French film star Brigitte Bardot is dead

“The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announces with unspeakable sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot,” the statement said. Bardot was a “world-recognized actress and singer”.“who chose to give up her illustrious career to dedicate her life and energy to the defense of animals and her foundation.” The foundation did not comment on the time or circumstances of Bardot’s death.

Bardot made a name for himself with more than 50 films as “BB”. The curvaceous blonde with the pouty lips was celebrated worldwide as a sex symbol. Her most famous films included “The Truth”, “Contempt” and “Viva Maria!”. She worked with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle, among others.

Other films in which the girl with a ponytail became the Lolita of an entire nation were “A Woman Like Satan” (1959) and “With a Woman’s Weapons” (1958).

At the height of her career in 1973/74, the star said goodbye to the world of film. She was tired of the star hype. “I hate people. I find my balance in nature, in the company of animals,” she explained. “I gave my beauty and my youth to men,” she once said. “I will give my wisdom and my experience to the animals.”

At the beginning of the 1970s, Bardot, who had previously been one of the most photographed women in the world, gave up her acting career completely and from then on dedicated her life to endangered animals of all kinds. To this end, she founded her foundation, for which she auctioned off parts of her assets, and set up several animal shelters. She retired to her villa “La Madrague” in Saint-Tropez.

Another reason for their withdrawal: Bardot didn’t want to age on screen. “I am Brigitte Bardot, and that Brigitte Bardot up there on the screen will never be 60.” She never regretted her decision – she never wanted to be an actress anyway.

French President Emmanuel Macron reacted on the platform

The actress was born on September 28, 1934 in Paris comes from a Catholic family. As a young girl she started one Training as a ballet dancerthen at the age of 15 she was discovered as a photo model and became one of the most sought-after mannequins.

Her sensual beauty fell first the director Jean Boyer who brought her in front of the camera for the first time for “Le Trou Normand”. That was in 1952. After that she made one film after another. She achieved her international breakthrough in 1956 with “And the Woman Always Lures” by Roger Vadim. The picture emerged: half vamp, half Lolita.

In addition to film work, Bardot also discovered the world of chanson. Above all, she became known through the provocative songs of the singer, actor and composer Serge Gainsbourg. One of the most famous chansons he wrote for her is “Harley Davidson”.

Bardot led a jet-setting existence until the end of her film career. She lived and loved unabashedly and paved the way for the sexual revolution with her self-determined femininity. The Philosopher Simone de Beauvoir honored her as the embodiment of authenticity. Their influence extended beyond the cinema and ininspired artists like Bob Dylan and Andy Warhol.

Bardot was involved with Gainsbourg and had a relationship with him Fellow actor Jean-Louis Trintignant and was married several times, among other things briefly with the German industrialist and playboy Gunter Sachs.

In 1992 She married a friend and advisor to Jean-Marie Le Penthe founder of the extreme right-wing National Front party (today: RN, Rassemblement National).

In recent decades, Bardot lived a very withdrawn life. From their right-wing extremist positions Bardot made no secret. In the last years of her life, she made headlines mainly because of misanthropic statements and publications against gays, France’s left, the homeless and illegal immigrants. She railed against the alleged “foreign infiltration” of France by Muslim immigrants.

She was convicted of inciting racial hatred six times between 1997 and 2008 because of her comments about immigration and Islam. In one case, a Paris court sentenced her to a fine of 15,000 euros, ‍because she had described Muslims as “this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing their actions.”

She also made headlines because she was public defended actors Gérard Depardieu and Nicolas Bedos, who were accused of sexual assault – with the provocative remark that talented men would be “banished to the deepest dungeons” just because they “grab a girl’s ass.” They should “at least be allowed to live on – they can’t live anymore.”

While the #MeToo debate about sexual harassment in the film business According to Deutsche Welle, she explained that many actresses “tease” producers to get a role. “And then they say they were harassed so we would talk about them.”

In an interview in May 2025, she said, she does not see herself as a symbol of the sexual revolution: “Feminism is not my thing; I like men.”

She stuck to her stance well into old age: “I will say what I think all my life, whether I like it or not.” She never left any doubts about that.