Brigitte Bardot, the dazzling French actress who redefined sensuality on the silver screen, has left us at 91, marking the end of an era that shaped cinema and culture, NPR reported.
Her passing was confirmed by her animal rights foundation in a statement to Agence France-Presse on a Sunday, though details of time and location remain undisclosed.
Born in 1934 to a well-to-do Parisian family, Bardot grew up Catholic, trained in ballet, and soon caught the public eye as a teenage model gracing Elle magazine covers.
At 18, she wed Roger Vadim, an aspiring director six years her senior, who molded her into a global icon of allure after her parents insisted on the wait.
In Vadim’s 1957 film "And God Created Woman," Bardot stunned audiences with a bold portrayal of sexual freedom, a role that both captivated and scandalized.
While The New York Times critiqued the film harshly, they couldn’t deny her magnetism, noting she “moves herself in a fashion that fully accentuates her charms.”
Through the 1950s and ‘60s, Bardot’s influence soared, her provocative style inspiring women worldwide to mimic her hair, makeup, and signature pout.
She collaborated with cinematic giants like Jean-Luc Godard in "Le Mépris" and Louis Malle in "Viva Maria!," though critics often fixated on her beauty over her craft.
Simone de Beauvoir captured this duality in a 1959 Esquire essay, writing, “In the game of love, she is as much hunter as she is prey,” a line that hints at Bardot’s commanding yet vulnerable persona.
Yet fame took a toll; relentlessly hounded by paparazzi, Bardot battled depression and even attempted suicide, later revealing how the spotlight gnawed at her soul.
Retiring in 1973 after a prolific career in dozens of films, she turned her passion to animal rights, founding a foundation to champion her cause.
Her later years near Saint-Tropez, alongside fourth husband Bernard d’Ormale and numerous pets, shifted focus from stardom to activism, though not without controversy.
Post-retirement, Bardot’s outspokenness drew ire, with multiple convictions in France for inciting racial hatred over comments on immigration and cultural practices.
Her 2003 book "Un Cri dans le Silence" criticized various societal shifts and groups, while her ties to far-right politics through d’Ormale, an aide to National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, raised eyebrows.
Though she apologized in court in 2004, she doubled down on concerns about cultural changes, leaving a legacy as complex as her screen roles—a champion of freedom who, as scholar Ginette Vincendeau noted, seemed to resent others exercising it.
