Brigitte Bardot

**Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot** (French IPA: ) (28 September 1934 – 28 December 2025) was a French actress, former fashion model, singer, animal rights activist, and considered one of the most important sex symbols of the 1970s and 1980s. She was one of the few actresses from Europe to which the American media paid attention.

## Early life

Born in Paris, into a well to do family, her father was an industrialist and her mother a housewife. She received a strict education but was allowed to take ballet lessons hoping to become a professional classical dancer.

## Career

In 1949, at the suggestion of a family friend, she began working as a fashion model and ended up making the cover of _Elle_ magazine in May 1950. This led to her being noticed by movie director Yves Allegret who offered her a role in one of his movies. The movie was never made but during the audition she met his young assistant Roger Vadim. Her family was strongly against the relationship but finally gave in and they married in 1952.

That same year, she began her acting career and appeared in two films; _Le trou normand_ and _Manina, fille sans voile_.

In the ensuing years, she appeared in small parts in various movies in France, Italy and England. Her career really took off in 1956, when she appeared in Vadim's movie _Et Dieu créa la femme_ (_And God created Woman_), written especially for her, which made her an instant star and an international sex-symbol. From then on, her every move made headlines around the world. In 1958, she bought a house "La Madrague" in Saint Tropez, then a quiet fishermen village, which has since then become a highly touristic destination.

Other notable movies have included; _En cas de malheur_ (1958), _La vérité_ (1960), considered by many her best role, _Vie Privée_ (1962), _Le mépris_ (1963), _Viva Maria_ (1965), etc. She also enjoyed success as a singer but mostly through recordings and television appearances.

In 1973, she decided to retire from entertainment and devote herself to her real passion of animal rights, which she continued to her death. She created her own foundation in 1986.

During the 1990s, she published her autobiography and other books in which she spoke openly about her political views on such things as immigration and Islam in France, mixed marriages and homosexuality, which created considerable controversy. She has angered many people who are part of these groups and was fined for incitation to racial hatred.

## Personal life and death

Bardot had four husbands and other romantic partners. After her divorce from Vadim in 1957, she married actor Jacques Charrier in 1959, with whom she had her only child, a son Nicolas, born on 11 January 1960. They divorced in 1962. Her third husband, from 1966 to 1969, was German millionaire Gunter Sachs. She was married to Bernard d'Ormale, a right-wing political organizer.

In October 2025, Bardot was hospitalized for a few weeks in Saint-Tropez, France and had surgery.

Bardot died on 28 December 2025 at her home in Saint-Tropez from cancer at the age of 91.

## Other websites

- Brigitte Bardot Foundation  for the welfare and protection of animals

## Infobox (person)

- **image**: Brigitte Bardot - 1962.jpg
- **caption**: Bardot in 1962
- **name**: Brigitte Bardot
- **birth name**: Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot
- **birth place**: Paris, France
- **death place**: Saint-Tropez, France
- **death cause**: Cancer
- **nationality**: French people, French
- **years active**: 1952–1973 (entertainer)
1973–2025 (activist)
- **children**: 1
- **relatives**: Mijanou Bardot (sister)
- **awards**: **Nominated: Best Actress**
1985 _Viva Maria!_