Brigitte Bardot Dead at 91, Foundation Confirms

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…Brigitte Bardot grew up in a wealthy, traditional Catholic family.

Paris, France — The iNews Times reports that legendary French actress, singer and animal rights activist, Brigitte Bardot, has died at the age of 91, her foundation announced on Sunday.

In a statement sent to AFP, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation confirmed the death of its founder and president, describing her as a world-renowned cultural icon who abandoned a prestigious film career to dedicate her life to the protection of animals.

“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,” the statement said.

The foundation did not disclose the exact date or place of her death. Bardot had been hospitalised in October and was forced in November to publicly deny widespread rumours of her death.

Tributes quickly poured in for the woman affectionately known as “BB,” who became a symbol of sexual liberation in the 1950s and 1960s and one of France’s most recognisable cultural exports.

Born on September 28, 1934, in Paris, Bardot grew up in a wealthy, traditional Catholic family. She was married four times and had one son, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, from her marriage to actor Jacques Charrier.

Bardot rose to global fame after starring in And God Created Woman in 1956, a role that cemented her status as an international sex symbol. She went on to appear in nearly 50 films before retiring from acting in 1973 at the height of her popularity.

Explaining her decision to abandon cinema, Bardot once said she was “sick of being beautiful every day,” choosing instead a life devoted to rescuing abandoned and mistreated animals.

She withdrew from public life to her home in the Riviera town of Saint-Tropez, where she lived in near isolation and focused on animal advocacy.

Her passion for animal welfare reportedly began during the filming of her final movie, The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot, when she rescued a goat from being slaughtered by buying it and keeping it in her hotel room.

In 1986, Bardot founded the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which today boasts about 70,000 donors and employs roughly 300 staff members worldwide.

“I’m very proud of the first chapter of my life,” Bardot told AFP in a 2024 interview ahead of her 90th birthday. “It gave me fame, and that fame allows me to protect animals the only cause that truly matters to me.”

French President Emmanuel Macron described Bardot as a “legend” of the 20th century.

“With her films, her voice, her dazzling glory, her initials (BB), her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, and her face that became Marianne, Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom,” Macron wrote on X. “We mourn a legend of the century.”

Despite her iconic status, Bardot remained a deeply divisive figure in later life. She was convicted five times for hate speech, particularly for comments targeting Muslims, residents of France’s Reunion Island, and members of the LGBTQ community.

A vocal supporter of far-right politician Marine Le Pen, Bardot declared herself “against the Islamisation of France” in a 2003 book, a position that alienated many former admirers.

Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally party, was among the first to pay tribute, calling her “the Marianne the French people loved.”

In her final book, Mon BBcedaire (“My BB Alphabet”), published just weeks before her death, Bardot criticised what she described as a “dull, sad, submissive” France and lamented the transformation of Saint-Tropez into a playground for wealthy tourists.

She is survived by her only child, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier.

On the subject of death, Bardot had expressed a wish for a simple burial, requesting a wooden cross over her grave in her garden the same marker used for her animals and insisting she did not want “a crowd of idiots” at her funeral.