Brigitte Bardot, Iconic Star Turned Activist, Dies at 91

Brigitte Bardot, the woman whose image helped define a liberated 1960s femininity and who later devoted her life to animal welfare, died on December 28, 2025, her foundation said. She was 91. The foundation did not immediately disclose a cause of death.

Born Brigitte Anne Marie Bardot in Paris on September 28, 1934, she came from an upper middle class household and later made Saint Tropez synonymous with glamour and leisure. "At age 14, she went on to become France’s biggest star," one profile observed, a trajectory that led Bardot into modeling, film and music. Her breakout role in …And God Created Woman in 1956 propelled her to international fame and established her as a global sex symbol. Over roughly two decades she appeared in more than 40 films, including Vie privée, Contempt and Viva Maria, while also enjoying popular success as a singer in France.

Critics have long pointed out that Bardot rarely attracted praise for classical thespian craft, yet her screen charisma proved irresistible to audiences and filmmakers. Her persona rewrote the visual grammar of the era, popularizing the bikini, the off the shoulder Bardot neckline and a carefree image of Saint Tropez that helped turn the town into a global tourist destination. By the late 1960s she had become so emblematic of national identity that she was chosen as the first celebrity model for Marianne, the republican symbol displayed in town halls.

Bardot left film in 1973 at about age 39. She framed her retreat plainly, saying, "I will have given 20 years of my life to cinema, that’s enough," and adding, "I gave my youth and my beauty to men. I am going to give my wisdom and experience to animals." Her pivot was dramatic and consequential. She had protested slaughterhouse practices as early as 1962, a protest credited with prompting legal changes toward less painful methods. In 1986 she founded the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals, funding sanctuaries and rescue operations after auctioning jewelry and personal belongings to raise about three million francs.

Her animal activism amplified debates about celebrity influence on public policy and philanthropy. Bardot supported high profile activists such as anti whaling campaigner Paul Watson and at times used the threat of exit from France to press political points. "This is my only battle, the only direction I want to give my life," she told reporters in 2013, underscoring a single mindedness that both attracted admirers and heightened controversy.

That controversy extended beyond animal causes. Bardot’s later years were marked by outspoken views on immigration and Islam and a string of legal penalties. She was fined multiple times for public insults and as of November 2021 had been fined six times for inciting racial hatred, according to compiled records. Her personal life, including a decision to give up custody of her son, also drew intense public scrutiny and contributed to a mixed legacy in France where some celebrate her cultural contributions and others regard her as an eccentric or intolerant figure.

Bardot’s death will prompt retrospectives on a career that influenced cinema, fashion and activism. The tensions of her legacy illustrate wider cultural questions about how societies reconcile artistic achievement with contentious political beliefs, and how celebrity can be harnessed for social change while also courting legal and moral consequences.