Noor Nanji<\/span>Culture correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n French actress Brigitte Bardot, who revolutionised 1950s French cinema and became a symbol of sexual liberation, has died aged 91.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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”.<\/p>\n Later in life, Bardot’s reputation was damaged after she made homophobic slurs and was fined multiple times for inciting racial hatred.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Brigitte Bardot Foundation she established said in a statement that it was announcing her death with “immense sadness”.<\/p>\n 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.” <\/p>\n It did not specify where or when Bardot died.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “French existence, universal brilliance. She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile, French far-right politician Marine Le Pen said France had lost “an exceptional woman, through her talent, her courage, her frankness, her beauty”.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born in Paris in 1934 to a wealthy family, who wanted her to become a ballerina.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n 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”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n She was married four times and had one son, Nicolas, with French actor and film producer Jacques Charrier, who died in September.<\/p>\n 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”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ruthlessly marketed as a hedonistic sex symbol, Bardot was frustrated in her ambition to become a serious actress.<\/p>\n At the height of her fame, she announced she was retiring at the age of 39 to devote her life to animal welfare.<\/p>\n “I gave my youth and beauty to men, I give my wisdom and experience to animals,” Bardot famously declared.<\/p>\n In 1986, she launched the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which works to protect wild and domestic animals.<\/p>\n She became a vegetarian, and in 2013 even threatened to apply for Russian citizenship<\/a> in protest against plans to kill two sick elephants in a French zoo.<\/p>\n Reacting to her death, France’s oldest animal protection association – The Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Protectrice des Animaux – paid tribute to an “iconic and passionate figure for the animal cause”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u20ac15,000 (\u00a312,000) in 2008<\/a> after complaining on her website that Muslims were “destroying our country by imposing their ways”.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20251210-151139-37baf2dfdd-web-2.36.1-1\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Thomas Samson via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Herbert](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/a4e8\/live\/c026ee90-ab47-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp\")
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Charly Hel\/Prestige\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n