French Actress and Style Icon Brigitte Bardot Dies at 91

BrigitteBardot, the actress whose sensual style defined French fashion in the ‘50s and ´60s and symbolized the sexual revolution, has died at the age of 91.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the film star and animal rights activist, often referred to simply by her initials B.B., whose face was used as a model for Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic.

“Through her films, her voice, her dazzling fame, her initials, her sorrows, her generous devotion to animals, and a face that became Marianne, Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom. She represented a French way of being and a universal brilliance. She moved us deeply. Today, we mourn a legend of the century,” Macron said in a statement.

Bardot, who became one of the biggest sex symbols of her era through roles in films such as “And God Created Woman” and “Contempt,” put Saint-Tropez on the map and popularized her uniform of sailor shirts and ballet flats.

After retiring from acting in the early ‘70s, she dedicated herself to animal welfare through the Brigitte Bardot Foundation and frequently made headlines for controversial statements aligned with the far right.

Famous for her tumultuous love life, she was married four times: to director Roger Vadim; actor Jacques Charrier, with whom she had a son, Nicolas; millionaire playboy Gunter Sachs, and Bernard d’Ormale, a former adviser to National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen.