Natalie Delon is a French actress, screenwriter and director who became famous thanks to her husband, the famous actor Alain Delon. How was the life of the actress after breaking up with her star husband, and what films brought her further fame?
Biography
Francis Canova - that is exactly what the real name of the future screen star Natalie Delon sounds like - was born on August 1, 1941 in the city of Oujda (Morocco). Francis spent her childhood and youth in Casablanca, her parents divorced early, the girl's mother was often sick and therefore sent Francis to the camps every summer. Being a closed, unsociable child, the girl suffered greatly away from her mother.
When mother Francis remarried, the girl became very attached to her stepfather, and his unexpected death was a terrible blow for her. Later, the actress will say that this childhood tragedy taught her not to become attached to people: "I just made a promise to myself never to love anyone again."
At the age of 18, Francis married Guy Barthelemy, from whom she gave birth to a daughter, the girl was named Natalie. Francis always liked this name, and therefore, having named her daughter like that, she soon changed her own name to Natalie.
Four years later, Francis-Natalie Canova divorced Barthelemy and moved to Paris, hoping to become an actress.
Meeting with Alain Delon
Natalie met a famous French actor in a nightclub. According to her, there was a small skirmish between them, in the twilight of the club the girl did not recognize the famous actor. Natalie was rude to Delon, who offended her with something, and later it turned out that they had mutual acquaintances. At the next chance meeting, Alain recognized the absurd beauty who almost got into a fight with him, and Natalie, in turn, finally recognized the actor whom she had seen on the screen more than once.
During that period, Alain met with another famous actress - Romy Schneider, but this did not stop him from having an affair with Natalie in the very first days of his acquaintance. A year later, the couple legalized the relationship. Newlyweds Alain and Nathalie Delon (photo below) spent a lot of time together.
Difficult marriage
In 1964, the couple had a son, who was named Anthony. The quarrels and scandals that arose between Natalie and Alain at the very beginning of their life together only intensified with the birth of a child. Natalie says that on happy days, she and her husband liked to play pranks: sitting on the upper terraces of restaurants, they could knock over a glass of wine on passers-by or play some ridiculous scenes in front of everyone. But every year there were less and less good days: Alain criticized Natalie for the bohemian, in his opinion, lifestyle, for her inability to housekeeping and cook, and also for beingthat only Nanny Anthony took care of their son. The daughter from her first marriage, who remained to live with her own father in Morocco, was also of little interest to Madame Delon. Natalie, in turn, was not satisfied with Alain's new hobbies, he could flirt with some pretty extra right in front of his wife.
In 1969, Alain Delon and Natalie divorced by mutual agreement, after the divorce, Natalie retained her husband's famous surname.
Creative path
Despite the difficult relationship in marriage, it was thanks to her husband that Natalie Delon became an actress. In 1967, Delon delivered an ultimatum to director Melville: either he would star in the new Samurai film with Natalie, or he would not play at all. The film was very successful, critics appreciated the debut of Natalie, and in her next film "Private Lesson" she appeared without her husband. Unusual appearance and a cold, somewhat detached manner of playing became the hallmarks of Natalie Delon. Films with her participation, such as "When it breaks eight flasks", "Hush, bass!" (in this film, Natalie again starred with Delon), "The Monk" can be considered the best in her career. The roles of indifferent and arrogant women worked very well for the actress.
Natalie Delon has more than thirty films to her credit, the last film with her participation "Dog Night" was released in 2008.
Also, Natalie has two films in which she acted not only as an actress, but also as a screenwriter and director, this is the drama "They called itaccident" (1982) and the melodrama "Pretty Lies" (1987).
Natalie Delon these days
Since 1983, the actress has been living in the USA with her son and his family. She was no longer married, although she had many relationships with different men, including the famous actor and husband of Elizabeth Taylor - Richard Burton, who became her partner in the film Bluebeard. Their romance lasted exactly as long as the shooting of the film continued.
In several interviews, Natalie admitted that after the betrayals of Alain Delon, she would never be able to decide on a new marriage. "I don't believe in marital fidelity, especially on my part," the actress once said.
The actress maintains friendly relations with Mick Jagger, the lead singer of the famous British rock band The Rolling Stones and his ex-wife Bianca Jagger (following the example of Natalie, Bianca also retained her husband's star name after the divorce). Natalie was a bridesmaid at the Jaggers' wedding and spent a lot of time with them in the 70s.
The actress does not reveal the secret of whether she is in any relationship at the moment. "I have a son, I have grandchildren and granddaughters. They are always in my heart, and men - well, they come and go. If I name a name before you print it, the information may already become irrelevant!", - Laughing, the actress said in a recent interview.
