PARIS (AP) — Brigitte Bardot, the French sex symbol of the 1960s who became one of the great figures of 20th-century cinema and later an animal rights activist and far-right supporter, has died. She was 91.

Bardot died Sunday at her home in the south of France, according to Bruno Jacquelin of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Protection of Animals. Speaking to The Associated Press, he did not provide a cause of death, and indicated that arrangements for funeral or memorial services have not yet been made. She had been hospitalized last month.

The actress became an international celebrity as a sexualized teenage bride in the 1956 film “And God Created Woman.” Directed by her then-husband, Roger Vadim, the film sparked a scandal as it included scenes of the long-legged beauty dancing naked on tables.

At the height of a film career that spanned some 28 films and three marriages, Bardot came to symbolize a nation breaking away from bourgeois respectability. Her tousled blonde hair, voluptuous figure and sensual irreverence made her one of France's best-known stars.

Such was her widespread appeal that in 1969 her features were chosen to be the model for “Marianne”, the national emblem of France and the official French seal. Bardot's face appeared on statues, postage stamps and even coins.

“We are mourning a legend,” wrote French President Emmanuel Macron on the social network X.

Bardot's second career as an animal rights activist was equally sensational. He traveled to the Arctic to denounce the killing of seal pups; He condemned the use of animals in laboratory experiments, and opposed Muslim sacrificial rituals.

“Man is an insatiable predator,” Bardot told The Associated Press on her 73rd birthday in 2007. “I don't care about my past glory. That means nothing in the face of a suffering animal, since it has no power or words to defend itself.”

Her activism earned her the respect of her compatriots, and in 1985 she was awarded the Legion of Honor, the nation's highest honor.

A turn to the extreme right

However, she later fell out of favor in the public opinion when her criticism of the lack of protection for animals took on a decidedly extremist tone. she denounced the influx of immigrants to France, especially Muslims.

She was found guilty five times in French courts of inciting racial hatred, in incidents inspired by her opposition to the Muslim practice of slaughtering sheep during annual religious festivals such as Eid al-Adha.

Bardot's marriage in 1992 to her fourth husband, Bernard d'Ormale—a former adviser to Jean-Marie Le Pen, former leader of the National Front—contributed to the change. in his political position. He described Le Pen, an avowed nationalist with several guilty pleas for racism, as a “charming and intelligent man.”

In 2012, he wrote a letter supporting the presidential candidacy of Marine Le Pen, who now leads his father's party, which has been renamed the National Rally. Le Pen paid tribute on Sunday to an “exceptional woman” who was “incredibly French.”

In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, Bardot said in an interview that most actresses protesting against sexual harassment in the film industry were “hypocritical” and “ridiculous” because many played “flirtatious” with producers to get roles.

She said she had never been a victim of harassment. sexual and that she found it “charming to be told she was beautiful or that she had a nice butt.”

A privileged, but “difficult” childhood

Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born on September 28, 1934, daughter of a wealthy industrialist. A shy and reserved girl, she studied classical ballet and was discovered by a family friend, who put her on the cover of Elle magazine at the age of 14.

Bardot once said that her childhood had been “difficult,” and she said that her father imposed very strict discipline and sometimes punished her with a horse whip.

But it was the French film producer Vadim, whom she married in 1952, who saw her potential and wrote “And God Created Woman” to showcase her provocative sensuality, an explosive cocktail of childlike innocence and raw sexuality.

The film, which portrayed Bardot as a bored newlywed who sleeps with her brother-in-law, had a decisive influence on directors Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, both of the New Wave, and came to embody the hedonism and sexual freedom of the 1990s. 1960.

The film was a box office success and made Bardot a superstar. Her youthful pout, tiny waist and generous bust were often more appreciated than her talent.

“It's a shame to have acted so badly,” Bardot said about her first films. "I suffered a lot at first. They really treated me like I was less than nothing."

Bardot's cheeky off-screen romance with co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant further shocked the nation. It eliminated the boundaries between her public and private life, and turned her into a coveted prize for the paparazzi.

Bardot never adapted to fame. He blamed constant press attention for his suicide attempt 10 months after the birth of his only son, Nicolas. Photographers had broken into her home just two weeks before she gave birth to take a photo of her pregnant.

Nicolas' father was Jacques Charrier, a handsome French actor whom she married in 1959 but who never felt comfortable in his role as Mr. Bardot. Soon, the actress gave her son to his father, and later said that she had been chronically depressed and was unprepared for the responsibilities of being a mother.

“I was looking for roots then,” she noted in an interview. “I had none to offer.”

In her 1996 autobiography, “Initials B.B.”, she compared her pregnancy to “a tumor growing inside me” and described Charrier as “temperamental and abusive.”

Bardot married her third husband, German playboy millionaire Gunther Sachs, in 1966, but the relationship again ended in divorce three years later.

Among her films are “Una Parisian” (1957); “In Case of Misfortune,” in which he starred in 1958 with film legend Jean Gabin; “The Truth” (1960); “Private Life” (1962); “A Loveable Idiot” (1964); “Shalako” (1968); “Women” (1969); “The Bear and the Doll” (1970); “Rum Boulevard” (1971); and “Don Juan” (1973).

With the exception of the acclaimed 1963 “Contempt,” directed by Godard, Bardot's films rarely had complicated plots. They were often vehicles for showing off her curves and legs in light dresses or frolicking naked in the sun.

“It was never a big passion for me,” she said of cinema. "And sometimes it can be deadly. Marilyn (Monroe) died because of it."

In 1973, Bardot retired to her villa on the Riviera, in St. Tropez, at the age of 39 after acting in "The Man Who Loved Women."

Reinventing herself in middle age

A decade later she re-emerged with a new personality: a defender of animal rights. He had wrinkles on his face and his voice was hoarse from years of excessive smoking. She abandoned her jet-setting life and sold movie memorabilia and jewelry to create a foundation dedicated exclusively to the prevention of cruelty to animals.

Her activism knew no boundaries. He urged South Korea to ban the sale of dog meat, and once wrote to US President Bill Clinton, asking why the US Navy recaptured two dolphins he had released.

He criticized centuries-old French and Italian sporting traditions, including the palio, a horse race with very lax rules, and campaigned on behalf of wolves, rabbits, kittens and turtle doves.

“It's true that sometimes I get carried away, but when I see how slowly things are moving... and despite all the promises that all the different governments have made to me together, my anguish takes over," she told the AP when asked about her guilty pleas for inciting racial hatred and her opposition to Muslim ritual sacrifice.

In 1997, several cities removed Bardot-inspired statues of Marianne — the bare-breasted statue representing the French Republic — after the actress expressed anti-immigrant sentiments. That same year she received death threats after ask for a ban on the sale of horse meat.

On one occasion, Bardot indicated that she identified with the animals she was trying to save.

“I can understand the hunted animals because of the way I was treated,” she said. “What happened to me was inhumane. She was constantly surrounded by the world's press.”

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Ganley contributed to this story before his retirement. Angela Charlton in Paris also contributed.

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.