There is friend of mine, a well-known television journalist, who when asked why he and his wife had decided not to have children told me that “first you wash their potty and then hear their gali (abuses)”. Sometimes, children cause untold misery to their parents. This seems to be the case with the legendary French actor and star, Alain Delon. He was one of the greatest figures of French cinema’s golden era. He was insanely handsome with really blue eyes that made him the favourite of all pin-ups that girls put up in their rooms. And he brought great cheer in a post-war France where there was so much gloom and sorrow.
Delon lived regally and shone on the screen for more than 50 years. He acted in 90 films. Most of them went on to garner appreciation from the people and the Press. For, instance, The Leopard attracted 134 million footfalls. He was a star all right.
But as we are now seeing, Delon is spending his last days in abject misery. He is 88 and severely disabled by a stroke, and his three children do not seem to care. Anthony, Anouchka and Alain-Fabien have been bitterly squabbling and moving courts.
But Delon is helpless. He now lives as a recluse in the middle of a huge estate, 140 km away from Paris. So fed up must he be that he has wished to be buried with 30 of his “beloved” dogs on the grounds of his estate.
The first battle of the sibling war came when Anthony (59) – whose mother Nathalie was Delon’s only wife – charged his half-sister, Anouchka, with hiding the results of tests Swiss doctors had conducted on their father. But her brother, Alain-Fabien (29), defended Anthony and made several insinuations against her.
Court cases followed, and Delon was furious. The court stepped in and after a medical examination said that the actor had “lost all discernment”. The children contested this. And after another medical examination, it was confirmed that he was fully in his senses. He could answer all questions.
It is said that the children’s feud is not about money. With Delon’s will leaving half his fortune to his daughter and the other half equally divided between his sons, they seem to be happy. So, why are they fighting?
An article in paper the French paper, Le Monde, felt that Delon’s troublesome childhood could have made him incapable of forging relationships with his children, particularly sons. He was barely four when his parents divorced, and he grew up in foster homes. Later, he was expelled from not one or two but six schools. “I was disruptive, very indisciplined so I was thrown out. I was a kind of little monster; very rough,” he had once said.
Life took even a greater toll on him. When he served in the Indochina war, he was court-martialled for stealing a jeep. He came back to Paris and lived among prostitutes and gangsters in the late 1950s before he was discovered as an actor.
Also, Delon’s ties with women were equally troublesome. He persuaded two actresses to live with him, but could not decide whom he actually loved! However, he has been very fond of Anouchka. She is the love of my life, he has said many times.
Finally, with Delon in his perfect senses, these unruly family scenes must be killing him. Seems like a Greek tragedy!
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