Profile Text
Delon in 2007, photo by PrPhotos
Birth Name: Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon
Date of Birth: 8 November, 1935
Place of Birth: Sceaux, France
Date of Death: 18 August, 2024
Place of Death: Douchy, France
Ethnicity: French, Breton, one quarter Corsican Italian, approximately one quarter German/Swiss-German
Alain Delon was a French actor, film producer, screenwriter, director, and singer. A prominent international leading man and sex symbol beginning in the 1960s, he was known for his look and style. His roles included the films Send a Woman When the Devil Fails , Christine (1958), Women Are Weak , Purple Noon (1960), Rocco and His Brothers , The Joy of Living , Famous Love Affairs , L’Eclisse , The Devil and the Ten Commandments , The Leopard (1963), The Black Tulip , Once a Thief , Le Samouraï (1967), Spirits of the Dead , The Girl on a Motorcycle , La Piscine , Borsalino , Le Cercle Rouge , The Love Mates , Un flic , Monsieur Klein , Boomerang (1976), which he co-wrote; The Concorde… Airport ’79 , Three Men to Kill , Le choc , both of which he also co-wrote; Swann in Love , Notre histoire , Parole de flic , The Passage (1986), Let Sleeping Cops Lie , Dancing Machine , the latter four of which he co-wrote; One Hundred and One Nights , Day and Night (1997), and Asterix at the Olympic Games . He also directed the films Pour la peau d’un flic and Le Battant , both of which he also starred in and co-wrote. He was known for his duet, “Paroles, paroles,” with Dalida.
Alain was born in Sceaux, Seine, now Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, a suburb of Paris, to Édith Marie Suzanne (Arnold), a pharmacy assistant and theatre usher, and François Fabien Delon, a projectionist, who was director of the cinema Le Régina in Bourg-la-Reine. Alain’s father was of half French and half Corsican Italian descent. Alain’s mother had German/Swiss-German and French/Breton ancestry. After his parents’ divorce, he was partly raised in L’Haÿ-les-Roses and Bourg-la-Reine. Before his acting career, Alain joined the French Navy to serve in the First Indochina War. Alain became a Swiss citizen in 1999.
Alain had a son, photographer, actor, and writer Christian Aaron Boulogne, with his former partner, German actress, singer, and model Nico; a son, actor Anthony Delon , with his former wife, French model and actress Nathalie Delon/Nathalie Barthélemy; and two children, actors Anouchka Delon and Alain-Fabien Delon, with his former partner, Dutch model Rosalie van Breemen. His granddaughter is actress Alyson Le Borges .
Alain’s paternal grandfather was Jean-Marcel Delon (the son of Fabien Delon and Marianne/Marie-Anne Adélaïde Delon). Jean-Marcel was born in Figeac, Lot, Languedoc-Roussillon Midi-Pyrénées, France. Fabien was born in Saint-Vincent-Lespinasse, Tarn-et-Garonne, the son of Jean Delon and Marguerite Ortalon. He was a civil engineer, who was given the Legion of Honour in 1892. Alain’s great-grandmother Marianne was the daughter of Antoine Victor Delon and Jeanne Soulié.
Alain’s paternal grandmother was Marie-Antoinette Evangelista (the daughter of François Evangelista and Lucie Romani). Marie-Antoinette was born on Prunelli-di-Fiumorbo, Haute-Corse, Corsica, and was of Corsican Italian background. François was the son of Jean Tulius Evangelista and Maire Lucie Doria Semidei.
Alain’s maternal grandfather was Alfred Louis Arnold (the son of Jost/Just Aloïs Arnold and Odile Marie Adèle Liennemann/Lienemann). Alfred was born in Paris, Île-de-France, France, and was of mostly German and Swiss-German, and some French, origin. He was a gendarme in the French Army. Jost was born in Bürglen, Uri, Switzerland, the son of Aloïs Justin Arnold and Maria/Marie Anna/Anne Walker. Odile was the daughter of Louis Liennemann/Lienemann and Marie Guerre/Gaire.
Alain’s maternal grandmother was Maria Minard (the daughter of Louis Minard and Marie/Maire Louise Amélie Le Gal/Gall). Alain’s grandmother Maria was born in Paris, and was a model for Jeanne Lanvin. Alain’s great-grandmother Marie Louise was born in Guilers, Finistere, Brittany, the daughter of Jean Le Gall and Marie Jacquette Carre.
Sources: Genealogies of Alain Delon – http://www.gatinaisgeneal.org https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Alain’s father (focusing on his own father’s side) – http://gw.geneanet.org