French actress Brigitte Bardot dies aged 91

French screen legend Brigitte Bardot has died at the age of 91.

The French actress, singer and activist’s death was announced in a statement to Agence France-Presse on Sunday.

“The Brigitte Bardot foundation announces with immense sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation,” it reads, without detailing the time and place of her death.

The announcement comes two months after Bardot shut down rumours of her passing via X. At the time, a French newspaper had claimed that Bardot had been hospitalised in Toulon, France for several weeks.

The star is best known internationally for the 1956 film And God Created Woman, written and directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim, which made her a renowned sex symbol globally.

Her other film credits include 1955’s Doctor at Sea, 1959’s Babette Goes to War, 1960’s The Truth, 1962’s A Very Private Affair, 1965’s Viva Maria! and 1968’s Shalako, co-starring Sean Connery.

Bardot was also a singer, releasing albums such as her 1963 debut Brigitte Bardot Sings and her final album, 1968’s Show. She had a close collaboration with Serge Gainsbourg and appeared on the original recording of Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus. The release was shelved and Gainsbourg went on to re-record it with Jane Birkin to great success.

The star retired from acting at the age of 39 in 1973 and focused on animal rights activism. She established the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986.

Bardot was married four times: to director Vadim between 1952 and 1957, actor Jacques Charrier between 1959 and 1962, industrial heir Gunter Sachs between 1966 and 1969 and political adviser Bernard d’Ormale, whom she married in 1992.

She had one child, a son named Nicholas, with Charrier in 1960.