Superstar Couples

Stuck in my sick bed, nursing a headche, flu and running nose, I comforted myself watching old movies courtesy of the German-French collabration channel Arte and the Austria’s main broadcasting stations. In one of those films I saw Alain Delon portraying a gangster who died in the end of the movie while flipping the pages of women’s magazines my mother-in-law gave me. In it, there was a portrait of Romy Schneider, Austria’s answer to Audrey Hepburn and other Hollywood actresses. Most of the Austrian lifestyle magazines cannot get enough of their enigmatic celebrity, naming one of their local media awards after Romy.
If you are a fan of The Smiths, you might probably recall one of their albums, “The Queen is Dead,” wherein a reclining Alain was pictured on the cover. Romy was the reincarnation of Elizabeth of Bavaria, also known as Sissi, the wife of the last Austrian emperor, Franz Josef. The empress’ brief life mirrored the enigmatic and troubled world of Romy’s.
Once upon a time when the world was young, exactly in 1958, upcoming French actor Alain Delon fell in love with an Austrian actress Romy Schneider. The gifted artists met on the set of “Christine,” adapted from the novel of Arthur Schnitzler play’s “Libelei.” Romy, an engaging young woman, after meeting Alain didn’t hesitate to leave the comforts of Austrian cinema to escape from the sweet saccharine movies and formulaic historical films like the three-part “Sissi” bestowed on her. Alain became a reason. She then followed him and the two were engaged in 1959. This enraged the Austrian public but what could they do if their darling Romy wanted more challenge in her career?
Romy made movies in France and then appeared sometime in Hollywood gaining the interest of Orson Welles hungry going for the different kinds of roles. Soon Alain decided to break off the engagement in 1963. Heartbroken, she found refuge with the German director-actor Harry Meyen. Though the two had a son, David, life was never easy. Harry later committed suicide.
Romy’s life after the failed relationships with Alain and Harry were complicated. Hers became more turbulent. Alain, on the other hand, took roles that didn’t clearly define his good looks. Instead he played the villain in the films, either a gangster or a thief. He was the first Mr. Ripley, the parasite psycho from the original “Talented Mr. Ripley.”
After the breakup, Romy continued starring in films with Alain. After a pause from filming between marriage and motherhood, she soon realised that she wanted and needed to continue working as an actress.
“Just then,” she later remembered, “Alain called me up and asked if I exclusively had husband and children on the brain or would I be interested in doing a movie.” “La Piscine” (The Swimming Pool) became a hit in 1969. She played Marianne as the pretty wife of Alain’s Jean-Paul, alongside actors Maurice Ronet and Jane Birkin. It was a noir film that intoxicated the Flower Era.
In 1981, Romy’s 14-year-old son had a deadly accident. David attempted to climb the spiked fence at his grandparents’ home when he punctured his femoral artery. He got himself off the fence and into the house for help but by the time the ambulance got him to the hospital he had lost too much blood and died.
Depression got into her that in 1982, Romy was found dead alone in her house. Speculations revealed that it was probably a suicide though no autopsy was done. The official statement said it was cardiac arrest.
Alain stayed on her side during difficult times. Romy said: “I lost a lover but I gained a friend” referring to Alain.
The actor meanwhile married twice and earned the reputation of being a ladies man. He is friends with Brigitte Bardot and allegedly has a love child with chanteuse Nico, the Velvet Underground muse.
Alain’s children for a while squabbled with their inheritance that troubled the actor. Alain is now breeding racehorses and looking out for stray dogs on his estate. He even has his enterprise producing perfume and cognac, among others.

Alain Delon, Romy Schneider