Alain Delon (born 8 November 1935) is a French actor, one of the best known outside his native country.

Delon’s star rose quickly, and by the age of twenty-three he was garnering comparisons to French screen legends such as Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as American actor James Dean. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot. Not wanting to fall back on his looks, Delon tried to take roles that presented him with more of a challenge. In particular he took parts playing a thief or gangster. One of the remarkable qualities about Delon’s performances is that despite the immorality of many of the characters he plays, he manages to make them charming, even likeable. Over the course of his career, Delon has worked with legendary directors, including Luchino Visconti, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Louis Malle.

Delon acquired, as well as his French nationality, Swiss citizenship in 1999 and the company managing products sold under his name is based in Geneva.

Delon was born in Sceaux, Île-de-France, not far from Paris.

His parents, Fabien and Édith, divorced when Delon was young. Both remarried, and Delon has a half-sister, and two half-brothers. He attended a Catholic boarding school, the first of several schools from which he was expelled, because of unruly behavior. Despite this behavior he was more than competent as a student. Teachers once tried to convince him to enter the priesthood because of his aptitude in religious studies.

At fourteen Delon left school, and worked for a brief time at his stepfather's butcher shop. He enlisted in the army three years later, and in 1953 was sent to fight in the First Indochina War. Delon has said that out of his five years of military service he spent 11 months in prison for being "undisciplined". After being dishonorably discharged from the army he returned to Paris. He had no money, and got by on whatever employment he could find. He spent time working as a waiter, a porter, and a sales clerk. During this time he became friends with the actress Brigitte Auber, and joined her on a trip to the Cannes Film Festival, where his film career would begin.

Delon was engaged to actress Romy Schneider, whom he met when they appeared together in the film Christine. In August of 1964, shortly after the broken engagement, he married Nathalie Barthélemy. Their son, Anthony Delon was born in September. The couple divorced four years later. He had a long relationship with French actress Mireille Darc over the following years. In the 1990s, he became a father again to two children, Anouchka and Alain-Fabien who attended the International School of Amsterdam, with Dutch model, Rosalie van Breemen (they met in 1987 on the shooting of the video clip of his song "Comme au cinéma"). Delon and Van Breemen separated in 2002.

It was speculated that he had an affair with German actress and singer Nico. In 1962, Nico had a son, Christian Aaron Boulogne, and claimed that he was fathered by Delon. Delon has stated many times that he is not the father.