The cheetah takes a leap into the past to welcome the year 2024. Saturday December 30, Alain Delon sent his greeting card to the editorial staff of Paris Match. On paper, it is soberly written “Happy new year 2024, Alain Delon”. But, for the copy offered to the magazine, the 88-year-old actor added a little personal touch. By hand, it is written: “To my dear audience.”
And if it is Paris Match that the interpreter of Jef Costello in the Samurai – produced in 1967 by Jean-Pierre Melville – sent his greeting card looking more vintage than ever, it’s because something links it to the magazine. Indeed, in 1963, it was Walter Carone, photographer for the newspaper – from 1949 to 1969 -, who immortalized the photograph on the card. In the black and white photo captured in his country house, we see the father of the family crouching and smiling, simply dressed in a shirt and jeans. In front of him, in full spectacular leap, is his German shepherd.
To share this sweet memory with as many fans as possible, Anouchka Delon also published the greeting card in an Instagram story. In the caption, the actress underlined: “To you, his ‘dear audience’.”
Archives galore
This is not the first time that Alain Delon has drawn from his archives to make his greeting card. To welcome the year 2023, the man who shared the poster with Romy Schneider in La Piscine in 1969 (directed by Jacques Deray) then opted for a family photo. In a photography studio, we see Anouchka then a teenager, Anthony and Alain-Fabien as a child surround their father, all lying on a blue decor.
But, to revive the memories of Alain Delon fans, his children do not wait until December 31. Regularly, they take turns sharing archive photos on their Instagram accounts, on which their dear father appears. On June 4, on the occasion of Mother’s Day, it was Anthony Delon who published an intimate image. We see him, as a child, helped by Nathalie Delon to walk, while Alain Delon is in the background, pensive, a cigarette in his hand. What maintain the image of an actor who has left his mark on many generations.
Article written in collaboration with 6Medias.
Photo credits: PATRICK BERNARD / BESTIMAGE