PARIS, Aug 18 — 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.

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 neighbour -- 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