Brigitte Bardot, French Film Legend, Dies at 91

The curtain falls on a global icon

Brigitte Bardot, the French actress who redefined on-screen sensuality and later became a fierce animal-rights crusader, has died at 91, her family confirmed early Monday. With the news, an era of cinema that married effortless glamour with unapologetic rebellion quietly fades to black.

From Saint-Tropez to stardom

Born in Paris in 1934, Bardot was a ballerina hopeful before a fashion magazine cover at 15 catapulted her onto the Riviera film sets. By 23, And God Created Woman (1956) had turned her into an international bombshell, her tousled blond hair and carefree smile symbolizing a post-war France eager to break old taboos.

"She walked through cinema like it was her private beach—every camera moved with her," remembered veteran cinematographer Henri Alékan, who shot several of her early pictures.

Over three fast-paced decades, she made more than 40 films, working with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle. Yet the spotlight she never sought soon felt like a cage.

Exit the screen, enter the arena

In 1973, at 39, Bardot retired from acting, claiming show business had become "a circus without soul." She sold her jewelry, bought a seaside estate, and devoted her life to animals, founding the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986. The group has since spayed and neutered hundreds of thousands of stray dogs and cats and fought bullfighting from Seville to South America.

Controversy followed her second act. Courts fined her multiple times for inciting racial hatred after outspoken letters on immigration. Supporters called it plain-speaking; critics branded it xenophobia. Still, her commitment to animal welfare never wavered, and she remained France’s most famous activist right into her nineties.

Legacy of a free spirit

French President Emmanuel Macron praised her on Monday as "a woman who chose her own script, on screen and off." Tributes poured in from Cannes, where the festival plans a beachfront screening of her greatest hits, and from PETA, which called her "the original celebrity voice for the voiceless."

• Filmography highlights: And God Created Woman (1956), Contempt (1963), Viva Maria! (1965)
• Activism: 300+ animal-protection campaigns, 12 books, 1.5 million petition signatures delivered to the EU
• Honors: Legion of Honour (1985, later resigned), UNESCO ecology prize (1997)

Final bow

Bardot spent her last years quietly among rescue dogs at La Madrague, her Saint-Tropez home, rarely granting interviews. She is survived by her husband Bernard d’Ormale and a legacy that stretches well beyond the silver screen—proof that sometimes the brightest stars refuse to stay inside the frame.