Brigitte Bardot, the French actress, singer and model who rose to international fame in the 1950s and 1960s and later became a prominent animal rights activist, has died at the age of 91.
Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals, told The Associated Press that Bardot died at her home in southern France. He did not disclose the cause of death.
Bardot had been hospitalised last month. No details regarding funeral or memorial arrangements have been announced.
Bardot shot to fame with the 1956 film And God Created Woman, directed by her then husband Roger Vadim. The film, in which she played a sexualised teenage bride, caused a scandal at the time for its provocative scenes and established her as one of the leading sex symbols of the era.
Over a film career spanning around 28 films and three marriages, Bardot came to symbolise a France moving away from conservative social values. Her image — tousled blonde hair and a curvaceous figure — made her one of the country’s most recognisable cultural figures.
In 1969, her features were selected as the model for Marianne, the national emblem of France.
Bardot retired from acting in 1973 at the age of 39 and later reinvented herself as an animal rights activist. She travelled internationally to protest the slaughter of baby seals, opposed the use of animals in laboratory experiments and criticised the use of animals in space research.
In 1985 she was awarded the Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian honour.
In later years, however, Bardot courted controversy for her far-right political views and remarks on immigration and religious animal slaughter practices. She was convicted five times by French courts for inciting racial hatred.
Born Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot on September 28, 1934, she grew up in a wealthy family and trained as a classical ballet dancer. She was discovered as a teenager and appeared on the cover of Elle magazine at the age of 14.
She had one son, Nicolas, with actor Jacques Charrier, whom she married in 1959. Bardot later said she struggled with depression and motherhood and eventually gave up custody of her son.
Bardot also starred in A Parisian (1957), In Case of Misfortune (1958), The Truth (1960), Private Life (1962), Contempt (1963), Shalako (1968) and Don Juan (1973).
In her later years, Bardot lived largely out of the public eye at her home in St. Tropez, devoting her time and resources to animal welfare causes through her foundation.