Brigitte Bardot

Who is Brigitte Bardot?

Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former actress, singer, and fashion model, who later became an animal rights activist. She was one of the best known sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, and was widely referred to simply by her initials. Starting in 1969, Bardot became the official face of Marianne to represent the liberty of France.

Bardot was an aspiring ballerina in early life. She started her acting career in 1952 and, after appearing in 16 routine comedy films with limited international release, became world-famous in 1957 with the controversial film And God Created Woman. She later starred in Jean-Luc Godard's 1963 film Le Mépris. Bardot was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress for her role in Louis Malle's 1965 film Viva Maria!. Bardot caught the attention of French intellectuals. She was the subject of Simone de Beauvoir's 1959 essay, The Lolita Syndrome, which described Bardot as a "locomotive of women's history" and built upon existentialist themes to declare her the first and most liberated woman of post-war France.

Bardot retired from the entertainment industry in 1973.