Actor, singer, sex symbol and style icon Brigitte Bardot, who retired from acting and became controversial for her right-wing politics in her later years, has died. She was 91.
Bardot died Sunday at her home in southern France, according to Bruno Jacquelin of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals, who confirmed the news to The Associated Press. No cause of death was provided, and arrangements for funeral or memorial services have not yet been announced. She had been hospitalized last month.
In the 1950s Bardot ignited an international zeal for boldly sexual European movies, often directed by her first husband, Roger Vadim, such as “And God Created Woman.”
Though Bardot’s reign as a major box office draw was relatively brief, and she retired from films in the early ’70s, her influence was far-reaching: She made youthful, pouty, nubile blondes a staple in cinema, particularly in American movies, as opposed to a more mature, womanly blonde like Marilyn Monroe. Between Bardot and Audrey Hepburn, the rage for youth in female sexuality became entrenched in movies — and all media — and has never subsided.
Bardot (and Vadim) also opened the door on sexuality, for which foreign films became famous in the uptight America of the ’50s. This boldness of approach (if not of substance) would eventually catch on in the U.S. and other countries and signal an end to decades of censorship. By then Bardot had tried to cross over and attain the mantle of a serious actress with such films as Jean-Luc Godard’s “Contempt,” but met with only limited success.
Her breakthrough came with “And God Created Woman,” written and directed by Vadim and released in late 1956 while her marriage to him was breaking up. The movie was only modestly successful in France but it took off overseas, earning $8.5 million around the world. New and older films by Bardot such as “Mam’zelle Pigalle,” “Please! Mr. Balzac” and “The Girl in the Bikini” (from 1952) all washed up on U.S. shores, solidifying Bardot as a sex goddess. In France she climbed to the top of the box office with films like “The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful,” “La Parisienne,” which brought out her lighter side; “The Night Heaven Fell,” “The Woman and the Puppet” and “In Case of Emergency.”
In 1959, Simone de Beauvoir wrote a treatise called “Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome.” But by then, Bardot’s girlish sensuality was so well entrenched in the culture that it was not about to be dislodged by serious studies.
Already the country’s highest-paid film performer, Bardot tried to further prove herself an actress in “Babette Goes to War,” as a member of the French Resistance; Louis Malle’s “A Very Private Affair” and Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “La Verite” in 1960. She continued to work for Vadim during this period, long after he’d moved on to other actresses and she to her second husband, actor Jacques Charrier.
Godard’s “Contempt,” in 1963, exploited her reputation and brilliantly commented on it. She also appeared in American-made films such as “Dear Brigitte” (in a cameo), about an 8-year-old who desperately wants to meet Bardot; and “Viva Maria,” directed by Malle in English and pairing her with Jeanne Moreau (Bardot received a BAFTA Award nomination for best foreign actress). Later in the ’60s she appeared in the Western “Shalako” with Sean Connery.
Bardot’s last two films, both made in 1973, were Nina Companeez’s “The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot” and the sad “Ms. Don Juan,” another pallid Vadim attempt to exploit her sexuality. The latter was released in the U.S. in 1976.
She was born Camille Javal to an upper-middle-class Parisian family. Early on she evidenced talent as a dancer, studying ballet and attended the Hattemer’s private school and then the Paris Conservatory. At age 15, at the recommendation of a friend, she modeled for the cover of Elle magazine, where she was seen by director Marc Allegret, who was looking for a new face for his film “The Laurels Are Cut.”
Though she didn’t get the part, Allegret’s assistant, Vadim, took her under his wing and got her small roles in small films before marrying her in a much publicized 1952 event that helped promote the young would-be actress. More small roles followed in films, the first of which to be released in the U.S. was Anatole Litvak’s “An Act of Love” (1953), which starred Kirk Douglas but was shot in France. She then appeared in Allegret’s film “Future Stars” and got her first lead in a chapter of the English Doctor series, “Doctor at Sea.” She next worked with legendary French director Rene Clair in “The Grand Maneuver” (1956) before starring in “And God Created Woman.”
In addition to her film work, Bardot also recorded some 80 songs, some quite popular, mostly in the 1960s and ’70s.
She did not, however, work in movies again, and in 2010 the former actress expressed outrage over rumors that an American-made biopic about her was in the works.
Bardot would nevertheless remain a media star, in part because of her numerous love affairs, advocacy for animals and zeal for right-wing politics. In 1986 she created the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. Her efforts in the service of animal rights brought her the French Legion of Honor (she refused it), and Bardot was not unwilling to protest or even be arrested to protect four-legged creatures. But she also drew fines imposed by French courts for inciting racial hatred after repeatedly making controversial remarks in which she criticized immigration to France and Muslims in particular.
Bardot was married to German playboy Gunter Sachs in the late 1960s, and she married wealthy industrial Bernard d’Ormale, a supporter of the far right in France, in 1993.
Bardot is survived by d’Ormale; a son from her marriage to Charrier; and two granddaughters.