Brigitte Bardot, one of the defining screen presences of the 1950s and ’60s, has died. She was 91. The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announced the news on Sunday with a statement provided to the French news outlet AFP. “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,” the statement read, per the BBC.
Bardot skyrocketed to fame as a sex symbol in 1956 for her work in the film And God Created Woman, directed by her then husband Roger Vadim. Over the next 17 years, Bardot worked with directors like Jean-Luc Goddard and Louis Malle, and acted opposite Hollywood stars like Sean Connery and James Stewart. Despite never working in America, Bardot became an international icon, with her updos and heavy eyeliner serving as fashion inspiration the world over. In 1973, Bardot retired from acting and became a full-time animal rights activist.
“Her films, her voice, her dazzling glory, her initials, her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, her face that became Marianne, Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom,” French president Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on Sunday. “French existence, universal brilliance. She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.”
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In her later years, Bardot was frequently criticized for being racist and Islamophobic. In 1999, Bardot wrote that France had been “invaded by an overpopulation of foreigners, especially Muslims.” In 2008, she wrote about Muslims again, saying she was “tired of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts.” By that time, she had been convicted of inciting racial hatred five times, with each conviction leading to a fine by the French government.
In 2018, Bardot found herself in hot water again for her comments about the MeToo movement. The actress said that “in the vast majority of cases,” the people speaking out about sexual harassment and assault in the entertainment industry were “hypocritical, ridiculous, and uninteresting.” “I thought it was nice to be told that I was beautiful or that I had a pretty little ass,” Bardot said, “This kind of compliment is nice.”
Bardot is survived by her husband, Bernard d’Ormale, and her son from a previous marriage, Nicolas Charrier.
