Paris: Renowned French actress Brigitte Bardot has died, aged 91, a statement released by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation said on Sunday.
Calling her a “world-renowned actress and singer”, the Foundation noted how Bardot “chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation”.
“The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announces with immense sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation.”
It does not specify the time or place where she died.
Bardot was a fierce patriot and admired Charles de Gaulle. She was against halal meat, and called out against the alleged “Islamicisation” of France. She was fined multiple times for inciting racial hatred.
She starred in a number of French cinema hits in the 1950s and 1960s – including And God Created Woman – becoming known as a symbol of sexual liberation.
French president Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Bardot on social media and posted: “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. She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century,” he posted.
At the height of her fame, Bardot retired from acting in 1973, aged 39, to champion animal rights.
France’s oldest animal protection association – The Société Protectrice des Animaux (SPA) – paid tribute to an “iconic and passionate figure for the animal cause”.
“Since the 1970s, and then through her foundation created in the 1980s, she has devoted her life to defending those who have no voice,” La SPA said.
“Her unwavering commitment has helped raise awareness and achieve major advances for animal protection,” it added.
After nearly 50 films, Bardot turned heads when she announced that she would be stepping away from the big screen aged just 39 in 1973.
“I gave my youth and beauty to men, I give my wisdom and experience to animals,” Bardot famously said.
In 1986, Bardot launched her own animal rights charity – the Brigitte Bardot Foundation – which works to protect wild and domestic animals.
The actress later became vegetarian, and in 2013 even threatened to apply for Russian citizenship in protest against plans to kill two sick elephants in a French zoo.
In 2001, Bardot celebrated success after signing a deal with the mayor of Bucharest to save about 100,000 stray dogs from death.
According to its website, Bardot’s foundation now has “more than 70,000 donors worldwide, nearly 300 employees and more than 500 volunteer investigators and delegates”.
Born in Paris on 28 September 1934 to a wealthy family, she went on to star in a number of French hits.
