10 Interesting facts about French actor Alain Delon

By Georges Biard,- Wikimedia

10 Interesting facts about French actor Alain Delon

Alain Delon was born November 8, 1935, in the town of Bourg-la-Reine, one of the southern suburbs of Paris.

He was the most loved and attractive French actors. For the longest time, he was regarded as the screen sex symbol in France in the 1960s.

Delon had a sensation career which he embodied a young, energetic, often morally corrupted man. He also portrayed a romantic guy courtesy of his breath-taking good looks where he showed tender love and was a romantic hero.

Delon is not short of controversy, he was quoted once saying that he is ready to die and that his dog should die on his arms too. One thing that is for certain is that he was a great actor.

Here are 10 interesting facts about Alain Delon.

1. Alain Delon has Dual citizenship

Alain Delon has dual citizenship. He is a citizen to both France and Switzerland. He acquired his second citizenship in 1999 after living in Geneva for more than a decade.

His Dutch citizenship also came about through marriage. He has a Dutch wife and two children. He was sworn in among other 70 new immigrants in a ceremony that was presided over by a member of the Geneva city government.

2. The most handsome French actor

By Stevan Kragujević – Wikimedia

It is no doubt that Alain was considered the sexiest French actor of his time, have you checked his photos? The younger version of him had good looks that catapulted his career making him a principal male star in the 60s and 70s.

He was regarded as the male version of Brigitte Bardot. This was after he featured in the film Purple Noon when he was 25 years old. It was after this movie premiered that he was named the most seductive man in cinema.

Henri Langlois, a well-known film critique, acknowledged Alain to be the top young French actor who was committed to the production of quality cinema.

3. Alain Delon was a naughty boy

Alain’s childhood was not any different from most of us. He was a cheeky teenager and was said to be rebellious too and was raised by a single mother after his parents divorced when he was still young.

Alain would spend most of his time at his father’s butcher shop together with his mother, who feared Alain would be up to more mischief if left alone.

When his mother was not there, she would leave him under the care of a wet nurse. As a student, Alain did not perform well in school and was expelled from school several times. This is said to have made his parents question the need to pay his university tuition.

4. He wanted to be a butcher

Photo by Nick Karvounis on Unsplash

Having had spent most of his childhood time at his father’s butcher shop; Alain wanted to become a butcher. He grew up watching his dad and admired his work ethics.

So, when he became a teenager, he had a short stint as a butcher under the watchful eyes of his step-father.  He did not stay here long when he enlisted as a French marine and was sent to Indochina in 1953.

At some point, he made friends with some film actors whom he accompanied to the 1957 Cannes film festival. Through his good looks and stature, Alaine attracted the attention of a talent scout, the rest, as they say, is history.

5. Alain’s first role was as a gang member

Delon’s first-ever film role was as a young gangster in Allégret’s Quand la femme s’en mêle in 1957. Another gangster role was in the film the samurai in 1967, The Sicilian Clan in 1969.

His first role as a lead in a romantic film was a year later in the film Christine alongside Romy Schneider.

This opened him up to fame as he gained international attention from his role in the film Plein Soleil in 1960. He has several other successful films in the subsequent years.

6. He rejected English-speaking roles

By Georges Biard,- Wikimedia

Alain’s first talent scout was an American who secured him a role in Hollywood. They had one request for him, he needed to start learning English.

Alain, however, rejected this offer and settled for a French production firm. He worked with director Yves Allegra who gave him a role in the film When a woman intervenes.

With each film that Alain featured in, it boosted his status and fame of the films. Many critics believe that this largely contributed to his dark temperament.

He was idolised in France and Europe by both men and women who loved his films. He even featured in a Japanese film.

7. He is not much fascinated by modern cinema

Alain recently confessed that he is not fascinated by the modern cinema, his reason being that the content is shallow and is all about money, not talent.

He cherishes the old film production methods that used film and not the digital cameras of today. Alain claimed that this has made many film producers not put in all the work.

His greatest joy is being a retired actor and not being part of present-day film making.

8. Delon no longer watches his old films

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Apart from not being a great fan of modern-day film making, Alain confirmed that he no longer watches his old films.

There is a sombre reason to this, almost all of his colleagues are dead. He has very few colleagues that are still alive. Alain, therefore, avoids those films that take him back to the good old days they had together.

To keep going and not get lost in the memories of his departed friends, Alain divides his time between Paris and Geneva while spending time with his dog.

One of his hardest film to watch is La Piscine which he starred alongside Romy, Deray and Ronet. His three co-stars have since died.

9. Alain Delon did not have a successful Hollywood career

Alain had a very successful acting career in France and parts of Europe. This, however, did not translate in Hollywood. After learning English for three months, he moved to the United States where he spent seven years.

His character was heavily criticized in America, Alain showcased French chauvinism which was not well received. Most of the roles that he played got overshadowed by lead American actors.

Film critics attributed this to the fact that Alain was unable to transfer his French star persona to the American scene.

10. Delon’s career picked again in France

Photo by Damiano Lingauri on Unsplash

After living in America with his wife and son for seven years, Alain moved back to France. He did not have a glamourous career in Hollywood as he did in France.

Most of the projects and films he had lined up collapsed leaving him with no option but to leave. He had a disappointing career there and at one point ended his contract with MGM.

After his return to France, he picked up from where he left and graced the movie screens until he retired.