Alain Delon, French heartthrob on the large display screen, dies at 88

Alain Delon, the French film star whose heartthrob picture and James Dean-like persona made him one in all his nation’s most celebrated actors, has died. He was 88.

The actor died “peacefully” at his home in Douchy, in France’s Loiret division, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Delon’s kids.

Since his first film in 1957, Delon was a near-constant presence in French cinema and fan magazines, on par with rival and occasional appearing companion Jean-Paul Belmondo. Delon was usually forged as a good-looking insurgent or gangster, coldly aloof and even a bit sinister.

His “watery blue eyes,” the New York Times famous in 1970, “are to France what Paul Newman’s are to the United States.”

In France, Delon appeared in some 80 movies and made-for-TV sequence, lots of them police or motion dramas. A intercourse image referred to as the male Brigitte Bardot, Delon was dubbed the “pretty-boy killer” for his putting seems and roles. Critics stated his most distinguished works have been enjoying a hitman in “The Samurai” (1967) and a grasp thief in “The Red Circle” (1970) with movie noir director Jean-Pierre Melville.

Delon himself rated “Monsieur Klein” (1976), wherein he performed the title character — an unscrupulous artwork vendor — as his best function. The film, directed by Joseph Losey, gained three Cesar awards, France’s nationwide movie honor.