Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte AnneMarie Bardot born 28 September 1934 is a French former fashion model actress and singer and animal rights activist In her early life Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer She started her acting career in 1952 and after appearing in 16 films became worldfamous due to her role in her thenhusband Roger Vadims controversial film And God Created Woman She later starred in JeanLuc Godards 1963 cult film Contempt She was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress for her role in Louis Malles 1965 film Viva Maria She caught the attention of French intellectuals She was the subject of Simone de Beauvoirs 1959 essay The Lolita Syndrome which described Bardot as a locomotive of womens history and built upon existentialist themes to declare her the first and most liberated woman of postwar France Bardot retired from the entertainment industry in 1973 During her career in show business Bardot starred in 47 films performed in numerous musical shows and recorded 80 songs She was awarded the Légion dhonneur in 1985 but refused to receive it After her retirement Bardot established herself as an animal rights activist During the 1990s she became controversial due to her criticism of immigration Islamization and Islam in France and has been fined five times for inciting racial hatred