Legendary French film star Alain Delon dies aged 88
18 August 2024, 07:50 | Updated: 18 August 2024, 08:11
French actor Alain Delon has died aged 88.
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Delon was a huge star in French cinema, and was one of the best known European actors of the second half of the 20th century.
Some of his best-known films include Purple Noon, L'Eclisse, The Samurai and The Leopard.
Announcing his death, his family said: "He passed away peacefully in his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and his family."
Delon had been unwell in recent years, having suffered a stroke in 2019.
Born near Paris in 1935, Delon overcome a difficult background and a troubled upbringing, and began acting in the late 1950s and rose to fame in the 1960s.
He soon became a huge star in France, well known for his charisma and good looks.
But he never achieved massive fame in Hollywood, despite appearing in films with well-known American stars such as Burt Lancaster.
Delon was also controversial, and had connections to the French criminal underworld - which he did not deny.
He told the New York Times in 1970: "Most of them the gangsters I know ... were my friends before I became an actor.
"I don't worry about what a friend does. Each is responsible for his own act. It doesn't matter what he does."
He was also critical of gay marriage and spoke out in favour of reintroducing the death penalty. He is said also to have supported the far-right Front National party.
The last time Delon appeared in public was to receive an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival in 2019.
He said at the time: "When I started my career, I knew that the hardest thing was to last, and I lasted for 62 years.
"Now I know that the hardest thing is to leave, because I know I’m going to do so."
