Brigitte Bardot, one of the most influential figures in French cinema and a global cultural icon of the 1950s and 1960s, has died at the age of 91, her foundation just announced.
Bardot became internationally famous at 21 with And God Created Woman (1956). Known as "B.B.", she went on to star in more than 40 films and became one of the most recognisable women in the world.
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Born in Paris in 1934, Bardot began as a model before turning to acting. Artists and writers including Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan and Simone de Beauvoir cited her cultural impact.
She retired from cinema in 1973, citing disillusionment with fame and the film industry. Bardot later focused on animal rights activism, founding the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986.
Bardot lived reclusively in Saint-Tropez in recent decades. As she once said late in life, she did not dwell on her film career, but acknowledged it gave her the platform to fight for what mattered most to her: animals.
Emmanuel Macron on X:
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. French existence, universal brilliance. She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.
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Marine Le Pen on X:
Brigitte's departure is an immense sorrow. France loses an exceptional woman, through her talent, her courage, her frankness, her beauty. A woman who chose to break with an incredible career to devote herself to the animals she defended until her last breath with inexhaustible energy and love. She was incredibly French: free, untamable, whole. She will be greatly missed by us.
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Jordan Bardella on X:
The French people today lose the Marianne they so loved, whose beauty stunned the world. Brigitte Bardot was a woman of heart, conviction, and character. Fervent patriot, lover of animals whom she protected all her life, she alone embodied an entire French era, but also and above all a certain idea of courage and freedom.
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