Brigitte Bardot, the French actress who became a global symbol of sexual liberation in the 1950s and 60s, has died at 91.
Known simply as “BB,” Bardot starred in nearly 50 films including the breakout 1956 hit And God Created Woman before retiring from cinema in 1973 to dedicate her life to animal welfare.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the country was mourning “a legend of the century,” while the Brigitte Bardot Foundation described her as a “world-renowned actress” who abandoned fame to fight for animals.
Born in Paris in 1934, Bardot initially trained as a ballerina before being discovered as a teenage model. Her screen persona sensual, rebellious, unapologetic helped redefine women’s roles in film and scandalised conservative audiences, especially in the United States. Philosopher Simone de Beauvoir once called her an icon of “absolute freedom.”
Bardot later became one of France’s most recognisable cultural figures. Her tousled hair and smoky makeup set global fashion trends even inspiring the “Bardot neckline.”
Off-screen, her personal life drew intense scrutiny. She married four times and had one son, Nicolas Charrier. She later wrote that she would have preferred to “give birth to a little dog,” prompting a lawsuit from him.
In 1986 she founded the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, championing animal rights with almost militant commitment. She became vegetarian and even threatened to seek Russian citizenship in protest over the treatment of zoo animals in France.
In later years, her reputation darkened. Bardot was repeatedly fined for inciting racial hatred over remarks attacking Muslims and immigrants, and she criticised gay people and the #MeToo movement, calling some actresses “hypocritical.”
Despite the controversy, Bardot remains one of the defining figures of 20th-century cinema a symbol of beauty, rebellion, and the contradictions of fame.
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