From: YourName@YourISP.com
French cinema actress Brigitte Bardot dies aged 91
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French actress Brigitte Bardot, who revolutionised 1950s French cinema
and became a symbol of sexual liberation, has died aged 91.
The cinema icon - "BB" as she was known in her home country - acted in
almost 50 films, including And God Created Woman, but retired in 1973
to devote her life to animal welfare.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the nation was mourning "a legend
of the century", while the Brigitte Bardot Foundation remembered her as
a "world-renowned actress".
Later in life, Bardot's reputation was damaged after she made
homophobic slurs and was fined multiple times for inciting racial
hatred.
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation she established said in a statement that
it was announcing her death with "immense sadness".
The animal welfare organisation said she was "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."
It did not specify where or when Bardot died.
Paying tribute, Macron wrote: "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 existence, universal brilliance. She touched us. We mourn a
legend of the century."
Meanwhile, French far-right politician Marine Le Pen said France had
lost "an exceptional woman, through her talent, her courage, her
frankness, her beauty".
Bardot's husband, whom she married in 1992, was Bernard d'Ormale, a
former adviser to the late far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen - the
father of Marine.
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born in Paris in 1934 to a wealthy
family, who wanted her to become a ballerina.
She was discovered in her teens after posing on the cover of Elle
magazine, swiftly becoming a sensation in her home country, and was
persuaded to enter the cinema world.
She played iconic roles, most notably in the 1956 film And God Created
Woman, directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim, in which she played a
sexually liberated woman.
The film scandalised the American public and was banned in some US
states, while the French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir
hailed her as an icon of "absolute freedom".
Through the late 1950s and 1960s, she became a global phenomenon with
roles in The Truth, earning critical acclaim for her dramatic depth;
Contempt, a Jean-Luc Godard masterpiece; and Viva Maria!, showcasing
her comedic flair alongside Jeanne Moreau.
Beyond her most iconic roles, Bardot showcased her versatility in films
like Love on a Pillow, where she portrayed a complex, emotionally-torn
character, and Two Weeks in September, a romantic drama that highlighted
her ability to convey vulnerability.
In The Bear and the Doll, she brought playful charm to a comedic role,
proving her range across genres. These films, though less celebrated,
underscored her ability to captivate audiences in diverse narratives.
As well as her work in film, Bardot will also be remembered as a
fashion icon, with her blonde tousled hair and bold eyeliner setting
beauty trends worldwide. After wearing an off-the-shoulder number in
Cannes in 1953, similar styles became known as the Bardot neckline.
She was married four times and had one son, Nicolas, with French actor
and film producer Jacques Charrier, who died in September.
Nicolas later sued his mother for emotional damage after she wrote in
an autobiography that she would have preferred to "give birth to a
little dog".
Ruthlessly marketed as a hedonistic sex symbol, Bardot was frustrated
in her ambition to become a serious actress.
At the height of her fame, she announced she was retiring at the age
of 39 to devote her life to animal welfare.
"I gave my youth and beauty to men, I give my wisdom and experience to
animals," Bardot famously declared.
In 1986, she launched the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which works to
protect wild and domestic animals.
She became a vegetarian, and in 2013 even threatened to apply for
Russian citizenship in protest against plans to kill two sick elephants
in a French zoo.
Reacting to her death, France's oldest animal protection association -
The Societe Protectrice des Animaux - paid tribute to an "iconic and
passionate figure for the animal cause".
But for all her cinema successes and animal welfare work, Bardot leaves
behind a controversial legacy, with a string of remarks later in life
about Islam, gay people and the #MeToo movement impacting her
reputation.
From the late 1990s, Bardot was fined multiple times for inciting
racial hatred after comments she made online and in interviews about
Muslims. She was fined €15,000 (£12,000) in 2008 after complaining on
her website that Muslims were "destroying our country by imposing
their ways".
Bardot faced fierce criticism for her 2003 book, A Cry in the Silence,
where she argued gay people, modern art, politicians and immigrants
destroyed French culture.
In 2018, Bardot also dismissed actresses who commented on sexual
harassment via the #MeToo movement as "hypocritical, ridiculous,
uninteresting".
"There are many actresses who flirt with producers in order to get a
role," Bardot said in an interview with French magazine, Paris Match.
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