Movie icon Brigitte Bardot dies aged 91

French movie star and singer Brigitte Bardot has died at the age of 91.

Born in 1934 in Paris, the actress shot to international fame with the 1956 film And God Created Woman, written and directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim.

It is believed that Bardot died weeks after undergoing surgery and battling a ‘sudden illness’.

She was said to be at her home in Saint-Tropez when she was suddenly rushed to a hospital in nearby Toulon. 

Following her movie debut in the 1952 film The Girl In The Bikini, she became an international sex symbol during the Sexual Revolution of the post-war period.

In the early 1970s, she then announced her shock retirement from acting to focus fully on supporting animal rights.

Becoming increasingly active politically, she then became known for her outspoken support of animal rights and her open support for France’s far-right Front National.

Bardot was known for portraying characters with hedonistic and tragic lifestyles.

In the British and US press, she was nicknamed the ‘sex kitten’.

She also sang and modelled in her youth, while she became an animal rights advocate in later life.

Bardot was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984.

She refused to undergo chemotherapy treatment and decided only to do radiation therapy. The legendary actress recovered in 1986.

More to come.

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