniche
1975	''Le Gitan	Le Gitan
1974	''Zorro	Diego/Zorro
1974	''Les Seins de glace	Marc Rilsen
1974	''Borsalino & Co.	Roch Siffredi
1973	''Deux hommes dans la ville	Gino Strabliggi
1973	''La Race des seigneurs	Julien Dandieu
1973	''Les Granges brûlées	Larcher
1973	''Scorpio	Jean Laurier, alias Scorpio
1973	''Les Grands fusils	Tony Arzenta
1972	''Traitement de choc	Devillers
1972	''Il était une fois un flic	Man searching Rodriguez
1972	''Le Professeur	Daniele Dominici
1971	''Un Flic	Coleman
1971	''La Veuve Couderc	Jean
1971	''Soleil Rouge	Gauche	by Terence Young
1971	''Fantasia chez les ploucs	A caïd
1971	''The Assassination of Trotsky	Frank Jackson
1970	''Le Cercle rouge ''	Corey	by Jean-Pierre Melville
1970	''Borsalino	Rocco Siffredi
1970	''Doucement les basses	Simon
1969	''Le Clan des Siciliens	Roger Sartet
1969	''Madly	Julian
1969	''Jeff	Laurent
1968	''La Piscine	Jean-Paul
1968	''La Motocyclette	Daniel
1968	''Adieu l'ami	Dino Barran
1968	''Spirits of the Dead	William Wilson	Episode "William Wilson"
1967	''Le Samouraï	Jef Costello
1967	''Diaboliquement vôtre	Pierre
1966	''Les Aventuriers	Manu
1966	''Les Centurions	Capt. Philippe Esclavier
1966	''Texas nous voilà	Don Andrea
1965	''Paris brûle-t-il ?	Jacques Chaban-Delmas
1965	''Once a Thief	Eddie Pedak
1965	''The Yellow Rolls-Royce	Stefano
1964	''L'Insoumis	Thomas
1963	''La Tulipe noire	Count de Saint Preux
1963	''The Leopard	Tancredi
1963	''Mélodie en sous-sol	Francis
1963	''Les Félins	Marc
1962	''Le Diable et les Dix Commandements	Pierre Messager
1962	''Carambolages	Lambert
1962	''L'eclisse	Piero
1962	''L'Amour à la mer	The film actor
1961	''Les Amours celebres	Prince Albert	Episode "Agnes Bernauer"
1961	''Quelle joie de vivre	Ulysse
1960	''Plein Soleil	Tom Ripley
1960	''Rocco and His Brothers	Rocco Parondi	by Luchino Visconti
1959	''Le chemin des écoliers	Antoine Michaud
1959	''Faibles femmes	Julien Fenal
1958	''Christine	Franz Lobheiner
1957	''Quand la femme s'en mêle	Jo
1957	''Sois belle et tais-toi	Loulou

External links

★

★ Official website

★ MySpace profile

★ pictures of Alain Delon