Rare photos of Brigitte Bardot – photos of the French actress

Born in Paris in 1934 into a wealthy, conservative family, Bardot grew up in the 16th arrondissement.

Bardot’s mother encouraged her to take up dancing, and by the age of 13 she was accepted to the prestigious Paris Conservatory, where she trained with Russian choreographer Boris Knyazev.

At the age of 15, Bardot began exploring a career as a model. She appeared on the cover of Elle in 1950 and again in late 1952, both in point-of-view acting roles.

Bardot was working as a model when she met French film director Roger Vadim. They waited to marry until she was 18 (Vadim was 24). The couple married in a church in Paris on December 20, 1952.

The newlyweds were captured hugging each other when a photographer visited the couple’s apartment in Paris.

Promoting her first American film, The Act of Love, at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival, Bardot looked every inch the glamorous movie star she was as she walked through the crowd.

Bardot’s Act of Love co-star Kirk Douglas was spotted chatting with Bardot on the beach in Cannes.

Bardot continued to get roles in romantic comedies, but in 1954 he branched out into the French adventure film Caroline and the Rebels and the Italian melodrama The Concert of Intrigue.

Bardot won the coveted role of the handmaiden Andraste in Helen of Troy. Here, the actress is seen trying to push the Trojan wheel on set.

Bardot is seen on the set of The Doctor at Sea, which is currently filming in London, England. This film was one of her first non-French films after The Act of Love.

Although Bardot had appeared in notable films since her film debut, it was her role in her husband’s directorial debut, And Who God Made, that ultimately propelled her international film career to new heights.

After her role in And God Created Woman, Bardot could hardly walk down the street without being recognized. This sexually explicit film brought fame and notoriety to her and her husband, director Roger Vadim.

Bardot looks relaxed in a striped T-shirt and jeans while filming La mariée est trop belle (The Beautiful Bride).

After five years of marriage, Bardot and Vadim divorced in 1957. However, the couple maintained a professional bond, as Vadim directed Bardot in the 1958 film The Night Heaven Fell.

Bardot visited New York in 1957 to film the romantic comedy The Parisienne.

After his divorce from Vadim, Bardot had an affair with French singer Sacha Distel. Here, the couple attends the 19th Venice International Film Festival in 1958. Unfortunately, we broke up the following year.

Bardot traveled to Seville, Spain to film La Femme et le Pantin, which was released in the United States as The Woman. Here, the actress is captured performing at a flamenco show in Spain.

Although Bardot’s films were in high demand in the United States, Bardot appeared more often in French than American films. Here she is on the set of the film Voulez-Vous Danser Avec Moi? It was released in the United States as Come Dance with Me.