French film legend Brigitte Bardot dies at 91
French film icon Brigitte Bardot, a representation of sexual liberation during the 1950s and 1960s who left the film industry to focus on animal protection, has passed away at the age of 91, as announced by her foundation on Sunday.
Bardot was admitted to the hospital in October and, in November, issued a statement refuting rumors of her death. However, the foundation did not disclose the time or location of her passing.
"The Brigitte Bardot Foundation expresses profound sorrow at the loss of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, a globally acclaimed actress and singer, who made the choice to forsake her illustrious career to commit her life and efforts to animal welfare and her foundation," the statement sent to AFP read.
Tributes swiftly poured in for the star, who was affectionately known as "BB" in her native country.
Born on September 28, 1934, in Paris, Bardot grew up in a privileged, traditional Catholic family. She was married four times and had one son, Nicolas, with her second husband, actor Jacques Charrier.
Bardot rose to international fame after her role in "And God Created Woman" in 1956, subsequently appearing in approximately 50 additional films before retiring from acting in 1973.
She distanced herself from fame to care for abandoned animals, expressing her weariness of maintaining her beauty daily.
President Emmanuel Macron referred to Bardot as a "legend" of the 20th century.
"Through her films, her voice, her radiant glory, her initials (BB), her struggles, her passionate commitment to animals, and her visage that became Marianne, Brigitte Bardot represented a life of freedom," he remarked on X, alluding to the female emblem of the French Republic.
"We mourn a legend of the century."
Bardot retreated to her residence in the Riviera resort of Saint-Tropez, where she dedicated herself to advocating for animals.
Her mission seemingly began when she encountered a goat on the set of her last film, "The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot."
To prevent its slaughter, she purchased the goat and kept it in her hotel room.
Bardot went on to found the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986, which now has 70,000 donors and around 300 employees, according to its website.
“I’m very proud of the first chapter of my life,” she told AFP in a 2024 interview ahead of her 90th birthday.
“It gave me fame, and that fame allows me to protect animals — the only cause that truly matters to me.”
She added that she lived in “silent solitude” in her home “La Madrague”, surrounded by nature and content to be “fleeing humanity”.
Unlike other beloved French New Wave stars, Bardot was a divisive figure who alienated many fans with her political views.
She was convicted five times for hate speech, mostly about Muslims, but also the inhabitants of the French island of Reunion, whom she described as “savages.”
A supporter of far-right politician Marine Le Pen, Bardot declared herself “against the Islamisation of France” in a 2003 book, citing “our ancestors, our grandfathers, our fathers have for centuries given their lives to push out successive invaders.”
Jordan Bardella, the head of Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, was among the first to pay homage.
“Today the French people have lost the Marianne they so loved, whose beauty astonished the world,” he wrote on X.
In her final book, Mon BBcedaire (“My BB Alphabet”), published weeks before her death, she fired barbs at what she described as a “dull, sad, submissive” France and at her home town of Saint-Tropez, now packed with the wealthy tourists she helped attract.
The book also contained derogatory remarks about gay and transgender people.
She is the latest of the New Wave luminaries to die and is survived by her only child, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, from her marriage to actor Jacques Charrier.
On the subject of death, she warned that she wanted to avoid the presence of “a crowd of idiots” at her funeral and wished for a simple wooden cross above her grave, in her garden — the same as for her animals.
