Brigitte Bardot, the French actor, style icon, and animal activist who fixated the world with her insouciant, smoky-eyed sensuality, has died aged 91.
The news was shared by the French news agency AFP, along with a statement from the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. “The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announces with immense sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, 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 read.
An early architect of the cult of celebrity, Bardot masterfully harnessed the energy of the Swinging Sixties, framing herself as a free-spirited embodiment of a changing world. Starring in 47 films, several musicals, and recording an album with Serge Gainsbourg, Bardot (or BB, as she was widely known) became, in the words of Charles de Gaulle, “a French export as important as Renault cars.” In 1973, she turned her back on film at the height of her stardom, with a total commitment to her cause: animal rights.
Born a brunette in 1934 (she dyed her hair blonde in 1965, for the Italian film Mio Figlio Nerone), the daughter of Anne Marie and Louis Bardot grew up in an upper-middle-class Parisian home, attending private school three days a week and dancing ballet for the remaining two. Later, at the Conservatoire de Paris, she danced under the Russian choreographer Boris Knuazey for three years.
Aged 15, after appearing on the cover of Elle, Bardot was noticed by budding film director Roger Vadim, who persuaded Marc Allegret to invite her to audition for Les Lauriers Sont Coupes. Although Bardot didn’t get the role, it was a pivotal moment: her interest in acting was piqued, and she also fell in love with Vadim. When the relationship was forbidden by her parents, Bardot made the first of four failed suicide attempts; she would continue to struggle with severe depression throughout her life. Eventually, her parents relented—but forbade the pair from marrying until she was 18, which they did in 1952.
