French actress Brigitte Bardot, who revolutionised 1950s French cinema and became a symbol of sexual liberation, has died aged 91.
The cinema icon – “BB” as she was known in her home country – acted in almost 50 films, including And God Created Woman, but retired in 1973 to devote her life to animal welfare.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the nation was mourning “a legend of the century”, while the Brigitte Bardot Foundation remembered her as a “world-renowned actress”.
Later in life, Bardot’s reputation was damaged after she made homophobic slurs and was fined multiple times for inciting racial hatred.
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation she established said in a statement that it was announcing her death with “immense sadness”.
The animal welfare organisation said she was “a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation.”
It did not specify where or when Bardot died.
Paying tribute, Macron wrote: “Her films, her voice, her dazzling glory, her initials, her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, her face that became Marianne, Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom.
“French existence, universal brilliance. She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.”
Meanwhile, French far-right politician Marine Le Pen said France had lost “an exceptional woman, through her talent, her courage, her frankness, her beauty”.
Bardot’s husband, whom she married in 1992, was Bernard d’Ormale, a former adviser to the late far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen – the father of Marine.
