Brigitte Anne Marie Bardot
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Brigitte Bardot, born in 1934 in Paris, was a French actress and model who became an international icon after starring in Roger Vadim’s 1956 film …And God Created Woman. She retired from acting in 1973 at age 39 to dedicate herself to animal rights, founding the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. Bardot was married four times, including to director Roger Vadim and businessman Bernard d’Ormale, and has one son, Nicolas Jacques Charrier.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Brigitte Bardot — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Brigitte Bardot by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Brigitte Bardot — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Leslie Caron was a classmate of Brigitte Bardot in dance class. Bardot had begun music and dance at age five, pushed by her mother. The daughter of engineer Louis Bardot and Anne Marie Mucel, she was born September 28, 1934 in Paris. At 15 she turned to modeling and appeared in the French magazine Elle.
Bardot made her film debut in 1952 as Javotte Lemoine in Crazy for Love. The same year she married Roger Vadim. She gained international fame in 1956 with Vadim’s …And God Created Woman. American productions followed: Act of Love 1953 with Kirk Douglas and Dear Brigitte 1965 with James Stewart. In 1963 she played Camille Javal in Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt. She retired from acting in 1973 after filming The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot.
Bardot married four times: Roger Vadim 1952-1957, Jacques Charrier 1959-1962, Gunter Sachs 1966-1969, and Bernard d’Ormale since 1992. She had one son, Nicolas Jacques Charrier, born January 11, 1960. Their relationship was strained; he sued her in 1997 over her memoirs. She has two granddaughters, Anna and Thea, but has no contact with them.
In 1973, Bardot quit acting for animal rights. She founded the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals, funded by auctioning personal possessions. Her look inspired models like Claudia Schiffer and Lara Stone, often called baby Bardots. She refused the French Legion of Honor in 1985. Bob Dylan and The Pretenders referenced her in songs.
Browse the complete filmography of Brigitte Bardot — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Brigitte Bardot — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Brigitte Bardot's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Brigitte Bardot — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Have Always Adored Beautiful Young Men. Just Because I Grow Older, My Taste Doesn’t Change. so If I Can Still Have Them, Why Not?
If I Could Do Anything About the Way People Behave Towards Each Other, I Would, but Since I Can’t I’ll Stick to Animals.
It Is Sad to Grow Old but Nice to Ripen.
I Have Been Very Happy, Very Rich, Very Beautiful, Much Adulated, Very Famous and Very Unhappy.
Men Are Beasts and Even Beasts Don’t Behave as They Do.
I Don’t Think When I Make Love.
It Is Better to Be Unfaithful Than Faithful Without Wanting to Be.
Every Age Can Be Enchanting, Provided You Live Within It.
I Am Really a Cat Transformed into a Woman . . . I Purr. I Scratch. and Sometimes I Bite.
I Gave My Youth and Beauty to Men. Now I’m Giving My Wisdom and My Experience, the Better Part of Me, to Animals.
Apart from My Husband, I Am Entirely Surrounded by Homos. for Years, They Have Been My Support, My Friends, My Adopted Children, My Confidants.
I Can No Longer Walk. I Can No Longer Swim. but I’m Lucky When I See How Animals Suffer. Suddenly, I Discover That I Have Nothing to Complain.
I Have a Slight Despising for Humanity in General.
I Am Greatly Misunderstood by Politically Correct Idiots. Politics Disgusts Me.
There Are Many New Languages in the New Europe. Mediocrity Is Taking Over from Beauty and Splendor. There Are Many People Who Are Filthy, Badly Dressed and Badly Shaven.
I Am Against Violence. I’m a Hippie Girl.
I Am Against the Islamisation of France! This Obligatory Allegiance, This Forced Submission Disgusts Me…. Our Ancestors, the Elderly, Our Grandfathers, Our Fathers Have for Centuries Given Their Lives to Push Out Successive Invaders.
I Felt Like a Stranger in My Parents’ House. I Was Shy and Had Dreadful Complexes as a Child. I Always Thought I Was Ugly, and at First the Critics Agreed with Me. They Said I Looked Like a Common Maid; They Said I Was ‘Ordinary,’ Which Is Much Worse Than Vulgar.
I Really Wanted to Die at Certain Periods in My Life. Death Was Like Love, a Romantic Escape. I Took Pills Because I Didn’t Want to Throw Myself off My Balcony and Know People Would Photograph Me Lying Dead Below.
Me, I Was Never the Victim of Sexual Harassment and I Found It Charming When I Was Told That I Was Beautiful or I Had a Nice Little Backside. This Kind of Compliment Is Nice.
I’m Not a Good Grandmother. They Live in Norway with Their Father, They Don’t Speak French and We Don’t Have the Opportunity to See One Another. Why Dress It up Any Other Way? You Know, I’ve Always Said What I Think and Thought What I Said. I Never Believed in Blood Ties.
Bernard Accepts Three or Four Animals Sleeping on Our Big Bed. If He Refused He Would Not Be My Companion.
Feminism Is Not My Thing. People with Talent Who Grab a Girl’s Bottom Are Thrown into the Bottom of the Ditch. We Could at Least Let Them Carry on Living. They Can’t Live Any More.They Won’t Find Much Work
Little-known facts about Brigitte Bardot — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Attempted suicide at least six times since 1950, with the most recent reported attempt in 1992.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer, she initially refused treatment, believing it was her fate. Actress Marina Vlady flew to Saint Tropez to convince her to begin treatment.
Took a handful of tranquilizers, washed them down with red wine, then wandered to Les Canoubiers beach where she was pulled from the surf and rushed to L’Oasis clinic for stomach pumping.
At the time of her death, she was the oldest of the four surviving people named in Billy Joel’s 1989 song We Didn’t Start the Fire. The others were Chubby Checker, Bob Dylan, and Bernhard Goetz.
Mother of Nicolas-Jacques Charrier born January 11, 1960, who was raised by his father’s family and reconnected with Bardot in adulthood. In 1997, Nicolas sued over memoirs describing him as a tumor, leading to a court order for EUR17,000 in damages.
Charged with inciting racial hatred for her 2014 book Un cri dans le silence, expressing concerns about Islamic extremism. Fined EUR5,000.
Her 1967 single Bonnie and Clyde with Serge Gainsbourg regained popularity after being featured in Rush Hour 3 2007 and Mad Men 2007.
Has two granddaughters, Anna born 1985 and Thea born 1990, from her son Nicolas. As of 2009, she has no contact with them. Became a great-grandmother in February 2014 when Anna gave birth.
In 1967, Serge Gainsbourg recorded Je t’aime…moi non plus with Bardot, but she asked him not to release it. Jane Birkin later recorded the vocals.
In 1994, published an open letter criticizing Sophia Loren for posing in fur ads, calling it degrading, repugnant, lamentable and unworthy.
Before her breakthrough, she shared a hotel room in Rome with a pre-fame Ursula Andress, as mentioned in her autobiography.
Once castrated a neighbor’s donkey.
On set for Please, Not Now! 1961, she met Catherine Deneuve, who was dating her ex-husband Roger Vadim. Bardot described Deneuve as a namby-pamby.
Retired from acting in 1973 at age 39 and focused on animal rights, remaining a well-known figure.
Breast cancer survivor.
Recorded many popular songs in the 1960s and 1970s.
Good friends with Claudia Cardinale; they appeared together in The Legend of Frenchie King 1971.
Fined a sixth time for inciting racial hatred in a 2019 op-ed about inhabitants of Réunion.
Took dancing lessons from age five; one classmate was Leslie Caron.
Has been characterized as anti-Muslim and anti-gay due to support for far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Her look inspired generations of buxom blonde models to be called baby Bardots, including Claudia Schiffer, Anna Ewers, Lara Stone, Daphne Groeneveld, Doutzen Kroes, and Georgia Jagger.
Popularized the choucroute sauerkraut hairstyle.
One of the leading animal rights activists in the world, heading the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for animal welfare.
As of 2017, Bardot, 83, and her husband Bernard d’Ormale, 76, both still smoke.
Resided with Jean-Louis Trintignant 1956-1958, Bob Zagury 1963-1965, Patrick Gilles 1968-1971, Jean Blaise 1975-1979, and Allain Bougrain-Dubourg 1980-1985.
The Brazilian city of Búzios erected a statue of her in honor of her influence in popularizing the city.
Awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1985 but refused to accept it.
Between marriages and live-ins, she was linked with Warren Beatty, Gilbert Bécaud, Sacha Distel, Nino Ferrer, Sami Frey, Serge Gainsbourg, John Gilmore, Jimi Hendrix, Christian Kalt, Luigi Rizzi, Michael Sarne, and Laurent Vergez.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history number 9.
Time magazine described her as the princess of pout, the countess of come hither.
Served as the model for Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic, from 1969 to 1978.
Established the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals by auctioning personal possessions.
Threatened to sue a Saint-Tropez boutique selling items with her face.
Husband Bernard d’Ormale is a wealthy industrialist and supporter of the far-right Front National.
Married Bernard d’Ormale in a small town outside Oslo, Norway, where her son resides.
Turned down the title role in Barbarella 1968, played by Jane Fonda.
Ranked number 49 in Empire magazine’s The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time.
Disapproves of miscegenation.
Owns homes in Saint-Tropez, Yvelines, and Paris.
Sister Mijanou Bardot has been married to Patrick Bauchau since 1962 and has one daughter.
Suffered from amblyopia during childhood, resulting in decreased vision in her left eye.
Ranked number 75 in Men’s Health 100 Hottest Women of All Time.
Born to Louis Bardot 1896-1975 and Ann-Marie Mucel 1912-1978; her father ran a family business manufacturing liquid air and acetylene.
Sang songs including Harley Davidson, Je Me Donne a Qui Me Plait, Bubblegum, and La Madrague.
Recorded an audio performance for the classic Velveteen Rabbit by Connecticut Family Theatre.
Natural hair color is light brown, not blonde.
Mentioned by Bob Dylan in his 1963 song I Shall Be Free.
Parodied by Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Live.
Mentioned in the songs Message of Love by The Pretenders and Stardust by Menswear.
Shares a birthday with Marcello Mastroianni both born September 28.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Brigitte Bardot.
Celebrities similar to Brigitte Bardot — same craft, ranked by reach.
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