Brigitte Bardot, French ‘sex kitten’ who gave up movies for animal rights, dies at 91

(CNN) — A symbol of rebellious youth and beauty, Brigitte Bardot helped usher in the sexual revolution in the movies with her sensual, uninhibited performances in films like Jean-Luc Godard’s “Contempt.” Then in the second half of her life, she carved an unconventional path as a fierce advocate for animal rights.

The legendary French actress died at 91, according to a statement from her foundation provided to CNN on Sunday.

“The Brigitte Bardot Foundation pays tribute to the memory of an exceptional woman who gave everything and gave up everything for a world more respectful of animals,” the foundation said. “Her legacy lives on through the actions and struggles the Foundation continues with the same passion and the same fidelity to her ideals.”

Known in France merely by her initials B.B., Bardot tantalized audiences and scandalized moral authorities with her raw display of sexuality in the 1950s and ‘60s. She became a box-office phenomenon in the United States and helped to popularize foreign films with Americans at a time when censorship in Hollywood movies forbade frank discussions of sex, much less nudity.

Describing her impact, Life magazine said in 1961, “Everywhere girls walk, dress, wear their hair like Bardot and wish they were free souls like her.”

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Bardot, saying she “embodied a life of freedom.”

“Her films, her voice, her dazzling glory, her initials, her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, her face that became Marianne (the symbol of the French republic), Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom,” Macron posted on X.

“We mourn a legend of the century,” he added.

‘As much a hunter as she is a prey’

She divided public opinion as one of the first truly modern celebrities. Long before Madonna, Bardot pursued several love affairs with men on her own terms and was unapologetic about her hedonistic behavior and lifestyle in a pre-feminist era.

“In the game of love, she is as much a hunter as she is a prey,” French writer Simone de Beauvoir observed in a famous 1959 essay first published in Esquire, “Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome.” “The male is an object to her, just as she is to him. And that is precisely what wounds masculine pride.”

The star dismissed her own acting abilities and rarely won critics’ praise, but her charismatic personality was undeniable for nearly two decades in 40-plus films such as “…And God Created Woman” (1956), “Contempt” (1963) and “Viva Maria!” (1965). She also became a popular singer in France in the ‘60s.

Aside from her movies and music, Bardot’s fashion sense kept her at the forefront of pop culture in the second half of the 20th century. Her bleached blond hair, worn long and straight, or up in a twist with tresses cascading down, as well as her penchant for casual, form-fitting outfits kept her image contemporary-looking long after the ‘60s were over. Jane Fonda and Julie Christie were among the actresses who would mimic her, while models such Kate Moss and Claudia Schiffer would also copy her sexy, tousled look.

A London art dealer explained what made Bardot such a trendsetter while holding a photo exhibit in 2009 to celebrate the star’s 75th birthday.

“She was natural, she went barefoot, she didn’t brush her hair, she wore no makeup, she wore (flat-soled) pumps because she trained as a ballet dancer,” James Hyman told The Guardian.

“It’s that image of freedom, exuberance and youth. She stood up as being authentic, instinctive, free. For women, it was a feminist thing; it was about women behaving as men did, taking lovers and having affairs.”

A life pivot, for a cause

After retiring from movies at age 39 in 1973, Bardot used her celebrity to bring attention to the plight of animals.

“I gave my beauty and my youth to men, and now I am giving my wisdom and experience, the best of me, to animals,” she told a crowd at a 1987 auction of her memorabilia to raise funds for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for animal welfare.

But she remained a controversial figure, facing criticism for expressing anti-immigrant attitudes when she denounced Islamic rituals involving the slaughter of animals. Her 1992 marriage to Bernard d’Ormale, an associate of far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, cemented the idea that she was out of touch with a modern and diverse France. She was convicted for inciting racial hatred multiple times, including by insulting the Muslim community, according to Reuters news agency.

In a tribute to the movie star, far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen, Jean-Marie’s daughter, said Bardot was an “exceptional woman” who will be “greatly missed by us.” Meanwhile, Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, called the actress a “woman of heart, conviction and character.”

Further thumbing her nose at public expectations, Bardot aged naturally and resisted plastic surgery like so many of her Hollywood contemporaries. The one-time “sex kitten” of the movies let her hair go gray and didn’t hide the lines on her face after years of tanning.

‘A woman’s right to enjoy sex’

Born September 28, 1934, Bardot grew up in an upper middle-class Parisian family far removed from the glittery entertainment world. She aspired to be a ballerina, but her appearance on the cover of Elle magazine at age 15 attracted the attention of film director Marc Allégret and especially his young assistant, Roger Vadim. Six years older than Bardot, Vadim, an aspiring filmmaker, would become a love interest to the future actress and play a major role in her rise to movie stardom.

Her family initially disapproved of the relationship and barred them from seeing one another. Distraught, Bardot tried to commit suicide – the first of several reported attempts – but her parents relented and agreed to let her marry Vadim in 1952 when she turned 18.

Bardot gradually built up her career with small roles in French films, and she captivated photographers at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival with her youthful, spontaneous appearance. Three years later, Vadim directed his first film, “…And God Created Woman,” with his wife as a young temptress who comes between two brothers. Audiences couldn’t get enough of Bardot – from the moment she first appears nude behind clothesline sheets until a sweat-drenched erotic dance near the film’s end.

“People pretended to be shocked by Brigitte’s nudity and unabashed sensuality when, in fact, they were attacking a film that spoke without hypocrisy of a woman’s right to enjoy sex, a right up to that point reserved for men,” Vadim wrote three decades later.

Filmed in the glamorous French town of Saint-Tropez, “…And God Created Woman” put the then-fishing village on the map and helped to make the town famous throughout the world. In a statement Sunday, the town called Bardot the “most dazzling ambassador” while expressing its “great sadness” over her death.

“Brigitte Bardot now belongs to the collective memory of Saint-Tropez, which we must preserve. She will continue to live on in the soul of our city,” the statement said.

The milestone French film was the first of five times that Vadim would direct Bardot, and the huge hit established her as a Top 10 US box-office attraction in 1958. Prior to that, foreign actresses became international celebrities only after starring in American movies, but Bardot resisted pressure to go to Hollywood.

The Vadims divorced in 1957 in the wake of Bardot’s affair with costar Jean-Louis Trintignant, the first of several high-profile romances that would make her a paparazzi favorite.

“My life was totally turned upside down,” Bardot told CNN in 2007. “I was followed, spied upon, adored, insulted. My private life became public. Overnight, I found myself imprisoned, a gilded prison but a prison nonetheless.”

Bardot and the paparazzi

At the height of her stardom, Bardot moved between light sex comedies such as “Une Parisienne” (1957), “Come Dance With Me!” (1959) and “Babette Goes to War” (1959) to more dramatic roles in “En Cas de Malheur” (1958) and “La Vérité” (1960). In the latter, she won acclaim playing a suicidal young woman who goes on trial for murder after accidentally killing her lover.

Its filming was an emotionally trying time for Bardot, coming shortly after the birth of her only child, Nicolas, and as her second marriage, to actor Jacques Charrier, was unraveling. Bardot gave birth while trapped in her Paris apartment, outside of which hordes of photographers were camped awaiting the momentous event.

After finishing the difficult role in “La Vérité,” Bardot made world headlines when she tried to kill herself in September 1960 on her 26th birthday. A boy miraculously discovered the star – who had taken pills and cut her wrists – in the woods on a country estate after she had gone missing.

But Bardot proved to be a survivor, even weathering criticism that she was a bad mother for giving up custody of her son. She soon tackled the autobiographical role of an emotionally troubled star trapped by fame in “Vie Privée” (1962).

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Billy Stockwell contributed to this report.

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