"Brigitte Bardot, the French actress who set the standard for a generation of female sex symbols in the 1960s and devoted her later life to animal rights, has died. She was 91. Her death was announced Sunday in a statement by her foundation, saying Bardot had chosen to abandon "her prestigious movie career to dedicate her life and energy" to defend animal welfare. It didn't provide further details on her death."
"A Paris court fined her €5,000 (about $6,100 at the time) in 2004 for expressing "disgust" with France's tolerance of Muslim immigrants in her 2003 autobiography, A Cry in the Silence. The book also referred to gay people as "freaks" and said the unemployed don't want to work. In a 2018 interview with Paris Match, she criticized the #MeToo movement against men who abuse positions of power, saying many actresses claiming sexual harassment had willingly offered their bodies to further their careers."
Brigitte Bardot rose to international fame after starring in And God Created Woman (1956), shaping a new archetype of female beauty and becoming a symbol of France as Marianne in the 1970s. She left filmmaking at 39 to concentrate on animal welfare and in 1986 established a Paris-based foundation that supports animal refuges, sterilizes stray cats and dogs and funds conservation projects. Her public life included controversial remarks about Muslim immigrants, gay people and the unemployed, a 2004 fine for expressing "disgust" at immigration, criticism of the #MeToo movement in 2018, and four marriages.
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