Brigitte Bardot, the Face of France, Passes Away at 91

SAINT-TROPEZ,  FRANCE — Brigitte Bardot, the blonde bombshell who redefined 20th-century cinema and later became the world’s most famous voice for animal rights, has died at her home in southern France. She was 91.

Bardot shot to international stardom in 1956 with the film And God Created Woman, directed by her first husband, Roger Vadim. Her performance, characterized by a naked tabletop dance and a “pouty irreverence,” shocked the bourgeois society of the 1950s. She became more than an actress; she was a symbol of French liberation.

In 1969, her features were so iconic that she was chosen as the model for Marianne, the national emblem of the French Republic. Her face graced coins, stamps, and statues across the nation.

Retiring from acting at the height of her fame in the 1970s, Bardot dedicated her life to the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. She became a relentless advocate, traveling to the Arctic to stop the slaughter of baby seals and fighting against laboratory testing on animals.

“I don’t care about my past glory,” she famously said. “It means nothing in the face of an animal that suffers.” In 1985, she was awarded the Legion of Honor for her dedication to the cause.