Brigitte Bardot, the French actor and singer who became one of cinema's most celebrated sex symbols, has died at the age of 91.
The star rose to international prominence with the 1956 film And God Created Woman, directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim, in which she portrayed an uninhibited young woman in Saint-Tropez.
The production proved enormously successful both in France and abroad, establishing Ms Bardot as a leading figure in French cinema.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she embodied the archetypal "sex kitten" image, though she would later abandon the film industry entirely to pursue animal rights campaigning.
Brigitte Bardot has died
| PAMs Bardot was born in Paris in 1934 to a prosperous Catholic family with traditional values. Her talent as a dancer earned her a place at the Conservatoire de Paris, where she studied ballet.
Simultaneously, she pursued modelling work, landing the cover of Elle magazine in 1950 when she was just 15 years old.
This exposure led to film auditions, at one of which she encountered Mr Vadim, whom she married in 1952 upon turning 18.
Her early screen appearances included a role opposite Dirk Bogarde in the 1955 British hit Doctor at Sea.
Brigitte Bardot is one of French cinema's biggest ever names | PADuring the early 1960s, she featured in acclaimed French productions including Henri-Georges Clouzot's Oscar-nominated The Truth and Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt.
Beyond her film work, Ms Bardot maintained a parallel career in music, most notably recording the original version of Serge Gainsbourg's Je T'Aime ... Moi Non Plus, composed during their extramarital affair.
She requested Mr Gainsbourg withhold the track after her husband Gunter Sachs discovered the relationship; he subsequently re-recorded it with Jane Birkin to considerable commercial success.
In 1973, at 39, Ms Bardot stepped away from acting permanently, telling the Guardian in 1996: "The madness which surrounded me always seemed unreal. I was never really prepared for the life of a star."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Brigitte Bardot quit showbiz for a life of activism | PAShe redirected her energies toward animal welfare, participating in anti-seal hunting protests from 1977 and establishing the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986.
Her later years were marked by increasingly controversial political positions, including vocal support for France's Front National and its leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, particularly regarding immigration.
She told the Guardian: "On the terrifying surge of immigration, I share [Jean-Marie Le Pen's] views completely."
Her 2003 book A Cry in the Silence targeted gay people, teachers, and what she termed the "Islamisation of French society", resulting in a conviction for inciting racial hatred.
Brigitte Bardot has died at the age of 91. pic.twitter.com/VKVjih7G9I
— Pop Base (@PopBase) December 28, 2025
Ms Bardot married four times: to Mr Vadim, actor Jacques Charrier (with whom she had son Nicholas in 1960), Gunter Sachs, and former Le Pen adviser Bernard d'Ormale in 1992.