Brigitte Bardot, 1960s French screen siren turned activist, dies at 91

"Bardot died Sunday at her home in southern France, according to Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals. Speaking to The Associated Press, he gave no cause of death, and said that no arrangements had been made for funeral or memorial services. She had been hospitalized last month."

"At the height of a cinema career that spanned more than two dozen films and three marriages, Bardot came to symbolize a nation bursting out of bourgeois respectability. Her tousled, blond hair, voluptuous figure and pouty irreverence made her one of France's best-known stars, even as she struggled with depression. 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 Gallic seal. Bardot's face appeared on statues, postage stamps and coins."

"Bardot's second career as an animal rights activist was equally sensational. She traveled to the Arctic to blow the whistle on the slaughter of baby seals. She also condemned the use of animals in laboratory experiments, and she opposed Muslim slaughter 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 an animal that suffers, since it has no power, no words to defend itself.""

Brigitte Bardot died at age 91 at her home in southern France, with no cause of death disclosed and no funeral arrangements announced. Her death was reported by Bruno Jacquelin of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals; she had been hospitalized the previous month. Bardot rose to international fame as the sexualized teen bride in the 1956 film And God Created Woman, which provoked scandal for its nude dancing scenes. She became an emblem of modern France, inspiring the 1969 Marianne image and appearing on statues, stamps and coins. Later she led high-profile animal rights campaigns, including protests against seal slaughter and laboratory experiments, and publicly opposed Muslim slaughter rituals. She described humans as "insatiable predators" and emphasized defending animals that cannot speak.

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