Brigitte Bardot, French film legend and activist, dies aged 91
The news was announced today (Sunday 28th December) by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation.
French screen legend-turned activist Brigitte Bardot has died at the age of 91, it has been announced.
Today (Sunday 28th December), the Brigitte Bardot Foundation announced in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse: "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."
As of yet, further details surrounding Bardot's death have not been announced.
Born in 1934 in Paris, Bardot – also often referred to by her initials BB – rose to international stardom in 1956, with the film And God Created Woman, where she played Juliette, a hedonistic 18-year-old orphan living in 1956 San Tropez. This film made Bardot an international sensation, pushing the boundaries of the representation of sexuality in American cinema and earning Bardot sex symbol status.
Over the next two decades, Bardot became one of the most famous faces in European cinema. She went on to star in 1960's The Truth, which earned her a David di Donatello Best Foreign Actress Award, Le Mépris/Contempt (1963), Viva Maria! (1965), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA, Two Weeks in September (1967), Women/The Vixen (1969), The Legend of Frenchie King (1971) and many more. In total, Bardot appeared in over 45 films before her retirement.
Alongside her screen career, Bardot also found success as a singer, recording more than 60 songs. Most of the songs she recorded were in collaboration with with Serge Gainsbourg, Bob Zagury and Sacha Distel.
In the early 1970s, Bardot announced her retirement from acting and instead moved into the political sphere, with her primary focus becoming animal rights. She created the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, and was a major opponent of the consumption of horse meat. She was a member of the Global 500 Roll of Honour of the United Nations Environment Programme and received several awards and accolades from UNESCO and PETA.
Bardot has also been met with her fair share of controversy, having been fined six times for inciting racial hatred, when she criticised immigration and Islam in France and called the residents of Réunion "savages".
Across the course of her life, Bardot was married four times, to Roger Vadim, Jacques Charrier, Gunter Sachs and Bernard d'Ormale. She is survived by her son Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, and two grandchildren.
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Chezelle Bingham is a Sub-Editor for Radio Times. She previously worked on Disney magazines as a Writer, for 6 pre-school and primary titles. Alongside her prior work in writing, she possesses a BA in English Literature and Language.
