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Brigitte Bardot, an icon of cinema has left us. French legendary actress Brigitte Bardot dies at 91 💔as Foundation Brigitte Bardot announced on Sunday

Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot, the blonde who revolutionised cinema in the 1950s was born in Paris on 28 September 1934, often referred to by her initials B.B., was a French actress, singer, model and animal rights activist. Bardot grew up in a prosperous, traditional Catholic family but excelled enough as a dancer to be allowed to study ballet, gaining a place at the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris. At the same time she found work as a model, appearing on the cover of Elle in 1950 while still 15. As a result of her modelling work, she was offered film roles; at one audition she met Vadim, whom she would marry in 1952, after she turned 18. Bardot was cast in small roles, with increasing prominence; she played Dirk Bogarde’s love interest in Doctor at Sea, a big hit in the UK in 1955.

Bardot shot to international fame with the 1956 film And God Created Woman, written and directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim, and for the next two decades embodied the idea of the archetypal “sex kitten”. In the early 1970s, however, she announced her retirement from acting and became increasingly active politically. Her outspoken support of animal rights evolved into incendiary comments about ethnic minorities and open support for France’s far-right Front National.

In the early 1960s, Bardot appeared in a string of high-profile French films, including Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Oscar-nominated drama The Truth, Louis Malle’s Very Private Affair (opposite Marcello Mastroianni) and Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt. In the second half of the decade, Bardot took up a number of Hollywood offers: these included Viva Maria!, a Mexican-set period comedy with Jeanne Moreau, and Shalako, a western with Sean Connery (1968)

Bardot also had a parallel music career, which included recording the original version of Serge Gainsbourg’s Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus, which Gainsbourg had written for her while they were having an extramarital affair. (Afraid of scandal after her then-husband Gunter Sachs found out, Bardot asked Gainsbourg not to release it; he went on to re-record it with Jane Birkin, to huge commercial success.)

As well as for cinema audiences, Bardot swiftly became an inspiration for intellectuals and artists; not least the young John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who demanded their then-girlfriends dye their hair blond in imitation of her. Framing the actor as France’s most liberated woman. In 1969, Bardot was chosen as the first real-life model for Marianne, the symbol of the French republic.

She was never really prepared for the life of a star and she retired from acting in 1973, aged 39, after making the historical romance The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot. Her primary focus became animal protection activism, joining protests against seal hunts in 1977 and her interest was establishing the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986.

Brigitte Bardot was married four times: to Vadim between 1952 and 1957, Jacques Charrier between 1959 and 1962 (with whom she had a son, Nicholas, in 1960), Sachs (1966-1969)​, and former Le Pen adviser Bernard d’Ormale, who she married in 1992. She also embarked on a number of high-profile relationships, including with Jean-Louis Trintignant and Gainsbourg, followed by a string of lovers - although, uncharacteristically, she did reject Sean Connery.

Here 🆙 in her role of Camille from the filming of “Le Mépris (Contempt)” by Jean-Luc Godard, 1963 in Capri, Italy 🎬

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RIP Brigitte Bardot 1934 - 2025 🕊️