Police seize 72 guns from home of French movie icon Alain Delon

Prosecutor says French film star did not have valid authorisation to own firearms

Police seized 72 firearms and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition from the house of French screen legend Alain Delon.

Delon, 88, had no authorisation that would allow him to own a firearm, according to prosecutor Jean-Cédric Gaux.

Law enforcement officials also found a shooting range in the actor's rural home in Douchy-Montcorbon, located nearly 135km south of Paris.

The search at his property was ordered after a court-appointed official sent to his house noticed a weapon and alerted the judge.

Delon, the star of the French cinema's golden era, was known for his portrayal of gun-toting gangsters in films such as Borsalino and The Samurai.

He has only appeared in a handful of projects since the 1990s and his last major public appearance was in 2019 at the Cannes Film Festival where he was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or.

In the same year, he suffered a stroke and has been since at the centre of a family feud. In 2021, he was seen at the funeral of his friend and star actor Jean-Paul Belmondo.

The Delon family feud garnered media attention after the star's eldest son, Anthony Delon, alleged that his father was in a "weakened" state.

“He doesn’t speak much, it tires him or it annoys him when we make him repeat, because his voice is no longer always clear, or audible,” Anthony Delon told the Paris Match.

Anthony Delon, also an actor, accused his sister of not informing him about their father's cognitive tests conducted between 2019 to 2022 in Switzerland.

Their father promptly issued a response through his lawyer, stating that he was “extremely shocked by the media outburst orchestrated by his son" and would file a legal complaint against him.

In January, Delon’s youngest son reportedly filed a complaint against his sister accusing her of exploiting Delon’s frailty.

The legal battle began after the three children filed a complaint against his former live-in assistant, Hiromi Rollin, alleging harassment and threatening behaviour. Ms Rollin denies any wrongdoing.