Nathalie Delon (born Francine Canovas, also known as Nathalie Barthélémy; 1 August 194121 January 2021) was a French actress, model, film director and writer. In the 1960s, Nathalie was regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world and in the 1970s, she was known as a French sex symbol. She is notable for her first acting role, appearing opposite her husband, actor
Alain Delon
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...
, in the neo-noir film ''
Le Samouraï'' directed by
Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melville (; born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker and actor. Among his films are ''Le Silence de la mer'' (1949), '' Bob le flambeur'' (1956), ''Le Doulos'' (1962), '' Le Samouraï'' (19 ...
(1967). She appeared in 30 films and directed two more. Nathalie was also credited as the muse of the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
.
Early life
Francine Canovas was born on 1 August 1941 in
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...
, France to a French family of Italian-Spanish origin,
but very soon she moved with her mother to
Oujda
Oujda ( ar, وجدة; ber, ⵡⵓⵊⴷⴰ, Wujda) is a major Moroccan city in its northeast near the border with Algeria. Oujda is the capital city of the Oriental region of northeastern Morocco and has a population of about 558,000 people. It ...
, Morocco,
then under
French Protectorate in Morocco
The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prote ...
. She was the daughter of Louis Canovas (1915–2003),
pied-noir
The ''Pieds-Noirs'' (; ; ''Pied-Noir''), are the people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French rule from 1830 to 1962; the vast majority of whom departed for mainland France as soon as Alger ...
of
Oran
Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...
(Algeria), manager of a transport company in Morocco, who abandoned the family when she was 8-months-old in 1942
and Antoinette Rodriguez, who was from
Melilla
Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was pa ...
. Nathalie had a sister, Louisette, and a brother.
Personal life
In 1957, Nathalie married for the first time to a
conscript
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
from the north of France, Guy Barthélémy, who later become the signing officer of the
Omnium Marocain d'Assurance. They lived in Morocco and had a daughter named Nathalie Barthélémy. They broke up in 1960 and she moved to Paris in 1961.
Their divorce was granted in July 1964.
In August 1962, Nathalie met the French actor
Alain Delon
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...
at New Jimmy's, a Paris nightclub, and they began a secret relationship that night that lasted one year. In May 1963, Nathalie accompanied Delon on the shooting of his new film
La Tulipe Noire. In April 1964 they had a great engagement and on 13 August 1964, Nathalie and Alain got married in the
Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Its name is originated from two rivers which cross it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher in its southern part. Its prefecture is Blois. The INSEE and La P ...
. Their son,
Anthony Delon
Anthony Delon (born September 30, 1964) is a French-American actor, and son of actors Alain Delon and Nathalie Delon.
Biography
Delon is the former boyfriend of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco. He married Sophie Clerico on June 27, 2006; they separ ...
, was born on September 30, 1964 at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over ...
in Los Angeles. They were one of the most glamorous and talked about couples of the '60s. In June 1968, Nathalie broke up with Delon. The couple divorced on 14 February 1969. They collaborated on two films:
Le Samouraϊ (while they were married) and
Doucement les Basses (some years after their separation).
During the '60s and '70s she dated
Bobby Keys
Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...
,
Marc Porel
Marc Michel Marrier de Lagatinerie (3 January 1949 – 15 August 1983), known professionally as Marc Porel, was a Swiss-born French film actor. He appeared in 40 films between 1967 and 1983.
Life
Marc Michel Marrier de Lagatinerie was bo ...
,
Eddie Fisher
Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, ''The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress Eli ...
,
Renaud Verley
Renaud Verley (born 9 November 1945) is a French actor. He appeared in more than twenty films since 1965. His brother Bernard Verley
Bernard Verley (born 4 October 1939) is a French actor and producer.
Biography
Former student of les ''Beaux ...
,
Louis Malle
Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down," Malle's filmogr ...
and
Franco Nero
Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), ...
, among others. Her greatest love was Chris Blackwell with whom she formed a couple for 15 years (1978–1993).
Career
During the 1960s, Nathalie Delon was a model. She photographed by top French and foreign photographers for famous magazines such as
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
.
In 1967, Nathalie became a film actress, starring opposite her husband in the film ''
Le Samouraï'' by
Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melville (; born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker and actor. Among his films are ''Le Silence de la mer'' (1949), '' Bob le flambeur'' (1956), ''Le Doulos'' (1962), '' Le Samouraï'' (19 ...
, which became a hit.
Writing of the Delons' performances in ''
Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...
'', Bertrand Guyard notes husband and wife are both nearly silent but "their gazes, fraught with meaning, are enough to thrill the camera" with the director drawing from their portrayals "a mythical couple in the seventh art."
Thereafter, Nathalie Delon continued her acting career until the 1980s. In 1968 she appeared in
The Private Lesson which made her a star in Japan ranking her in the top 10 foreign actresses. In 1971 she appeared in
''When Eight Bells Toll'' with
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
and in 1972 she appeared in
The Monk with
Franco Nero
Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), ...
. In 1973, she appeared in ''Le Sex Shop'', her turn one of the film's "moments of real pleasure" as one of its "really marvelous girls", Roger Greenspun wrote in ''The New York Times''.
In addition to acting in 30 films in her career, she also directed two, ' () in 1982 and ''
Sweet Lies'' in 1988. ''They Call It an Accident'', which Delon directed and wrote, is the story of a mother whose son dies in surgery.
Later life
In 2006, Delon published a memoir, ''Pleure pas, c'est pas grave'' (''Don't cry, it's okay''). ''Le Figaro'' described it as an account of "her shadowy period, her marriage to Delon, her descent into hell with drugs. But still full of life, she also recounts the exceptional encounters she has had with people who made her laugh and who make us laugh by proxy. Delightful and entertaining anecdotes".
Nathalie Delon died at the age of 79, on 21 January 2021 in Paris, from
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancr ...
.
Filmography
Television
Publications
Novel
*
Memoir
*
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delon, Nathalie
1941 births
2021 deaths
French film actresses
People from Oujda
20th-century French actresses
French people of Spanish descent
Deaths from cancer in France
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Nathalie
Nathalie is a female given name. It is a variant of the name Natalie/ Natalia which is found in many languages, and is especially common in French and English speaking countries.
Notable people with the name include:
* Nathalie, Italian singer
...