Brigitte Bardot, global film star and tireless campaigner for animal rights, dies at the age of 91

Brigitte Bardot, one of France’s most internationally recognised film actors and later a prominent campaigner for animal rights, has died aged 91.

Her cinema career spanned just over two decades, from the early 1950s to the early 1970s, yet her image became a lasting fixture in global popular culture.

After leaving film, she dedicated her public life to animal welfare, while later also becoming a divisive political figure in France.

Born in Paris in 1934 into a conservative middle-class family, Ms Bardot trained in classical dance before entering modelling and cinema as a teenager. 

She appeared in her first films in the early 1950s, but gained international attention in 1956 with Et Dieu… créa la femme, directed by Roger Vadim.

The film established her public image and was widely seen at the time as marking a shift in representations of female sexuality in post-war cinema.

Ms Bardot went on to appear in more than 40 films, working with directors including Jean-Luc Godard (Le Mépris), Louis Malle (Viva Maria!), and Henri-Georges Clouzot (La Vérité).

During the late 1950s and 1960s, she was among France’s most visible cultural figures abroad, with intense and persistent media attention focused on her private life, relationships and appearance.

Withdrawal from film and focus on animal welfare

In 1973, aged 39, Ms Bardot ended her acting career and did not return to cinema. She redirected her energies toward animal protection, a cause she described as central to her life.

She established what became the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, supporting shelters, legal actions and campaigns in France and internationally. 

Her best-known activism focused on opposition to seal hunting, which drew significant international attention in the late 1970s. The foundation later expanded its work to include opposition to the fur trade, hunting practices and industrial farming methods.

Animal welfare remained the primary focus of her public interventions for the rest of her life.

Political controversy and later years

From the late 1990s onward, Ms Bardot also became known for outspoken political statements, particularly on immigration, Islam and national identity. Several of these remarks led to criminal convictions for incitement to racial hatred under French law.

She expressed support for figures and movements on the far right, including members of the Le Pen family, positions that contrasted sharply with the image associated with her earlier career. 

Ms Bardot rejected accusations of racism and maintained that her views reflected a defence of French cultural traditions.

She lived in Saint-Tropez for decades, rarely appearing in public and refusing most official honours. 

Her public presence was largely limited to written statements, court appearances and interventions related to animal welfare.

Brigitte Bardot leaves behind a legacy defined by her influence on post-war cinema, her long-running animal welfare activism, and controversies that marked the final decades of her life.

She is survived by her son Nicolas-Jacques Charrier.