The very last role played by Alain Delon was in a movie directed by an Armenian moviemaker, Sarik Andreasyan.
In “Happy New Year, Moms” (2012) by Andreasyan, the French megastar Delon acted as himself, Alain Delon. In this film, a doctor, played by a Russian-Armenian actor, tells the son of a French-language schoolteacher about his mother’s progressing fatal sickness. The son decided to take his mother to Paris for vacation, which technically was a farewell-trip for the unsuspecting mother. In a high-profile Parisian restaurant, the mother and son accidentally meet Delon, who was 76 years old at the time. When dancing with the schoolteacher, Delon said, “I never forget that the time flows faster in Paris, and I always tried to enjoy every minute of my life in this city.” It makes sense to recall this symbolic statement by the prominent actor now, as the movie-star Delon died peacefully at his home in Douchy, France, on August 18. He was 88.
Armenia historically developed close ties with France, which perhaps contributed to the popularity of French artists, actors, or authors in Armenia and its diaspora. The Armenian Ministry of Culture issued a statement about Delon’s death, and the Armenian Film Society of Glendale, Calif., as well as many news outlets and social media featured the sad news extensively. One reason for Delon’s popularity in Armenia was Delon’s personal Armenian connections. He was very close to the French-Armenian singer and actor Charles Aznavour.
In 1963, the 28-year-old, still in the early stages of his acting career, starred in the movie “Any Number Can Win [titled in French “Mélodie en sous-sol”] by the French-Armenian filmmaker Henry Verneuil (Ashot Malakian). In 1969, he acted in “The Sicilian Clan” by Verneuil.
Le Monde, one of the major newspapers in France, published a picture of Verneuil and Delon in an obituary about Delon’s death, while the French organization Classic Film & Série posted a group photo of them and other actors on its X (Twitter) account.
In 1980, together with French and Swiss counterparts, Soviet moviemakers released a movie about the attempt of Nazi Germany to assassinate the Soviet, US, and English leaders at their meeting in Tehran, Iran, in 1943, during World War II. In this more fictional than factual motion picture, Delon acted as a French detective named Foche. French-Armenian Georges Garvarents was commissioned to prepare the score for this film, and his brother-in-law Charles Aznavour’s “Une Vie d’Amour” [A Life of Love], later to become a viral song, was featured in the film.
