Brigitte Bardot, 1960s sultry sex symbol turned militant animal rights activist dies at 91, starred in ‘And God Created Woman’

Paris — Brigitte Bardot, the French sex symbol of the 1960s who became one of the greatest screen models of the 20th century and later became a militant animal rights activist and supporter of the far-right, has died. She was 91 years old.

Bardot died on Sunday at her home in southern France, according to Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Protection of Animals. Speaking to The Associated Press, he did not give the cause of death and said no arrangements had yet been made for a funeral or memorial service. She was hospitalized last month.

Bardot became world famous as a sexualized teenage bride in the 1956 film And God Made Woman. The film, directed by her then-husband, Roger Vadim, caused a scandal with scenes of the long-legged beauty dancing on tables naked.

At the height of her film career, which spanned some 28 films and three marriages, Bardot became a symbol of a nation emerging from bourgeois respectability. Her tousled blond hair, sensual personality and full of irreverence made her one of the most famous starlets in France.

Such was her appeal that in 1969 her features were chosen as the model for “Marianne”, the national emblem of France and the official Gallic seal. Bardot’s face has appeared on statues, postage stamps, and even on coins.

“We are mourning a legend,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Sunday.

Bardot’s second career as an animal rights activist was equally exciting. She traveled to the North Pole to blow the whistle on the slaughter of seal pups. It condemned the use of animals in laboratory experiments. She was opposed to Islamic ritual slaughter.

“Man is an insatiable predator,” Bardot told The Associated Press on her 73rd birthday in 2007. “I don’t care about my past glory. It means nothing in the face of a suffering animal, because it has neither the strength nor the words to defend itself.”

Her activism earned her the respect of her countrymen, and in 1985, she was awarded the Legion of Honor, the country’s highest recognition.

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Turn to the far right

However, she later fell from public grace when her animal protection diatribes took on a decidedly extreme tone. She often denounced the influx of immigrants into France, especially Muslims.

She has been convicted and fined five times in French courts for inciting racial hatred, in incidents inspired by her opposition to the Islamic practice of slaughtering sheep during annual religious holidays.

Bardot’s marriage in 1992 to her fourth husband, Bernard Dormal, who was an advisor to National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, contributed to her political transformation. She described Le Pen, an outspoken nationalist with multiple racist beliefs, as a “beautiful and intelligent man.”

In 2012, she wrote a letter supporting the presidential candidacy of Marine Le Pen, who now leads the National Rally party renamed by her father. On Sunday, Le Pen paid tribute to an “extraordinary woman” who was “incredibly French.”

In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, Bardot said in an interview that most actors who protested sexual harassment in the film industry were “hypocritical” and “ridiculous” because many of them played “action” with producers to get roles.

She said she had never been a victim of sexual harassment, and found it “charming to be told that I’m pretty or that I have a nice little butt.”

Distinctive but “difficult” upbringing.

Brigitte Anne Marie Bardot was born on September 28, 1934, to a wealthy industrialist. A shy and secretive child, she studied classical ballet and was discovered by a family friend who put her on the cover of Elle magazine at the age of 14.

Bardot once described her childhood as “difficult” and said that her father was a strict disciplinarian who sometimes punished her with a horse whip.

But it was French film producer Vadim, whom she married in 1952, who saw her potential and wrote “And God Created Woman” to highlight her provocative sensuality, an explosive mixture of childish innocence and raw sexuality.

The film, which depicted Bardot as a bored newlywed sleeping with her brother-in-law, had a decisive influence on New Wave directors Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, and came to embody the hedonism and sexual freedom of the 1960s.

The film was a huge success at the box office, making Bardot a superstar. Her girlish pout, small waist, and large bust were often appreciated more than her talent.

“It’s embarrassing to act so badly,” Bardot said of her first films. “I struggled a lot in the beginning. I was really treated like less than nothing.”

The blatant off-screen love affair between Bardot and co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant shocked the nation. She has erased the boundaries between her public and private life and turned it into a hot prize for photographers.

Bardot has never adjusted to the spotlight. She blamed the continued press attention for the suicide attempt that followed the birth of her only child, Nicola, ten months later. Photographers had stormed her house two weeks before she gave birth to take a picture of her while she was pregnant.

Nicolas’ father was Jacques Charrier, a French actor whom she married in 1959 but who never felt comfortable in his role as Monsieur Bardot. Bardot quickly handed her son over to his father, later saying that she was chronically depressed and unprepared for the duties of a mother.

“I was looking for roots then,” she said in an interview. “I had nothing to offer.”

In her 1996 autobiography, “Initiales BB,” she likened her pregnancy to “a tumor growing inside me,” and described Charrière as “moody and abusive.”

Bardot married her third husband, West German millionaire Gunther Sachs, in 1966, but the relationship again ended in divorce three years later.

Her films include “Parisi” (1957); “In Case of Misfortune,” in which she starred in 1958 with screen legend Jean Gabin; “The Truth” (1960); “Private Life” (1962); “The Charming Fool” (1964); “Shalako” (1968); “The Woman” (1969); “Bear and Doll” (1970); “Rum Street” (1971); and “Don Juan” (1973).

With the exception of Godard’s critically acclaimed 1963 film Contempt, Bardot’s films were rarely complicated by plots. It was often a way to showcase Bardot in skimpy dresses or frolicking naked in the sun.

“It’s never been a big passion of mine,” she said of filmmaking. “And it can be deadly sometimes. Marilyn (Monroe) died because of it.”

Bardot retired to her villa on the Riviera in Saint-Tropez at the age of 39 in 1973 after The Woman Grabber.

Reinventing herself in middle age

A decade later she emerged with a new persona: an animal rights activist, her face wrinkled and her voice deep after years of chain-smoking. She gave up her jet-set life and sold movie memorabilia and jewelry to create a foundation dedicated exclusively to preventing animal cruelty.

Its activity knows no bounds. She urged South Korea to ban the sale of dog meat, and once wrote to US President Bill Clinton asking why the US Navy took back two dolphins it had released into the wild.

She attacked centuries-old French and Italian sporting traditions, including the Palio, a free-for-all horse race, and campaigned in favor of wolves, rabbits, kittens and doves.

“It’s true that sometimes I exaggerate, but when I see how slowly things are moving forward, I get upset,” Pardo told the Associated Press when asked about her convictions about racial hatred and her opposition to the slaughter of Muslims.

In 1997, several cities removed Bardot-inspired statues of Marianne after the actress expressed anti-immigrant sentiments. Also that year, she received death threats after calling for a ban on the sale of horse meat.

Bardot once said she recognized the animals she was trying to save.

“I can understand animals being poached because of the way they were treated,” Pardo said. “What happened to me was inhumane. I was always surrounded by the world’s press.”

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Ganley contributed to this story before her retirement. Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.