Beautiful women tended to fall at the feet of the French screen idol Alain Delon. But scarred by a childhood spent with foster families and in children’s homes, Delon’s love life was often tormented, ending his days living alone as something of a recluse.

Romy Schneider

Despite their clear chemistry, it was not love at first sight for German actress Romy Schneider. She thought Delon “arrogant” when they first met in 1958, although she was by far the bigger star after the success of the trilogy of “Sissi” films in which she played the Austro-Hungarian empress. But they were engaged in a matter of months, although never married. Four tumultuous years later, Delon left her by letter. Yet when they reunited to make “The Swimming Pool” in 1968, sparks flew. He called her the “love of my life” after her tragic death in 1982.

Nico

The German-born Velvet Underground singer and actress claimed to have a son with Delon, Christian Aaron Boulogne, who was born in 1962. Delon always denied he was the father and as she struggled with drug addiction, the child was brought up by his mother.

French actors Alain Delon and Mireille Darc wait for the results after the first round of the vote on April 26, 1981 at the France's incumbent president and candidate for 1981 presidential election Valery Giscard d'Estaing's headquarters in Paris.

French actor Alain Delon kisses his wife Nathalie upon his arrival at Orly airport on April 28, 1965.

This photograph taken in 1959 shows Franco-German actress Romy Schneider (L) and French actor Alain Delon during a theatrical performance in Paris.

French actors Mireille Darc and Alain Delon pose at the Theatre Marigny in Paris on January 19, 2007, a few days before their performance in the play "Sur la route de Madison".

French actor Alain Delon (center), his film partner Elsa (right) and his Dutch model companion Rosalie Van Breemen (left) arrive on May 8, 1992 at the Cannes Film Festival Palace to attend the projection of the ilm "Le retour de Casanova" directed by Edouard Niermans.

French actor Alain Delon and his Dutch model companion Rosalie Van Breemen (left) arrive on May 8, 1992 at the Nice airport to present the film "Le retour de Casanova" directed by Edouard Niermans at the International Film Festival in Cannes.

French singer Dalida performs 18 March 1981 at Olympia music-hall in Paris. Dalida (born Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, 17 January 1933 – 03 May 1987) was an Egyptian-born singer, of Italian origin, making her career in France. She received 55 golden records and was the first songstress to get a diamond disc.

French actor Alain Delon, his wife Nathalie Delon and their son Anthony Delon arrive at the premiere of "Tintin et le temple du soleil", on December 14, 1969 at the cinema Paramount-Elysee, in Paris.

French actors Nathalie Delon and Alain Delon give a press conference for the release of their film "Easy Down There" (Doucement les Basses), on April 7, 1971 in Lyon.

Photo taken on August 12, 1968 shows French actor Alain Delon and German actress Romy Schneider in Nice.

Austrian actress Romy Schneider dances with her friend French actor Alain Delon, on March 20, 1959 during an actors' ball in Munich.

Nathalie Delon

The only woman Delon married, the couple met in a Paris nightclub while he was on a night out with Schneider. She was pregnant when they married in secret in 1964. But the relationship was always stormy and they divorced in 1969 after Delon took up with one of his co-stars, Mireille Darc, after returning chastened to France after a year in Hollywood.

Mireille Darc

His longest relationship was with Darc, a model-turned-actress and documentary maker. The two remained friends till her death in 2017.

Dalida

The pop diva, a massive international singing star in the 1960s and 1970s, had a fling with Delon — her next door neighbor — when she arrived in Paris in 1956 with “nothing but her Miss Egypt crown”. They secretly rekindled their passion a decade later in Rome while he was married and recorded a single together “Paroles, Paroles” (“Words, Words”) in 1972, where he woos her on disc. Delon said he was “full of regrets” when she killed herself in 1987.

Rosalie van Breemen

Delon met the Dutch model 21 years his junior while making a music video in 1987. They had two children but split acrimoniously in 2001. — AFP