French actress and outspoken animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has died at the age of 91. Bardot, a defining figure in 1960s cinema and later a controversial public figure, died at her home in the south of France, her foundation announced.
The news was confirmed by Bruno Jaclin of the Brigitte Bardot Animal Rescue Foundation, who announced her death in a statement without specifying the cause. Bardot was reportedly hospitalized in November. “The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announces with deep sadness the passing of its founder and president, world-famous actress and singer, Mrs. Brigitte Bardot, who chose to leave behind a prestigious career and dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and the Foundation,” the statement read.
A career that captures cultural moments
Bardot gained international attention in 1956 with “And the Woman God Created,” directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim. Her performance as a free-spirited young woman from Saint-Tropez proved scandalous at the time and helped redefine a more open and sexual image of stardom. Due to his on-screen persona and tabloid profile, Bardot became closely associated with postwar France, which was loosening its social constraints.
Over a career spanning 28 films, she appeared in such films as “The Truth,” “Contempt,” “Viva Maria!,” and “Shalako.” In 1969, her face was chosen as the model for France’s national emblem, Marianne, and her image was incorporated into the country’s official iconography.
move away from the spotlight
Bardot retired from acting in 1973 at the age of 39 and withdrew from public life in Saint-Tropez. As time went on, she spoke about the pressures of fame and how being constantly in the spotlight affected her personally, explaining that the experience was something she was never able to fully adapt to.
However, her exit from the film industry did not mean that she completely disappeared.
Animal welfare activities and subsequent controversy
In her later years, Bardot devoted herself to the animal rights movement, establishing the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986 and supporting it by selling her personal possessions. Her advocacy efforts have garnered international attention, including seal hunts, clinical testing, and protests against various animal slaughter practices. “Humans are insatiable predators,” Bardot said in 2007. “I don’t care about past glories. They mean nothing when it comes to suffering animals.”
However, her public profile became dominated by a series of inflammatory political statements. Bardot has been convicted multiple times in French courts of inciting racial hatred, particularly over comments targeting Muslim communities and acts of religious genocide. Her association with far-right politicians further deepened the backlash, and her public standing was sharply divided.
Tributes, reactions, and an uneven legacy
Following news of her death, French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute on social media, writing: “We mourn the legend of the century. Her films, her voice, her glory, her initials, her grief, her generous passion for animals, her face as Marianne. She embodied a life of freedom.”
Bardot is survived by his son Nicola. She left behind a legacy that remains difficult to summarize clearly. He is a performer who captured a particular era on screen, a campaigner with decades of commitment to animal rights, and a public figure whose subsequent comments and politics have repeatedly drawn criticism.
