- Brigitte Bardot, iconic 1950s actress and animal-rights campaigner, has died aged 91.
- The Brigitte-Bardot Foundation confirmed her death on 28 December 2025.
- She rose to global fame with films such as Et Dieu créa la femme, Le Mépris and La Vérité.
- After leaving cinema, Bardot devoted herself to animal welfare and funded a foundation from the sale of personal items.
Brigitte Bardot: a global star and fierce defender of animals
Brigitte Bardot, the French screen star long known simply as “BB,” died on 28 December 2025 at the age of 91, the Brigitte-Bardot Foundation announced. Bardot built an international reputation in the 1950s and 1960s as a symbol of youthful sensuality and a new image of female independence, then later became a high-profile campaigner for animal rights.
Announced by her foundation
The Foundation Brigitte-Bardot confirmed the news, which was first reported by her close entourage. Bardot had faced health issues in recent years, including hospital stays and a surgical intervention in November 2025. She had previously been hospitalized in January 2023 for respiratory problems.
From screen icon to cultural symbol
Bardot broke through in French cinema with early roles that quickly made her a global figure. Films such as Et Dieu créa la femme propelled her to international fame; later performances in La Vérité and Le Mépris cemented her reputation as a serious actress who also shaped fashion and public attitudes. Photographers and filmmakers followed her rise, and entire generations adopted her hairstyle, makeup and style.
A life beyond cinema
At the height of her fame Bardot chose to step away from films. Her final screen appearance came in the early 1970s, after which she moved to La Madrague in Saint-Tropez. There, surrounded by her animals, she began the work that would define the second half of her public life.
Animal advocacy and the Brigitte-Bardot Foundation
Bardot became a tireless defender of animal welfare. She campaigned against seal hunts, abandonment of pets, experimentation and other practices she saw as cruel. To finance that work she sold personal items and raised millions to create and sustain the Brigitte-Bardot Foundation, which has been active in numerous campaigns and rescues.
Controversy and public life
Her public career included controversies. Over time Bardot’s political positions and statements drew criticism and led to legal consequences, including a conviction in 2003 after remarks about religious practices. Her private life — marriages to Roger Vadim, Jacques Charrier, Gunter Sachs and later Bernard d’Ormale, and the presence of her son Nicolas — was often in the public eye.
Legacy
Brigitte Bardot leaves a complex legacy: a transformative figure in cinema and fashion who later devoted herself to animal rights. She will be remembered both for the films that made her famous and for the foundation and activism that consumed much of her later life.
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