Alain-Philippe Malagnac d'Argens de Villèle

Alain-Philippe Malagnac (1951–2000) was the adopted son of French writer Roger Peyrefitte, their relationship being a subject of several of the latter's works. Malagnac was also an art collector and the husband of singer Amanda Lear.

Scion of a french aristocratic family, 12-year-old Alain-Philippe had a minor role in the film Les Amitiés particulières (English title: This Special Friendship), released in 1964, based on the award-winning autobiographical novel by Roger Peyrefitte. Malagnac met Peyrefitte, from when they started a long association professionally and personally. This formed the background to Peyrefitte's novel, Notre Amour (Éd. Flammarion, 1967) and to L'Enfant de cœur, (an allusion to Malagnac's role as a choirboy (Enfant de Choeur) in the film).

At the age of sixteen Malagnac became Peyrefitte's personal secretary, and as a young man Malagnac was eventually adopted by Peyrefitte.^[1]

As an adult Malagnac's career (often financed by Peyrefitte) included proprietor of Le Bronx, one of the first openly gay night clubs in Paris, and briefly managing French singer Sylvie Vartan, a disastrous undertaking which almost bankrupted Peyrefitte, who was forced to sell artworks and erotic antiquities to pay the resulting debts.

In 1978 Malagnac met Amanda Lear in Paris, and in April 1979, while on a trip to the United States, they married. Their marriage lasted twenty one years until his death. On Saturday, December 16th, 2000, Malagnac was killed by smoke in a fire at his recently-bought farm house in Saint-Étienne-du-Grès.^[2] He died just six weeks after Peyrefitte.

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