Brigitte Bardot, the French actress, singer and animal rights activist who became one of the most recognizable figures in post-war cinema, has died at the age of 91, her foundation announced Sunday.
“The Brigitte Bardot foundation announces with immense sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation,” it said in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse.
Born on September 28, 1934 in Paris, Bardot rose to international fame after starring in And God Created Woman (1956). The sexually charged drama directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim made her a global sensation and helped redefine perceptions of female sexuality in cinema. It also established her as a major influence in both European and Hollywood-linked filmmaking.
During the late 1950s and 1960s, Bardot appeared in more than 40 films, working with prominent directors and collaborators. Her notable screen credits include Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Mépris (Contempt) (1963), Louis Malle’s Viva Maria! (1965), and the romantic comedies La Parisienne (1960) and Come Dance with Me! (1959).
After a highly successful career, Bardot retired from acting in 1973 at the age of 39 to focus on animal rights activism. Upon ending her screen career, she devoted herself to charitable work, founding the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986 to protect animals worldwide.
Her last released film was The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot (1973), a French historical comedy in which she played the female lead before stepping away from cinema to concentrate on her advocacy and humanitarian interests.
In her later years, Bardot became a controversial public figure because of repeated incendiary statements about ethnic minorities, immigration, Islam, and homosexuality. French courts convicted her multiple times for inciting racial hatred. Between 1997 and 2008, she was fined six times for comments that primarily targeted France’s Muslim community. In one of the most serious cases, a Paris court fined her 15,000 euros after she described Muslims as “this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts.”
While she became equally known in later life for her outspoken views and controversial public statements, her impact on screen continues to be recognized.
Image Mondadori
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