By Raquel Stecher
At the height of his career, French film actor Alain Delon was a worldwide sensation. With his piercing blue eyes, chiseled face, mop of beautiful hair, and defiant sex appeal, Delon is just someone you want to spend a couple hours staring at. His good looks, magnetic onscreen charisma, and emotional remoteness has made Delon the object of fascination for moviegoers over the decades.
Born on November 8, 1935, Delon had a particularly tumultuous upbringing. His parents divorced when he was four years old and he was sent to live with foster parents, both of whom died suddenly under mysterious circumstances. Delon was then sent off to boarding school, where he rebelled. He left school at 14, held various odd jobs, and enlisted in the French Navy, from which he was dishonorably discharged. When he returned, he got a job as a waiter in Paris—it was there that he made friends with the local acting community.
One of his friends took him to the Cannes Film Festival, where he caught the eye of Hollywood producer David O. Selznick’s talent agent. The plan was for Delon to learn English and become an actor in Hollywood, but Delon then met director Yves Allegret, who helped the young Delon pursue a career in the French film industry. Allegret gave Delon some key advice: don’t act, be yourself. The self-assured Delon gave a sense of authenticity to his performances because nothing he did was forced, it was always natural.
At the age of 23, Delon starred in Purple Noon (1960), Rene Clement’ sun-kissed crime drama, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. Delon’s performance catapulted him to fame. That same year, he starred in Italian director Luchino Visconti’s neorealism masterpiece Rocco and His Brothers. Plum roles just kept coming his way. He worked again with Visconti on the aristocratic drama The Leopard (1963), starring Burt Lancaster. He starred opposite Italian star Monica Vitti in L’Eclisse (1963), the third film in Michelangelo Antonioni’s trilogy which continues to be a film school darling to this day. Delon held his own opposite French mega star Jean Gabin in the heist film Any Number Can Win (1963).
Delon proved he was the perfect fit for intelligent crime dramas. Perhaps his most iconic role, apart from Purple Noon, was in Jean Pierre Melville’s Neo-noir Le Samourai (1967). He really shines in the role of a professional hitman, and this movie is as visually stunning as it is captivating. At this point, Delon was a box office super star and sex symbol. He often worked with his friend and fellow French film icon Jean-Paul Belmondo. They made seven feature films together, including the gangster flick Borsalino (1970), which was such a huge hit that the Borsalino hat became a trendy fashion accessory. Delon wasn’t afraid to show off his sex appeal and took on roles in erotic dramas like The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968) and The Swimming Pool (1969).
For Delon, the epitome of success meant conquering Hollywood. But no matter how hard he tried, Delon couldn’t make the transition over to the American market. And it wasn’t Delon’s fault. Hollywood had no clue what to do with him. While suave and gentlemanly stars like Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevalier, and Charles Boyer found their place in Hollywood, America wasn’t ready for the rebellious and sexy Delon. His first English-language film was The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), in which he plays the Latin lover to Shirley Maclaine’s gangster moll character.
His first major role in an American film was Once a Thief (1965), which could have been a launching pad for Delon’s Hollywood career… but proved to be a box office failure. Delon was then in the Dean Martin Western comedy Texas Across the River (1966), the Columbia war film Lost Command (1966), the international Spaghetti Western Red Sun (1971), the spy drama Scorpio (1973), and the film that put the nail in the coffin of the Airport franchise, the box office disaster The Concorde… Airport ’79 (which is still worth watching in my opinion). Delon was overshadowed by bigger stars and offered parts beneath his capabilities. He turned his focus back on making European films, where he thrived.
Delon has been no stranger to controversy. His connection to a murdered gangster became a huge scandal, although it didn’t hurt his acting career. He’s also had public battles with family members and has made controversial political commentary. His acting career would wind down in the 1990s; since then, he’s taken on only a few roles here and there. In his retirement, Delon has focused on his business ventures and uses his legendary name to promote apparel, accessories, and even perfume.
Let’s celebrate Alain Delon with some of these films available to rent from DVD Netflix
Raquel Stecher has been writing about classic films for the past decade on her blog Out of the Past. She attends the TCM Classic Film Festival as well as other events where old movie fanatics get together to geek out. Raquel has been a devoted DVD Netflix member since 2002! Follow her on her blog Out of the Past or find her on Twitter @RaquelStecher and @ClassicFilmRead, Facebook, and Instagram.