The world of cinema and animal welfare is in mourning following the death of French screen legend Brigitte Bardot at the age of 91. The iconic actress, who became a global sex symbol before dedicating her life to animal rights, passed away after a period in hospital in Toulon.
A Final Glimpse: Passion for Animals Until the End
In the days leading up to her passing, the official Instagram page of The Brigitte Bardot Foundation offered fans poignant final glimpses of the star. The most recent upload featured a video of Bardot, looking remarkably well, spending time with a Doberman named Urphe who was seeking a new home after his owner moved to a care facility.
Another post, celebrating Christmas, showed the actress kissing a rescue dog. The caption wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, adding: 'Thank you for your support! Take care of yourselves, your loved ones, and your pets.' These images powerfully illustrated the cause that had defined her later years.
From Screen Siren to Staunch Activist
Brigitte Bardot shot to international fame as the original 'Sex Kitten' following her role in the 1956 film 'And God Created Woman', directed by her first husband, Roger Vadim. Her voluptuous portrayal made her an object of global fascination, described by Time magazine as France's 'most ogled export'.
In a dramatic life shift, she retired from acting in 1973 at the height of her fame. 'I gave my youth and my beauty to men, I am now giving my experience, the best of myself, to animals,' she famously stated. She founded The Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986, channelling her energy and resources into supporting animal shelters, rescue operations, and sterilisation campaigns for stray animals.
Her activism was fierce and often controversial. She once threatened to seek Russian citizenship in 2013 over the treatment of elephants in a Lyon zoo, calling France a 'graveyard for animals'. In 2001, she donated $140,000 to help sterilise and rehome 300,000 stray dogs in Bucharest.
A Complex Legacy and Political Controversies
While celebrated for her cinematic legacy and animal work, Bardot's later years were also marked by political controversy. She was a vocal supporter of far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen and was convicted and fined for 'inciting racial hatred' in her 2004 book, 'A Scream in the Silence'. She was fined a total of six times for similar offences.
Following news of her death, French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute, writing on X: 'Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom... She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.'
The star, who was born in Paris on 28 September 1934 and initially trained as a ballet dancer, had suffered ill health recently. In October, she was forced to deny false reports of her death, posting: 'I don't know who the idiot is who started this fake news... know that I am fine.' She had been living reclusively at her private property in Saint-Tropez with her fourth husband, Bernard d'Ormale, whom she married in 1992.
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announced her death on Sunday morning, stating it was made 'with immense sadness' and honouring her choice to abandon a prestigious career to dedicate her life to animal welfare.
