Early Empowering Roles
From early on in her career, Bardot sought out movie roles that made her known for empowering woman. The women she played were often free-willed and did not care about judgement so that they could live the way they want.
Early Empowering Roles
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The French actress is often referred to by just her initial B.B. Although she formally retired from the entertainment industry in 1973, she has remained a major pop culture icon throughout the years until now.
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A Performer From The Start
Bardot was born in the 15th arrondissement of Paris on September 28th, 1934. She was a performer ever since she was young, though she started out as a ballerina before getting into the world of acting, which she would do in 1952 at the age of 18.
A Performer From The Start
Starting To Act
After she appeared on the cover of Elle magazine for a second time, she was offered a small role in the comedy film Crazy for Love, playing the cousin of the main character. In 1953, she landed a small role in a Hollywood-backed film shot in France, Act of Love, which also starred Kirk Douglas.
Starting To Act
Gaining Momentum
1956 was a pivotal year for Bardot’s career, as she starred in a series of films that would propel her into stardom. She first appeared in musical Naughty Girl playing a troublesome student. Later she starred in Plucking the Daisy and The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful, both of which were hugely popylar in France.
Gaining Momentum
Intriguing The Intellectuals
However, her most successful film to date was And God Created Woman, in which she starred as an immoral teenager in a small town. The movie was a huge hit in France and Britain. It turned her into an international star, but also was seen as very scandalous in the United States. She also impressed intellectuals like Simone de Beauvoir.
Intriguing The Intellectuals
Locomotive Of Women’s History
In Simone de Beauvoir’s essay “The Lolita Syndrome,” Beauvoir referred to Bardot as a “locomotive of women’s history.” She said that Bardot was the first and perhaps most liberated woman in post-war France. This was seen as a huge win for the female empowerment movement in the 1950’s and 60’s.
Locomotive Of Women’s History
Nominated For Awards
Following her hugely successful films in the 1950’s, she continued her successful streak right into the 1960’s. In 1963, she starred in the film Le Mépris and Viva Maria!, which earned her a nomination for Best Foreign Actress BAFTA Award.
Nominated For Awards
Prolific Career
Bardot’s professional career has spanned for decades, starting in the early 1950’s and lasting officially until 1973. When she retired from acting, she had appeared in 47 films, acted many musicals, and she had also recorded more than 60 songs. Talk about a successful career!
Prolific Career
Her Motivation
Bardot will forever be cemented in the history of the entertainment industry since she has been so wildly successful in music, films, and activism. But why did she get into acting and entertainment in the first place?
Her Motivation
Her Early Life
Bardot grew up in a generally wealthy environment in Paris. She grew up with her parents and sister in a seven bedroom apartment. Despite her comfortable upbringing, she always felt lonely and like she was destined for something more.
Her Early Life
Her Childhood
There was one incident in particular that led her to become the outspoken fearless woman she would become. When she was very young, she and her sister broke a vase in their house, and their father was so angry he whipped each of them 20 times. He also forced them to refer to him and their mother as “vous,” which is the formal version of “you” in French. Her extremely religious and strict childhood led her to rebel.
Her Childhood
Her Early Career
In 1949 when she was just 15 years old, Bardot was hired as a junior fashion model. She quickly landed a cover of Elle magazine, which was released in March 1950. Her early modeling work helped her gain attention from filmmakers and landed her first role in Les Lauriers shortly after.
Her Early Career
Initial Trepidation
Since she grew up in a very strict and conservative home, her parents were very against the idea of her becoming an actress. Interestingly enough, she had her grandfather’s support. He said: “If this little girl is to become a [loose woman], the cinema will not be the cause.”
Initial Trepidation
Endless Movie Offers
After her first appearance on film, she was quickly gaining momentum in the industry. Her success as an actress allowed her to become more autonomous and she didn’t need her parents’ approval to continue.
Endless Movie Offers
Growing Success
Bardot would later become synonymous would the modern, autonomous woman, she had to work her way to get there. However, she never relented and always took roles that would portray women as free thinkers and empowered.
Growing Success
First Paycheck
So what did she earn for her very first role? Bardot was paid 200,000 francs, which is worth about $5600 today. Although that’s not much, she did have a very minor role, playing the main character’s cousin.
First Paycheck
Movie Roles
Her success continued straight into the 1960’s, landing roles in films like The Truth, which became France’s third biggest film of the year and was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. She also starred in Please, Not Now!, Famous Love Affairs, and A Very Private Affair.
Movie Roles
A Legend
Now in her 80’s, Brigitte Bardot remains one of the most influential actresses, sex symbols, and empowered women of all time. She is an icon of the Golden Age of cinema and has inspired many actresses who came after her.
A Legend
Perfection Was Expected
Bardot grew up in a Catholic home and although they were wealthy, she did not enjoy her privileged childhood because of how strict her parents were. She was not allowed to choose her own friends and she was expected to be well-behaved act perfectly all the time.
Perfection Was Expected
Early Muse
Ever since the beginning of her career, she has been seen as a muse to many other artists and figures in the entertainment industry. Bob Dylan was inspired by her and wrote about her in one of his earliest original songs. He even referred to her by name on his second album.
Early Muse
An Eye Situation
Bardot was born with an eye problem called amblyopia, more commonly known as a lazy eye, which led to weakened vision in her left eye. Luckily, it didn’t seem like this affected her career much.
An Eye Situation
Young Ballerina
While growing up, Bardot spent a lot of time practicing her ballet dancing. Her mother quickly realized she had dance potential and signed her daughter up for an elite private school that would allow her to continue pursuing ballet. She was accepted to the Conservatoire de Paris when she was 15.
Young Ballerina
Winning Him Over
Early on in her career, Bardot auditioned for film Les Lauriers sont coupes from director Marc Allégret. Although she did not end up getting the role, the two ended up falling in love. Her parents were very against the relationship and when they tried to keep them apart, Bardot tried to end her life. Her parents relented but on the condition that they would be married when she turned 18.
Winning Him Over
Inspiring The Stars
Even other stars were inspired by and starstruck by Brigitte Bardot. Even the Beatles, who were the biggest superstars of the day, were big fans of hers. They tried to have her in a music video, but in the end, it didn’t pan out. John Lennon was allegedly so obsessed with her that made his wife dye her hair to look more like Bardot.
Inspiring The Stars
Not A Natural Blonde
Although Brigitte Bardot is known for her famed blonde tresses, she is not in fact a natural blonde. She is naturally a brunette, and only went blonde for a role in Italian film Mio Figlio Nerone. She loved it so much that she kept the blonde for good.
Not A Natural Blonde
The Bardot Pose
Not only did Bardot leave an impact in the film industry, she also put a stamp on the modeling world. She made the “Bardot Post” famous, which involves crossing her arms and legs together. The pose has been recreated by other famous actresses like Monica Bellucci and Lindsay Lohan.
The Bardot Pose
Beehive Hair
The beehive hairstyle came back strong in the early 2000’s, when songstresses Adele and Amy Winehouse made the look popular once again. But Bardot originated the look, popularizing the choucroute hairstyle. Funnily enough, choucroute means “sauerkraut” in French.
Beehive Hair
An Affair To…Forget
While both actors were married to other people, Brigitte engaged in an affair with co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant. After two years of the affair, Bardot and her husband Roger Vadim got divorced. Their marriage dissolved after she had another affair with musician Gilbert Bécaud.
An Affair To…Forget
Her Third Husband
Bardot got married for a third time in 1966, this time to German millionaire Gunter Sachs. He was the heir to one of the largest automobile suppliers in Germany. He would wine and dine her and even dropped dozens of roses on her property from a helicopter. Despite the romantic gestures, the two got divorced just three years later.
Her Third Husband
40th Birthday Celebration
When it came time to celebrate Brigitte’s 40th birthday, she decided to do so in style. She decided to pose for Playboy magazine, fittingly in her birthday suit, in a nude photoshoot. It was a perfect way for the liberated woman to celebrate her birthday.
40th Birthday Celebration
Bardot Neckline
In addition to creating the “Bardot Pose” in the modeling industry, she left her mark on the fashion industry in yet another way. The Bardot neckline was named after her as well. She loved open-neck knitted sweaters that exposed the shoulder, which inspired the off the shoulder neckline.
Bardot Neckline
Bikini Inspiration
Bardot was an inspiration to many women who looked up to her. She represented a new type of woman who was not ashamed of being herself and even showing a bit of skin. She helped popularize the bikini, which she famously wore at the Cannes Film Festival.
Bikini Inspiration
Almost Had A Hit Song
In 1967, Bardot was dating French musician Serge Gainsbourg and the two wrote and recorded love song “Je T’aime…Moi Non Plus.” The only problem was, she was married to Gunter Sachs at the time, so she begged Gainsbourg not to release the song. He later released the song in 1969 with his new girlfriend, Jane Birkin, and it went on to become a smash hit. Bardot later released another version with him in 1986.
Almost Had A Hit Song
International Hit
While her appearance in And God Created Woman caused a lot of controversy and many critics decried the fact that her character was reduced to being merely an object, it undoubtedly made her into the star she is today. Besides, it was only the first time she would play a daring woman.
International Hit
Aye Aye Captain
Always the devoted animal rights activist, Bardot openly condemned the practice of seal hunting. In response, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society decided to name a fast interceptor vessel after her. They named the Canadian MV Brigitte Bardot after her.
Aye Aye Captain
Using Her Influence
She invoked her fame and influence once again in 2010 when she wrote a letter to Queen Margarethe II of Denmark. She demanded that the practice of dolphin hunting in the Faroe Islands be stopped, and was not afraid to use strong language to make her point clear.
Using Her Influence
Strained Relationship
Brigitte has one son named Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, but the two never had a great relationship. He was born long before she was married to his father, fellow actor Jacques Charrier in 1959. The couple was divorced just three years later, and Nicolas was raised by his father’s side of the family. The two had barely any contact before Nicolas was an adult.
Strained Relationship
Tough Love
In 1958, Bardot faced quite a tough year. After her marriage to Roger Vadim dissolved and her relationship with her lover Jean-Louis Trintignant came to an end, she reportedly experienced several nervous breakdowns. Some have even claimed that she attempted to take her life during this time.
Tough Love
Not All Or Nothing
According to Bardot, there’s no need to choose which animals to save and which to continue killing. In 2015, she was a vocal critic of Australia’s decision to euthanize feral cats in order to save endangered species. Even though feral cats were causing 10% of Australia’s mammal extinctions, she said that the idea was: absolutely useless, since the rest of them will keep breeding.”
Not All Or Nothing
