French actress Brigitte Bardot dies aged 91

French actress Brigitte Bardot has died at the age of 91.

The film star and 1960s “sex symbol” earned worldwide fame as one of the most recognisable faces of post-war cinema but later withdrew from the showbusiness world to devote her life to causes such as animal rights.

Known widely as BB because of her initials, pronounced bebe, the French word for baby, Bardot starred in dozens of movies, with Et Dieu Crea La Femme (And God Created Woman) often seen as the film that propelled her to international stardom.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the star, known for her tousled blonde hair and bold eyeliner, and described her as “a legend of the century”.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which is dedicated to the protection of animals, said that she died at her home in southern France.

In a statement seen by the Press Association, the foundation said: “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 the defence of animals and her foundation.

“The Brigitte Bardot Foundation wishes to pay tribute to the memory of an exceptional woman who gave up everything for a world more respectful of animals.”

It added: “Her legacy lives on through the actions and struggles that the foundation continues with the same passion and unwavering commitment to her ideals.

“The foundation will continue, now more than ever, to champion the work of Brigitte Bardot.”

On X, Mr Macron wrote: “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.

“A French existence, universal brilliance. She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.”

Far-right French politician Marine Le Pen said in a social media post that Bardot was “incredibly French: free, untamable, whole” and added: “She will be greatly missed by us.”

Bardot was a supporter of Le Pen and had reportedly once referred to her as “the Joan of Arc of the 21st century”.

Elsewhere, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) said Bardot was known as “a symbol of sexual liberation in film” and added that the film star had received a nomination for Viva Maria in 1967.

Born in 1934, the star was an aspiring ballerina before reaching an international audience as an actress in the late 1950s.

Bardot’s spirited performances came at a time when Europe was emerging from the horrors of war and embracing a more liberated lifestyle.

Directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim, And God Created Woman – released in 1956 – pushed the boundaries of sexual representation in film.

The Paris-born star came from a well-heeled background and her path to success was undoubtedly smoothed by her looks.

One of her most notable collaborations was with an acclaimed figure of French New Wave cinema – French-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard – who directed her in the films Contempt (1963) and Masculin Feminin (1966).

Decades later she auctioned off personal belongings and jewellery to raise money for her animal rights foundation, which she said cost her both her luxury and safety.

Her second career as an animal rights activist saw her highlight the slaughter of baby seals and condemn the use of animals in laboratory experiments.

In an interview with The Associated Press on her 73rd birthday, in 2007, she said: “Man is an insatiable predator.

“I don’t care about my past glory. That means nothing in the face of an animal that suffers, since it has no power, no words to defend itself.”

Bardot proved to be a controversial figure in her later years and was criticised for supporting the French far-right party National Front and in 2004 was convicted of inciting racial hatred for her comments on French Muslims in her book, A Cry In The Silence.

She was also convicted of provoking discrimination and racial hatred in 2008 by writing that Muslims were destroying France in a December 2006 letter to Nicolas Sarkozy, then interior minister.

Almost a decade on and she made headlines again, saying actresses who made claims of sexual harassment in the #MeToo movement were “hypocritical”.

She told French magazine Paris Match: “There are many actresses who flirt with producers in order to get a role. Then, in order to be talked about, they will say they have been harassed. In reality, rather than benefiting them, it harms them.”