Alain-Philippe Malagnac d'Argens de Villèle (1951–2000) was the adopted son of French writer Roger Peyrefitte, their amorous relationship being a subject of several of the latter's works. Malagnac was also an art collector and the husband of singer Amanda Lear.
The 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 personally and later professionally. This formed the background to Peyrefitte's novel, Notre Amour (Éd. Flammarion, 1967) and to L'Enfant de cœur, (not only the child he loved but an allusion to Malagnac's role as a choirboy (Enfant de Choeur) in the film and to his naivety in business matters).
At the age of eighteen Malagnac became Peyrefitte's personal secretary. He was a son of well-to-do upper middle class parents but Peyrefitte arranged him to be adopted by a French aristocrat. She had no descendants and wanted to transmit her name d'Argens de Villèle, which Malagnac was able to adjoin to his own.[1]
As an adult Malagnac's career (financed by Peyrefitte) included to be the 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 his library, his mint collection, 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 in Las Vegas. Their marriage lasted twenty one years until his death.
On Saturday, December 16th, 2000, Malagnac persished by smoke in a fire at his recently-bought farm house in Saint-Étienne-du-Grès.[2] He died just six weeks after Peyrefitte.