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"They tried to get my heart back in place," the screen legend said.
"I had a scan. I was given the all clear on the neurological level, but they found an irregular heartbeat. It's the kind of thing that happens to guys like me when there's a build up of emotion. The shit I've been through.
"These days, I've been well served, what with my son and all," he said, referring to a court case pending against his 17-year-old son accused of accidentally wounding a party guest in a firearm incident.
Fellow French idol Brigitte Bardot said: "I'm very worried for Alain, who means a lot to me. I consider him like a brother."
Born in 1935, Delon has starred in around 100 films over five decades and worked with directors such as Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni, Jean-Pierre Melville, Joseph Losey and Jean-Luc Godard.
Often cast as a ruthless, steely-eyed bad boy -- typified by the 1970 gangster flick "Borsalino" -- Delon proved his versatility in other roles, such as a morally ambiguous wartime art dealer in "Monsieur Klein".
His personal life has been closely intertwined with film, notably featuring relationships with Romy Schneider, Mireille Darc and Nathalie Delon, all prominent actresses in their own right.
Born in the Paris suburb of Sceaux, Delon's father ran a local cinema and his mother worked in a pharmacy. They divorced when he was four.
After a turbulent childhood he served for four years in the military during France's war in Indochina and then tried a number of trades, notably working in the Paris wholesale food-market, Les Halles.
Noted for his good looks, he was invited to Hollywood by US producer David Selznick, who offered him a contract on condition he learned English.
But Delon took up a rival offer from the French director Yves Allegret, and although he became a big name internationally -- notably in Japan, China and Russia -- he was to build his career as a French star.
His first role was as a hit-man in Yves Allegret's "Quand la femme s'en mêle" (When the Wife Gets Involved, 1957), but it was Rene Clement's thriller "Plein Soleil" (Purple Noon, 1960) that fully revealed his talent.
Fame followed quickly thanks to two major Visconti films: "Rocco and his Brothers" in 1960 and perhaps Delon's best known film, "Il Gattopardo" (The Leopard) in 1963.
After "Notre Histoire" (Our Story) directed by Bertrand Blier in 1984, which saw Delon play the role of an alcohol-sodden garage owner obsessed by a woman he met on a train, he had fewer major cinematic hits.
Instead he branched out into theatre and television as an actor, director and producer.
He sponsors boxing matches, runs his own promotion company, notably marketing a fragrance for men, and had a substantial collection of art, mostly from the 1950s, that he sold at auction in 2007.
Politically, Delon is on the right and has expressed support for the far-right French leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. The latter even suggested, in 2007, that Delon could play him in a film version of his life.
Alain Delon has three children and his son Anthony, by his first marriage with Nathalie Delon, has had a minor film-acting career.
With his last companion, Rosalie van Breemen, from whom he separated in 2002, he has two children, Annouchka and Alain-Fabien.
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"I had a scan. I was given the all clear on the neurological level, but they found an irregular heartbeat. It's the kind of thing that happens to guys like me when there's a build up of emotion. The shit I've been through.
"These days, I've been well served, what with my son and all," he said, referring to a court case pending against his 17-year-old son accused of accidentally wounding a party guest in a firearm incident.
Fellow French idol Brigitte Bardot said: "I'm very worried for Alain, who means a lot to me. I consider him like a brother."
Born in 1935, Delon has starred in around 100 films over five decades and worked with directors such as Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni, Jean-Pierre Melville, Joseph Losey and Jean-Luc Godard.
Often cast as a ruthless, steely-eyed bad boy -- typified by the 1970 gangster flick "Borsalino" -- Delon proved his versatility in other roles, such as a morally ambiguous wartime art dealer in "Monsieur Klein".
His personal life has been closely intertwined with film, notably featuring relationships with Romy Schneider, Mireille Darc and Nathalie Delon, all prominent actresses in their own right.
Born in the Paris suburb of Sceaux, Delon's father ran a local cinema and his mother worked in a pharmacy. They divorced when he was four.
After a turbulent childhood he served for four years in the military during France's war in Indochina and then tried a number of trades, notably working in the Paris wholesale food-market, Les Halles.
Noted for his good looks, he was invited to Hollywood by US producer David Selznick, who offered him a contract on condition he learned English.
But Delon took up a rival offer from the French director Yves Allegret, and although he became a big name internationally -- notably in Japan, China and Russia -- he was to build his career as a French star.
His first role was as a hit-man in Yves Allegret's "Quand la femme s'en mêle" (When the Wife Gets Involved, 1957), but it was Rene Clement's thriller "Plein Soleil" (Purple Noon, 1960) that fully revealed his talent.
Fame followed quickly thanks to two major Visconti films: "Rocco and his Brothers" in 1960 and perhaps Delon's best known film, "Il Gattopardo" (The Leopard) in 1963.
After "Notre Histoire" (Our Story) directed by Bertrand Blier in 1984, which saw Delon play the role of an alcohol-sodden garage owner obsessed by a woman he met on a train, he had fewer major cinematic hits.
Instead he branched out into theatre and television as an actor, director and producer.
He sponsors boxing matches, runs his own promotion company, notably marketing a fragrance for men, and had a substantial collection of art, mostly from the 1950s, that he sold at auction in 2007.
Politically, Delon is on the right and has expressed support for the far-right French leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. The latter even suggested, in 2007, that Delon could play him in a film version of his life.
Alain Delon has three children and his son Anthony, by his first marriage with Nathalie Delon, has had a minor film-acting career.
With his last companion, Rosalie van Breemen, from whom he separated in 2002, he has two children, Annouchka and Alain-Fabien.
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