French actor Alain Delon, star of Le Samourai and Purple Noon, dies aged 88

Delon rose to global fame in the 1960s, but became a recluse in his final years

Alain Delon, centre, after being awarded the Legion of Honour at a ceremony held by the Ministry of Culture in Paris in September 1980. Delon has died aged 88. AFP

US actress Shirley MacLaine stars alongside Delon in The Yellow Rolls-Royce. The pair are pictured on set at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England in August 1964. AP

Delon, left, with then-mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, in the French capital in June 1982. AFP

Egyptian actor Omar Sharif with Delon, right, during an awards ceremony at the French Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, February 2012. AFP

The actor arrives with his daughter Anouchka Delon to be awarded an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in southern France, May 2019. AFP

Romy Schneider and Delon, shortly after the couple were engaged, sitting with friends at the Easter Gala at the Sporting Club of Monaco, March 1959. AP

The actor drives his son Anthony, who had been charged with theft and carrying weapons, away from Bois d'Arcy prison where he had been incarcerated for a month, in February 1983. AFP

Delon and French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo are among the spectators at Roland Garros in Paris for the middleweight world championship boxing bout between Carlos Monzon and Jean-Claude Bouttier, September 1973. AFP

Alain Delon, the French film star who was once described as the “most beautiful man in the movies”, has died aged 88.

Delon had been in poor health after suffering a stroke in 2019. A statement released to AFP news agency said: “He passed away peacefully in his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and his family.”

The actor starred in some of the most popular films of the 1960s including Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai, in which he played a stoic and lethal assassin, and Rene Clement’s Purple Noon, an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr Ripley.

During his long career, Delon appeared in 90 films, slowing down by the end of the 1990s to appear sparsely on the big screen, choosing to become a recluse away from public life. His final film performance was in 2008 when he appeared as Julius Caesar in the comedy Asterix at the Olympic Games.

Delon’s hypnotic screen presence made him an icon of French cinema. In 1991, Francois Mitterrand, the French president at the time, awarded him the title of chevalier in the Legion of Honour. Fourteen years later, Mitterrand's successor, Jacques Chirac, promoted Delon to the rank of commander in recognition of his “contribution to the art of world cinema”.

During the 1970s, Delon made a brief switch to Hollywood, appearing in films alongside Richard Burton and Dean Martin. Unfortunately for him, the films were a critical and commercial failure, after which he decided to return to Europe.

Off screen, Delon courted controversy when he congratulated far-right French National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen when the party did well in local elections in 2014. He also disagreed with France’s decision to abolish the death penalty.

He made headlines in February this year when French police seized 72 firearms and 3,000 rounds of ammunition from his home. The prosecutor in the case said Delon did not possess a gun licence.

Delon's last notable public appearance was in May 2019 when he received an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. After receiving the award, Delon delivered an emotional speech in which he bade farewell to cinema.