Nathalie Delon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nathalie Delon
Delon in The Sisters (1969)
Born	Francine Canovas (1941-08-01)1 August 1941 Oujda, French Protectorate in Morocco
Died	21 January 2021(2021-01-21) (aged 79) Paris, France
Occupation	actress model film director writer
Years active	1965–2010
Known for	Le Samouraï La leçon particulière The Monk Bluebeard A Whisper in the Dark
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Spouse(s)	Guy Barthélémy ​ ​ (m. 1957; div. 1964)​ Alain Delon ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1969)​
Partner(s)	Chris Blackwell (1978–1993)
Children	Nathalie Barthélémy Anthony Delon

Nathalie Delon (born Francine Canovas, also known as Nathalie Barthélémy; 1 August 1941 – 21 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. 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. Nathalie was also credited as the muse of the Rolling Stones.

Early life

Francine Canovas was born on 1 August 1941 in Oujda, then under the French Protectorate in Morocco to a French family of Italian-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 got married for the first time to a conscript from the north of France, Guy Barthélémy, who later become the signing officer for 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 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, Nathalie accompanied Delon to the shoot of his new film La Tulipe Noire. In April 1964 they got engaged and on 13 August 1964, Nathalie and Alain married in Loir-et-Cher. Their son, Anthony Delon, was born on September 30, 1964 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. They were one of the most glamorous and talked-about couples of the 1960s. In June 1968, Nathalie and Delon separated. The couple divorced on 14 February 1969. They worked together on two films: Le Samouraï (while they were married) and Doucement les Basses (some years after their separation).

During the '60s and '70s she dated Bobby Keys, Marc Porel, Eddie Fisher, Renaud Verley, Louis Malle, and Franco Nero, among others. Her greatest love was Chris Blackwell whom she was together 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, Nathalie 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, 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 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 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, Ils appellent ça un accident [fr] (transl. They Call It an Accident) 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's okay).

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

Filmography

Television

See also

In Spanish: Nathalie Delon para niños