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celebrity.land<\/p>\n
By Lee Smith<\/p>\n
(celebrity.land) \u2014 <\/b>A symbol of rebellious youth and beauty, Brigitte Bardot helped usher in the sexual revolution in the movies with her sensual, uninhibited performances in films like Jean-Luc Godard\u2019s \u201cContempt.\u201d Then in the second half of her life, she carved an unconventional path as a fierce advocate for animal rights.<\/p>\n
The legendary French actress died at 91, according to a statement from her foundation provided to celebrity.land on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Brigitte Bardot Foundation pays tribute to the memory of an exceptional woman who gave everything and gave up everything for a world more respectful of animals,\u201d the foundation said. \u201cHer legacy lives on through the actions and struggles the Foundation continues with the same passion and the same fidelity to her ideals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Known in France merely by her initials B.B., Bardot tantalized audiences and scandalized moral authorities with her raw display of sexuality in the 1950s and \u201860s. She became a box-office phenomenon in the United States and helped to popularize foreign films with Americans at a time when censorship in Hollywood movies forbade frank discussions of sex, much less nudity.<\/p>\n
Describing her impact, Life magazine said in 1961, \u201cEverywhere girls walk, dress, wear their hair like Bardot and wish they were free souls like her.\u201d<\/p>\n
French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Bardot, saying she \u201cembodied a life of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer films, her voice, her dazzling glory, her initials, her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, her face that became Marianne (the symbol of the French republic), Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom,\u201d Macron posted on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe mourn a legend of the century,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
She divided public opinion as one of the first truly modern celebrities. Long before Madonna, Bardot pursued several love affairs with men on her own terms and was unapologetic about her hedonistic behavior and lifestyle in a pre-feminist era.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the game of love, she is as much a hunter as she is a prey,\u201d French writer Simone de Beauvoir observed in a famous 1959 essay first published in Esquire<\/a>, \u201cBrigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome.\u201d \u201cThe male is an object to her, just as she is to him. And that is precisely what wounds masculine pride.\u201d<\/p>\n The star dismissed her own acting abilities and rarely won critics\u2019 praise, but her charismatic personality was undeniable for nearly two decades in 40-plus films such as \u201c\u2026And God Created Woman\u201d (1956), \u201cContempt\u201d (1963) and \u201cViva Maria!\u201d (1965). She also became a popular singer in France in the \u201860s.<\/p>\n Aside from her movies and music, Bardot\u2019s fashion sense kept her at the forefront of pop culture in the second half of the 20th century. Her bleached blond hair, worn long and straight, or up in a twist with tresses cascading down, as well as her penchant for casual, form-fitting outfits kept her image contemporary-looking long after the \u201860s were over. Jane Fonda and Julie Christie were among the actresses who would mimic her, while models such Kate Moss and Claudia Schiffer would also copy her sexy, tousled look.<\/p>\n A London art dealer explained what made Bardot such a trendsetter while holding a photo exhibit in 2009 to celebrate the star\u2019s 75th birthday.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was natural, she went barefoot, she didn\u2019t brush her hair, she wore no makeup, she wore (flat-soled) pumps because she trained as a ballet dancer,\u201d James Hyman told The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s that image of freedom, exuberance and youth. She stood up as being authentic, instinctive, free. For women, it was a feminist thing; it was about women behaving as men did, taking lovers and having affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n After retiring from movies at age 39 in 1973, Bardot used her celebrity to bring attention to the plight of animals.<\/p>\n \u201cI gave my beauty and my youth to men, and now I am giving my wisdom and experience, the best of me, to animals,\u201d she told a crowd at a 1987 auction of her memorabilia to raise funds<\/a> for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation<\/a> for animal welfare.<\/p>\n But she remained a controversial figure, facing criticism for expressing anti-immigrant attitudes when she denounced Islamic rituals involving the slaughter of animals. Her 1992 marriage to Bernard d\u2019Ormale, an associate of far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, cemented the idea that she was out of touch with a modern and diverse France. She was convicted for inciting racial hatred multiple times, including by insulting the Muslim community, according to Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n In a tribute to the movie star, far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen, Jean-Marie\u2019s daughter, said Bardot was an \u201cexceptional woman\u201d who will be \u201cgreatly missed by us.\u201d Meanwhile, Jordan Bardella, leader of France\u2019s far-right National Rally party, called the actress a \u201cwoman of heart, conviction and character.\u201d<\/p>\n Further thumbing her nose at public expectations, Bardot aged naturally<\/a> and resisted plastic surgery like so many of her Hollywood contemporaries. The one-time \u201csex<\/a> kitten<\/a>\u201d of the movies let her hair go gray and didn\u2019t hide the lines on her face after years of tanning.<\/p>\n Born September 28, 1934, Bardot grew up in an upper middle-class Parisian family far removed from the glittery entertainment world. She aspired to be a ballerina, but her appearance on the cover of Elle magazine at age 15 attracted the attention of film director Marc All\u00e9gret and especially his young assistant, Roger Vadim. Six years older than Bardot, Vadim, an aspiring filmmaker, would become a love interest to the future actress and play a major role in her rise to movie stardom.<\/p>\nA life pivot, for a cause<\/h2>\n
\u2018A woman\u2019s right to enjoy sex\u2019<\/h2>\n