French actress Brigitte Bardot, who revolutionised 1950s French cinema and became a symbol of sexual liberation, has died aged 91.
The cinema icon - “BB” as she was known in her home country - acted in almost 50 films, including And God Created Woman, but retired in 1973 to devote her life to animal welfare.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the nation was mourning a legend of the century, while the Brigitte Bardot Foundation remembered her as a world-renowned actress.
Later in life, Bardot's reputation was damaged after she made homophobic slurs and was fined multiple times for inciting racial hatred.
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation she established said in a statement that it was announcing her death with immense sadness. It did not specify where or when Bardot died.
Paying tribute, 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.
French existence, universal brilliance. She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.
A far-right politician also paid tribute, stating France had lost an exceptional woman, through her talent, her courage, her frankness, her beauty.
Bardot's husband, whom she married in 1992, was Bernard d'Ormale, a former adviser to the late far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Ruthlessly marketed as a hedonistic sex symbol, Bardot was frustrated in her ambition to become a serious actress. At the height of her fame, she announced she was retiring at the age of 39 to devote her life to animal welfare.
In 1986, she launched the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which works to protect wild and domestic animals. She became a vegetarian and took strong stances on various animal rights issues.
However, Bardot leaves behind a controversial legacy, marked by problematic comments about various social and cultural issues in her later years. Her views have drawn criticism and shaped a complex public image.
