Actor, singer, sex symbol, and style icon Brigitte Bardot has died. She retired from acting and became controversial in her later years for her right-wing politics. She was 91 years old.
Bruno Jacquelin of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for Animal Protection confirmed to The Associated Press that Bardot died Sunday at her home in the south of France. The cause of death has not been disclosed, and funeral and memorial arrangements have not yet been announced. She was hospitalized last month.
In the 1950s, Bardot ignited an international enthusiasm for bold, sexual European films, often directed by her first husband, Roger Vadim, such as “And God Created Woman.”
Although Bardot’s reign as a box office major was relatively short-lived, retiring from the film industry in the early ’70s, her influence was far-reaching. Bardot made youthful, pouty, attractive blondes a staple of cinema, especially American cinema, as opposed to the mature, feminine blondes of Marilyn Monroe. Between Bardot and Audrey Hepburn, young people’s anger over female sexuality took hold in movies, and in all media, and never subsided.
Bardot (and Vadim) also opened the door on sexuality, an area in which foreign films became famous in the tense America of the ’50s. This bold approach would eventually spread (if not substantively) in the United States and other countries, ending decades of censorship. By that time, Bardot was trying to surpass the status of a full-fledged actress in films such as Jean-Luc Godard’s La Contempt, but with limited success.
Her breakthrough came with And Then God Created Woman, written and directed by Vadim and released in late 1956, just as her marriage to Vadim was disintegrating. Although the film was only a moderate success in France, it gained popularity overseas, grossing $8.5 million worldwide. Bardot’s new and old works, such as “Mamselle Pigalle”, “Please! Monsieur Balzac”, and “The Girl in the Bikini” (1952), all washed up on American shores, establishing Bardot as a sex goddess. In France, she rose to the top of the box office with films such as “The Bride” and “La Parisienne,” which brought out her brighter side. “The Night Heaven Fell,” “The Woman and the Doll,” and “In Case of an Emergency.”
In 1959, Simone de Beauvoir wrote a paper called “Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome.” But by then, Bardot’s girlish sensuality was firmly entrenched in the culture, and no serious study could dislodge it.
Already the country’s highest-paid film star, Bardot sought to further prove herself as an actress by playing a member of the French Resistance in Babette Goes to War. In 1960, he directed Louis Malle’s A Very Private Affair and Henri-Georges Clouzot’s La Verite. She continued to work for Vadim during this period, long after Vadim moved on to other actresses and she moved on to her second husband, actor Jacques Charrier.
Godard’s 1963 La Contempt capitalized on her reputation and brilliantly commented on it. She also appeared in American films such as Dear Bridget (in a cameo role), about an eight-year-old girl who wants to meet Bardot. and Viva Maria, directed by Malle in English and co-starring Jeanne Moreau (Bardot was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress). In the late 1960s, she appeared in the Western film “Shalaco” with Sean Connery.
Bardot’s last two films, both made in 1973, were Nina Kompanese’s enlightening and entertaining The Story of Corino, and the sad Don Juan, another pale attempt by Vadim to exploit her sexuality. The latter was released in the United States in 1976.
She was born Camille Javal into a middle-class family in Paris. She showed talent as a dancer early on, studying ballet and attending a private school in Hattemer and then the Paris Conservatory. At the age of 15, at the suggestion of a friend, she modeled for the cover of Elle magazine, where she caught the attention of director Marc Allegret, who was looking for new talent for his film The Laurels.
Although she did not get the role, Alegre’s assistant Vadim took her under his wing and, after playing small roles in small films, married her in 1952 in a highly publicized event that contributed to the promotion of the young aspiring actress. Further bit roles appeared in films, the first of which was released in the United States in Anatole Litvak’s 1953 filmed in France, starring Kirk Douglas. She then appeared in the film “Future Stars” directed by Allegret, and had her first lead role in “Doctor at Sea”, a chapter of the English Doctor series. She next co-starred with legendary French director René Clair in The Great Operation (1956), and then starred in And Then God Created a Woman.
In addition to his film work, Bardot also recorded approximately 80 songs, which were extremely popular, primarily in the 1960s and 70s.
However, she never appeared in a film again, and in 2010 the former actress expressed anger over rumors that an American-made biopic about her was in the works.
Nevertheless, Bardot would remain a media star, thanks in part to her numerous love affairs, her animal advocacy, and her passion for right-wing politics. In 1986 she founded the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. Her efforts in animal rights work earned her the French Legion of Honour (which she refused), and Bardot was willing to protest or even get arrested for protecting four-legged creatures. However, she was also fined by a French court for inciting racial hatred after repeatedly making controversial statements specifically criticizing immigrants and Muslims in France.
Bardot married German playboy Günter Sachs in the late 1960s, and in 1993 married French far-right supporter and wealthy businessman Bernard Dormal.
Bardo survived due to Dormar. A son born from his marriage to Charlie. and two granddaughters.
