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The 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival has decided to honor the 62-year-long career of French actor, Alain Delon, this year. The ceremony took place last night in which a tearful Alain Delon received the Palme d’Or d’Honneur (the honorary golden palm is the literal translation, which denotes a lifetime achievement award), Forbes reports.

The award was given by his daughter, Anouchka Delon. In his acceptance speech, Delon said that he considered this award a posthumous homage given while still living. He thanked the public for making him a star. In tears, he had a thought for Mireille Darc and Romy Schneider. During a masterclass dedicated to him earlier on in the day, Delon made a point of thanking the women in his life, saying that it was they who had pushed him toward his career path. The award was followed with a screening of Joseph Losey’s 1976 Mr Klein, which was produced by Alain Delon.

Alain Delon’s career took off in 1957 with an Yves Allégret film, Quand la femme s’en mêle, with big stars of the time Edwige Feuillère, Jean Servais and Bernard Blier. Delon’s career was launched internationally a few years later with René Clément’s adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novel, Plein Soleil (Purple Noon) in 1960. From then on, the French actor played in films of some of the greatest directors in the history of cinema: Luchino Visconti (Rocco and his Brothers, The Leopard), Jean-Pierre Melville (The Samurai, The Red Circle), Michelangelo Antonioni (L’Eclisse), Jean-Luc Godard (Nouvelle Vague), to only name a few. In all his filmography, he made an appearance in only one film directed by a woman, in Agnès Varda’s A Hundred and One Nights in 1995 where he played himself.