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, she was regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world and in the 1970s, she was considered a French sex symbol. She is well known for her first acting role, appearing opposite her husband, actor Alain Delon, in the neo-noir film Le Samouraï directed by Jean-Pierre Melville (1967). She appeared in 30 films and directed two others.

Early life Francine Canovas was born on 1 August 1941 in Oujda,Birth extract on Les gens du cinéma then under the French Protectorate in Morocco, to a French family of Spanish origin. She was the daughter of Louis Canovas (1915–2003), pied-noir of Oran (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. Nathalie had a sister, Louisette, and a brother.

Personal life In 1957, Nathalie married a conscript from the north of France, Guy Barthélémy, who later became the signing officer for Omnium Marocain d'Assurance. They lived in Morocco and had a daughter named Nathalie Barthélémy. The marriage ended in 1960 and the following year she moved to Paris. Their divorce was granted in July 1964.

In August 1962, she met French actor Alain Delon at New Jimmy's, a Paris nightclub, and they began a secret relationship that night that lasted one year. In May 1963, she accompanied Delon to the shoot of his new film La Tulipe Noire. The couple became engaged in April 1964 and on 13 August 1964, they married in Loir-et-Cher. Their son, Anthony Delon, was born on 30 September 1964, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. They were one of the most glamorous and talked-about couples of the 1960s. Nathalie and Alain Delon separated in June 1968, and were divorced on 14 February 1969. They worked together on two films: Le Samouraï, whilst they were married, and Doucement les Basses after their divorce.

During the 1960s and 1970s she dated Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bobby Keys, Marc Porel, Eddie Fisher, Renaud Verley, Louis Malle, and Franco Nero, among others. Her greatest love was Chris Blackwell, whom she was with for 15 years (1978–1993).

Career During the 1960s, Nathalie Delon was a model. She was photographed by top French and foreign photographers for famous magazines such as Vogue.

In 1967, she became a film actress, starring opposite her husband in the film Le Samouraï by Jean-Pierre Melville, which became a hit. Writing of the Delons' performances in Le Figaro, 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."

Afterwards, she 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 of foreign actresses. In 1971, she appeared in When Eight Bells Toll with Anthony Hopkins and in 1972 she appeared in The Monk with Franco Nero. In 1973, she acted in Le Sex Shop, and her role was one of the film's "moments of real pleasure, as one of its "really marvelous girls", commented Roger Greenspun in The New York Times.

In addition to acting in 30 films during her career, she directed two: one was the story—also written by Delon—of a mother whose son dies in surgery, () in 1982, and the other was Sweet Lies in 1988.

Later life In 2006, Delon published a memoir, Pleure pas, c'est pas grave (Don't cry, it isn't serious). Le Figaro described it as an account of "her darker period, her marriage to [Alain] 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 too. Delightful and entertaining anecdotes".

Nathalie Delon died at the age of 79 in Paris on 21 January 2021 from pancreatic cancer.

Filmography Year Title Role Director Notes1967Le Samouraï Jane Lagrange Jean-Pierre MelvilleWith Alain Delon1968 The Private Lesson Frederique Dampierre Michel Boisrond1969Le sorelle (The Sisters) Diana Roberto Malenotti1969La Main Sylvie Henri Glaeser1969Army of Shadows a friend of Jean-François Jean-Pierre Melville Uncredited1971Doucement les basses (Easy Down There!) Rita Jacques DerayWith Alain Delon1971When Eight Bells Toll Charlotte SkourasÉtienne Périer With Anthony Hopkins1972Bluebeard Erika Edward DmytrykWith Richard Burton1972Le Sex Shop Jacqueline Claude Berri1972Repeated Absences Sophie Guy Gilles1972The Monk Mathilde Adonis A. KyrouWith Franco Nero1973L'Histoire très bonne et très joyeuse de Colinot trousse-chemiseBertradeNina Companeez1973Profession: Aventuriers Marie Chapuis Claude Mulot1974Vous intéressez-vous à la chose ? Lise Jacques Baratier1974Hold-Up – Atraco en la Costa AzulJudyGermán Lorente1975The Romantic Englishwoman Miranda Joseph Losey1975Docteur Justice Karine Christian-Jaque1976Une femme fidèle Flora de Saint-Gilles Roger Vadim1976Un sussurro nel buio (A Whisper in the Dark) CamillaMarcello Aliprandi 1977Fire in the Water as herself Peter WhiteheadWith Peter Whitehead1977L'avventurosa fuga: Gli ultimi angeli Elisabetta Enzo Doria1978 The Man in the Rushes Loraine Manfred Purzer1978Seagulls Fly Low Isabelle Michereau Giorgio Cristallini1978Occhi dalle stelle (Eyes Behind the Stars)Monica StilesMario Gariazzo 1979Le Temps des VacancesMartineClaude Vital1980La Bande du RexJanineJean-Henri Meunier1982Ils appellent ça un accident Julie Fabre Nathalie DelonAlso director and writer1983Pair-impairment Carole MarquandShort film1988Sweet Lies Nathalie DelonDirector only2008Nuit de chien Risso Werner Schroeter2009Mensch Liliane HazakSteve Suissa

Television +Television credits of Nathalie DelonYearTitleRoleDirectorNotes1965Dim Dam DomHerselfTV series documentary1967Dim Dam DomHerselfTV series documentary1968Dim Dam DomHerselfTV series documentary1978Madame le jugeFrançoise MullerRaymond ThévenetMiniseries (6 episodes) 1979 Euphorie IIDanielle SauraPhilippe DucrestTelevision film1979EfficaxHélène ChapelPhilippe DucrestTelevision film1978-81Histoires de voyousIrènePierre GoutasTV series (9 episodes)

Publications Novel

Memoir

References

External links