Whether hero or bad guy, Alain Delon made hearts melt

Alain Delon, the internationally acclaimed French actor who embodied both the bad guy and the policeman and made hearts throb around the world, has died at age 88.

With his handsome looks and tender manner, the prolific actor was able to combine toughness with an appealing, vulnerable quality.

Delon was also a producer, appeared in plays and, in later years, in television movies.

President Emmanuel Macron hailed him as a giant of French culture. "Alain Delon has played legendary roles and made the world dream. Lending his unforgettable face to shake up our lives. Melancholic, popular, secretive, he was more than a star: he was a French monument," he posted on X.

Delon's children announced his death yesterday. Earlier this year, his son Anthony had said his father had been diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma, a type of cancer.

Delon shot to fame in two films by Italian director Luchino Visconti, Rocco and His Brothers in 1960 and The Leopard in 1963.

He starred in Henri Verneuil's 1963 film Melodie en Sous-Sol (Any Number Can Win) and was a major hit in Jean-Pierre Melville's 1967 Le Samourai (The Godson).

Crowning moments also included 1969 erotic thriller La Piscine (The Swimming Pool).

Born just outside Paris on November 8, 1935, Delon was put in foster care aged four after his parents divorced. He ran away from home at least once and was expelled several times from boarding schools before joining the Marines at 17.

He made his film debut in 1957 in Quand la femme s'en mele ("Send a Woman When the Devil Fails").

Delon was a businessman as well as an actor, leveraging his looks to sell branded cosmetics and dabbling in racehorses. He courted controversy, notably when he said he regretted the abolition of the death penalty and spoke disparagingly of gay marriage.

Delon's lovers included Schneider and German model-turned-singer Nico.

His last major public appearance was to receive an honorary Palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019.

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