ISTANBUL

French police have seized 72 unlicensed firearms from the home of film star Alain Delon. 

Police have found more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition and a shooting range in Delon's rural home in Douchy-Montcorbon, some 135 kilometers (84 miles) south of Paris, according to a report Tuesday by broadcaster France 24.

Local prosecutor Jean-Cedrix Gaux has said that Delon did not have a permit to hold any of the guns.

The 88-year-old actor played gun-toting gangsters in several of his most famous films, including Borsalino (1970) and is credited with creating the Hollywood trope of the sharp mysterious hitman in the 1967 film The Samurai.

The search took place after an official sent by the court noticed a gun in Delon's home and alerted a judge.

Delon's health has been poor in recent years after suffering a stroke in 2019.

He has hardly appeared on screen since the 1990s, last making a major public appearance to receive an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019.  

*Writing by Zeynep Cetin in Istanbul