An icon of French cinema has died at the age of 91

French actress Brigitte Bardot, who revolutionized French cinema in the 1950s and became a symbol of sexual liberation, has died at the age of 91.

The cinema icon – “BB” as he was known in his home country – starred in nearly 50 films, including And God Created Woman, but retired in 1973 to devote his 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-famous actress”.

Later in her life, Bardot’s reputation was damaged after she made homophobic slurs and was fined several times for inciting racial hatred.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation that she created said in a statement that it announced her death with “tremendous sadness”.

The animal welfare organization said she was “a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to give up her prestigious career to devote her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation.”

He did not specify where or when Bardot died.

Paying tribute to her, 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. It touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.”

For her part, far-right French 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 – Marine’s father.

Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born in Paris in 1934 into a wealthy family who wanted her to become a ballerina.

Discovered as a teenager after posing on the cover of Elle magazine, she quickly became a sensation in her country of origin and was convinced to enter the world of cinema.

She played iconic roles, including in the 1956 film And God Created Woman, directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim, in which she played a sexually liberated woman.

The film scandalized American audiences and was banned in some US states, while French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir hailed it as an icon of “absolute freedom”.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, she became a global phenomenon with roles in The Truth, earning rave reviews for her dramatic depth; Le Mépris, a masterpiece by Jean-Luc Godard; and Viva Maria!, showcasing his comedic talent alongside Jeanne Moreau.

Beyond her most iconic roles, Bardot has shown her versatility in films like Love on a Pillow, where she plays a complex and emotionally torn character, and Two Weeks in September, a romantic drama that showcases her ability to express vulnerability.

In The Bear and the Doll, she brought a playful charm to a comedic role, proving her diversity in genres. These films, although less famous, highlighted his ability to captivate audiences in diverse narratives.

In addition to her film work, Bardot will also be remembered as a fashion icon, with her tousled blonde hair and bold eyeliner setting beauty trends around the world. After wearing an off-the-shoulder number in Cannes in 1953, similar styles became known as the Bardot neckline.

She was married four times and had a son, Nicolas, with French actor and producer Jacques Charrier, who died in September.

Nicolas then sued his mother for emotional harm after she wrote in an autobiography that she would have preferred to “give birth to a little dog.”

Ruthlessly marketed as a hedonistic sex symbol, Bardot was frustrated in her ambition to become a serious actress.

At the height of her fame, she announced that she would retire at 39 to devote her life to animal welfare.

“I gave my youth and my beauty to men, I give my wisdom and my experience to animals,” Bardot said.

In 1986, she launched the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which works for the protection of wild and domestic animals.

She became a vegetarian, and in 2013 even threatened to apply for Russian citizenship to protest against the plan to kill two sick elephants in a French zoo.

In reaction to his death, the oldest French animal protection association, the Société Protectrice des Animaux, paid tribute to an “emblematic character passionate about the animal cause”.

But for all her film successes and her work for animal welfare, Bardot leaves behind a controversial legacy, with a series of remarks later in her life about Islam, homosexuals and the #MeToo movement impacting her reputation.

Beginning in the late 1990s, Bardot was fined several times for inciting racial hatred after comments she made online and in interviews about Muslims. She was fined €15,000 (£12,000) in 2008 after complaining on her website that Muslims were “destroying our country by imposing their ways.”

Bardot faced heavy criticism for her 2003 book, A Cry in the Silence, in which she claimed that homosexuals, modern art, politicians and immigrants were destroying French culture.

In 2018, Bardot too fired actresses who commented on sexual harassment via the #MeToo movement as “hypocritical, ridiculous, uninteresting”.

“There are a lot of actresses who flirt with producers to get a role,” Bardot said in an interview with French magazine Paris Match.