Alain Delon
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Biography
The magnetic Alain Delon was among the most prominent French actors of the postwar era; an exotically handsome performer, he sprung from offscreen rumor and scandal to emerge as a uniquely enigmatic and sinister talent. Born November 8, 1935, in Sceaux, France, Delon spent his formative years primarily in the care of foster parents. He later was sent away to a series of boarding schools, and at the age of 17, he joined the marines, serving as a parachutist in Indo-China. Upon his discharge, Delon returned to Marseilles and struck up a friendship with aspiring actor Jean-Claude Brialy, who invited him to attend the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. There Delon's delicate good looks won him a number of movie offers, including a rumored seven-year deal with David O. Selznick. In the end, he accepted a small role in the Edwige Feuillere film Quand la Femme S'en Mele, followed by an appearance in 1957's Sois Belle Et Tais-Toi.Delon's first lead role in a picture came opposite Romy Schneider, to whom he was later briefly engaged, in 1958's Christine. A handful of other supporting turns followed before he won the lead in Rene Clement's stylish 1960 thriller Plein Soleil, an international hit which cast him as a murderous American traveling abroad. In 1960, he appeared in Luchino Visconti's Rocco e i Suoi Fratelli. Under Visconti, he also reunited with Schneider on-stage in a production of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. Next teaming again with Clement, Delon appeared in 1961's Che Gioia Vivere, followed by an appearance with Brigitte Bardot in Les Amours Celebres.
Despite mixed critical regard for his work, Delon was a favorite among many of the era's most prominent filmmakers, and in 1962 he starred in Michelangelo Antonioni's brilliant L'Eclisse followed by a turn in Visconti's 1963 masterpiece Il Gattopardo. These many high-profile projects boosted Delon to international prominence, and his next project, 1963's Melodie En Sous-Sol, was a big-budget gangster tale co-starring Jean Gabin. With 1964's Les Felins, he turned to producing as well as performing, later establishing his own company, Adel Productions. With 1965's Once a Thief, Delon made his Hollywood debut, followed by The Lost Command, Texas Across the River, and Yellow Rolls-Royce. By 1967, however, he was back in France, appearing alongside wife Nathalie Delon in Jean-Pierre Melville's cult classic Le Samourai -- a role which defined the self-absorbed loner persona he continued to develop over subsequent performances -- and with Marianne Faithfull in The Girl on a Motorcycle a year later.
In 1969, Delon and his wife found themselves at the center of a massive scandal when their bodyguard was found shot to death, his body left in a garbage dump. The subsequent investigation into his killing threatened to implicate many of France's most prominent celebrities and politicians in a sordid web of murder, drugs, and sex. Many predicted the demise of Delon's career, but he spun the tabloid headlines to his favor. In the eyes of many filmgoers, his myriad portrayals of gangsters, killers, and sexual deviants suddenly took on new reality in light of the similar exploits he experienced in his offscreen life, and a notorious television interview in which he admitted to past homosexual liaisons -- as well as many other seamy adventures -- tantalized audiences even more. In the wake of the controversy, Delon starred in four consecutive gangster films -- Jean Herman's Jeff, Henri Verneuil's Le Clan des Siciliens, Jacques Deray's Borsalino (with Jean-Paul Belmondo), and Melville's Le Cercle Rouge -- all of them hugely successful with European audiences; Hollywood fame continued to elude him, however, and English-language efforts like 1973's Scorpio failed to attract audiences.
Nevertheless, Delon spent much of the 1970s as France's biggest star. Monsieur Klein (1976), directed by Joseph Losey, won a Cesar as the year's best picture, and thrillers like 1977's Comme Un Boomerang and Le Gang continued to perform extremely well at the box office. In 1979, he again tried to penetrate the American market in the star-studded Airport '79: Concord, but, as before, he returned home without success. In 1981, Delon turned to directing with Pour la Peau d'un Flic, which he followed two years later with Le Battant. In 1984, he co-starred in Volker Schlöndorff's Un Amour de Swann, the most prestigious project he had graced in well over a decade. That same year he garnered a Cesar for his work in Notre Histoire, and in 1985 Parole de Flic became another major hit. Following miserable reviews and receipts for 1986's Le Passage, however, Delon's prolific shooting schedule began to taper off, and he selected projects with greater discretion. Among those chosen was 1990's Nouvelle Vague, which paired him for the first time with director Jean-Luc Godard. During the 1990s, his profile continued to recede from the screen as he focused on various business ventures, and he did not reappear before the camera prior to 1994's L' Ours en Peluche. After a cameo in Agnes Varda's all-star 1995 production Les Cent et une Nuits de Simon Cinema, he next resurfaced in 1997's Le Jour et la Nuit. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
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Alain Delon
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Alain Delon
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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2012) |
| Alain Delon | |
|---|---|
 Delon in 2011 |
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| Born | Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon 8 November 1935 Sceaux, France |
| Citizenship | French, Swiss (since 1999) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1957–present |
| Spouse | Nathalie Barthélemy (m. 1964-69) |
| Partner | Romy Schneider (1959-63) Mireille Darc (1968-82) Rosalie van Breemen (1987-2002) |
| Children | Christian Aaron Boulogne, born on 11 August 1962 Anthony Delon, born on 30 September 1964 Anouchka Delon, born on 25 November 1990 Alain Delon Jr., born on 18 March 1994 |
| Website | |
| alaindelon.ch | |
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (French pronunciation: [alɛ̃ dəlɔ̃]; born 8 November 1935) is a French-Swiss actor. He rose quickly to stardom, and by the age of 23 was already being compared to 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 on September 23, 1999, and the company managing products sold under his name is based in Geneva. He is a citizen of the community of Chêne-Bougeries in the canton of Geneva.
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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[2] 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. 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 France. He didn't have any money, and got by on whatever employment he could find. He spent time working as a waiter, a porter, a secretary 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 screen test Selznick offered him a contract, provided he learned English. Delon returned to Paris to study the language, 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,[citation needed] and Allégret gave him his debut in the film Quand la Femme s'en Mêle (When the Woman Butts In). Delon then appeared in the film Faibles Femmes (Women Are Weak/Three Murderesses). This was also the very first of his films to be seen in America, where it became a huge 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; Highsmith herself was also a fan of his portrayal.[3] 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 because of 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 Monsieur Klein, which won him the César awards (French equivalent of Oscars).
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 in a film adaptation of Marcel Proust's novel 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.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6]
Relationships
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This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2012) |
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, he had an affair with German actress, singer and model Nico. On 11 August 1962, Nico gave birth to a son, Christian Aaron "Ari", fathered by Delon. The child was raised mostly by Delon's parents. Nico died in 1988, from a bicycling accident.
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 the film Jeff, he met French actress Mireille Darc with whom he started a 15-year relationship, lasting until 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 (25 November 1990) and Alain-Fabien (18 March 1994). The relationship ended in October 2002.
Alain Delon lives in Chêne-Bougeries in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland with his two youngest children.
Honours
- At the 45th Berlin International Film Festival, he won the Honorary Golden Bear.[7]
- 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, who two days later won the Academy Award for Best Actress for La Vie En Rose.
- 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.[8]
- He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur on 21 February 1991.[9] He was promoted to Officier (Officer) in 2005.[9]
Filmography
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This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: chronological order (should be oldest to newest). Please help improve this section if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (February 2012) |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Asterix at the Olympic Games (Astérix aux Jeux Olympiques) | Jules César | |
| 2003–2004 | Frank Riva | Frank Riva | television series |
| 1999 | Les Acteurs | himself | |
| 1997 | Une chance sur deux | Julien Vignal | |
| 1996 | Le Jour et la nuit | Alexandre | |
| 1995 | A Hundred and One Nights (Les cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma) | Alain Delon, en visite | |
| 1993 | L'Ours en peluche | Jean Rivière | |
| 1992 | Un Crime | Maitre Charles Durand | |
| 1992 | The Return of Casanova (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 | won – César Award for Best Actor |
| 1984 | Le Passage | Jean Diaz | |
| 1983 | Le Battant | Jacques Darnay | |
| 1983 | Swann in Love (Un amour de Swann) | Baron de Charlus | |
| 1982 | The Shock (Le choc) | Martin Terrier | |
| 1981 | Pour la peau d'un flic | Choucas | |
| 1980 | Trois hommes à abattre | Michel Gerfaut | |
| 1980 | Teheran 43 (Teheran 43. Nid d'espions) | Foche | |
| 1979 | The Medic (Le Toubib) | Jean-Marie Desprès | |
| 1979 | The Concorde ... Airport '79 | Paul Metrand | |
| 1978 | Attention, les enfants regardent | L'homme | |
| 1977 | Le Gang | Robert le Dingue | |
| 1977 | Death of a Corrupt Man (Mort d'un pourri) | Xavier Maréchal | nominated – César Award for Best Actor |
| 1976 | Monsieur Klein | Robert Klein | directed by Joseph Losey nominated – César Award for Best Actor |
| 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 | |
| 1975 | Zorro | Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro | |
| 1974 | Les Seins de glace | Marc Rilsen | |
| 1974 | Borsalino & Co. | Roch Siffredi | |
| 1973 | Two Men in Town (Deux hommes dans la ville) | Gino Strabliggi | |
| 1973 | La Race des seigneurs | Julien Dandieu | |
| 1973 | The Burned Barns (Les granges brûlées) | Larcher | |
| 1973 | Scorpio | Jean Laurier, alias Scorpio | |
| 1973 | No Way Out (Tony Arzenta) | Tony Arzenta | |
| 1972 | Traitement de choc | Devillers | |
| 1972 | Il était une fois un flic | Man searching Rodriguez | |
| 1972 | La prima notte di quiete | Daniele Dominici | directed by Valerio Zurlini |
| 1971 | Un Flic | Coleman | |
| 1971 | La veuve Couderc | Jean | |
| 1971 | Red Sun (Soleil Rouge) | Gauche | directed by Terence Young |
| 1971 | Fantasia chez les ploucs | A caïd | |
| 1971 | The Assassination of Trotsky | Frank Jackson | directed by Joseph Losey |
| 1970 | Le Cercle rouge | Corey | directed by Jean-Pierre Melville |
| 1970 | Borsalino | Rocco Siffredi | |
| 1970 | Doucement les basses | Simon | |
| 1969 | The Sicilian Clan (Le Clan des Siciliens) | Roger Sartet | |
| 1969 | Madly | Julian | |
| 1969 | Jeff | Laurent | |
| 1968 | The Swimming Pool (La Piscine) | Jean-Paul | |
| 1968 | The Girl on a Motorcycle (La Motocyclette) | Daniel | |
| 1968 | Farewell Friend (Adieu l'ami) | Dino Barran | co-starring with Charles Bronson |
| 1968 | Spirits of the Dead (Histoires extraordinaires) | William Wilson | sequence – "William Wilson", directed by Louis Malle |
| 1967 | Le Samouraï | Jef Costello | directed by Jean Pierre Melville |
| 1967 | Diabolically Yours (Diaboliquement vôtre) | Pierre | |
| 1966 | The Last Adventure (Les Aventuriers) | Manu | |
| 1966 | Lost Command | Capt. Philippe Esclavier | |
| 1966 | Texas Across the River (Texas nous voilà) | Don Andrea | |
| 1965 | Is Paris Burning? (Paris brûle-t-il?) | Jacques Chaban-Delmas | |
| 1965 | Once a Thief | Eddie Pedak | directed by Ralph Nelson; written by Zekial Marko |
| 1965 | The Yellow Rolls-Royce | Stefano | |
| 1964 | L'Insoumis | Thomas | |
| 1963 | La Tulipe noire | Count de Saint Preux | |
| 1963 | The Leopard | Tancredi | directed by Luchino Visconti nominated – Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male |
| 1963 | Any Number Can Win (Mélodie en sous-sol) | Francis | |
| 1963 | Joy House (Les Félins) | Marc | |
| 1962 | The Devil and the Ten Commandments (Le Diable et les Dix Commandements) | Pierre Messager | |
| 1962 | Carom Shots (Carambolages) | Lambert | |
| 1962 | Eclipse | Piero | directed by Michelangelo Antonioni |
| 1962 | Love at Sea (L'Amour à la mer) | The film actor | |
| 1961 | Amours célèbres | Prince Albert | sequence – "Agnes Bernauer" |
| 1961 | The Joy of Living (Quelle joie de vivre) | Ulysse | |
| 1960 | Purple Noon (Plein Soleil) | Tom Ripley | |
| 1960 | Rocco and His Brothers | Rocco Parondi | directed 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 |
See also
References
- ^ Alain Delon Biography (1935-)
- ^ Cineman, About the person
- ^ Peary, Gerald. Interview with Patricia Highsmith
- ^ ALAIN DELON - Products - Introduction
- ^ The Films of John Woo and the Art of Heroic Bloodshed by Anthony Leong from MediaCircus.net
- ^ The Criterion Collection: Le samourai by Jean-Pierre Melville
- ^ "Berlinale: 1995 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1995/03_preistr_ger_1995/03_Preistraeger_1995.html. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
- ^ "Décret du 10 mai 1995 portant promotion et nomination". JORF 1995 (112): 8055. 1995-05-13. PREX9511324D. http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=PREX9511324D. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- ^ a b "Décret du 25 mars 2005 portant promotion et nomination". JORF 2005 (73): 5176. 2005-03-27. PREX0508238D. http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=PREX0508238D. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alain Delon |
- alaindelon.ch, his official website
- Alain Delon at the Internet Movie Database
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Mentioned in
Comme Un Boomerang
(1976 Crime Film)
Borsalino
(1970 Crime Film)
Armaguedon
(1977 Thriller Film)
La Prima Notte Di Quiete
(1972 Drama Film)
Mort d'un Pourri
(1977 Thriller Film)
» More