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Alain Delon may be the most gorgeous actor in the history of film. 
Excerpt from his wikipedia bio:
photo sources: wikipedia, alaindelon.com
Excerpt from his wikipedia bio:
source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_DelonAlain 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. ...
At Cannes, Delon was seen by a talent scout for David O. Selznick. After a successful screen test Selznick offered him a contract, provided he learn English. Delon returned to Paris to study English, but when he met French director Yves Allégret, he was convinced that he should stay in France to begin his career. Selznick allowed Delon to cancel his contract, and Allégret gave him his debut in the film Quand la Femme s'en Mêle (When the Woman Butts In). Delon then got to show a comedic aspect of himself in the film Faibles Femmes (Women Are Weak). This was also the first of his films to be seen in America, where it became a success.
The first role to really test Delon as a serious actor was in René Clement's Purple Noon, which was based on the Patricia Highsmith novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. Delon played killer Tom Ripley, and the film went on to be very well received.
But it was Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers that helped solidify Delon's status as an important new actor. Critic Bosley Crowther of the New York Times said Delon's work was : "touchingly pliant and expressive." John Beaufort, in the Christian Science Monitor said: "Rocco's heartbroken steadfastness furnishes the film with the foremost of its ironic tragedies... Its believability rests finally on Mr. Delon's compelling performance." In 1964, the Cinémathèque Française held a showcase of Delon's films. That he received this honor so soon into his career distinguished him from most other young stars.
Delon’s stage début came in 1961. He performed John Ford’s play, 'Tis Pity She’s a wh*re co-starring Romy Schneider in Paris. The production was directed by Visconti, who Delon would work with again for Il Gattopardo (The Leopard).
Many directors chose to work with Delon time and time again. Among these is Jean-Pierre Melville. Melville directed Delon in Un Flic, Le Cercle Rouge, and most notably in Le Samouraï, which is widely regarded as one of Delon’s finest performances.
In 1964, Delon started a production company, Delbeau Production, with Georges Beaume. They produced a film called L’insoumis, which had to be re-edited due to legal issues. Delon then started his own production company, Adel. He produced and starred in the company’s first film, Jeff. Delon followed the success of the film with Borsalino, which became one of France’s highest grossing films of the time.
In 1973, he made a duet with the French pop singer Dalida on "Paroles, paroles", which was a big hit in France, Japan, Canada, and many other countries.
He was awarded the Best Actor César Awards (French equivalent of Oscars) for his role in Bertrand Blier's "Notre histoire" (1984). But, after a string of box office failures in the late 1980s and 1990s, culminating in the surprising box-office failure of Patrice Leconte's Une chance sur deux, Delon announced his decision to give up acting in 1997. Now in his early 70s, Delon occasionally accepts roles. In 1990, he worked with auteur Jean-Luc Godard, on a film called Nouvelle vague in which he played twins.
In 2003, the Walter Reade Theater did a series entitled Man in the Shadows: The Films of Alain Delon.
photo sources: wikipedia, alaindelon.com
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