Alain Delon ‘made the world dream’, he ‘leaves a huge void’. Tributes paid to French actor
- Fellow stars and directors remember handsome, charismatic French actor known for roles in Le Samourai and many gangster movies, dead at 88
French film legend Alain Delon, a divisive star known to some as a sex symbol and to others as an egotistical chauvinist, has died aged 88.
The actor, known for his roles in classic films Purple Noon (Plein Soleil, 1960) and Le Samourai (1967), had been suffering from cancer.
“Alain Fabien, Anouchka, Anthony, as well as (his dog) Loubo, are deeply saddened to announce the passing of their father,” Delon’s children said in a statement on August 18, which came after months of public family feuding over the star’s weakening health.
French President Emmanuel Macron called Delon a “French monument” who “played legendary roles and made the world dream”.
Fellow 1960s star Brigitte Bardot said he left “a huge void that nothing and no one will be able to fill”.
Delon had millions of fans but also legions of critics, with feminists appalled by the lifetime achievement award the Cannes Film Festival gave him in 2019.
