The bombshell of my youth, Brigitte Bardot has gone to her final reward after a long hospital stay and several surgeries.
Charles de Gaulle called Bardot "the French export as important as Renault cars".
Bardot was an aspiring ballerina during her childhood. She started her acting career in 1952 and achieved international recognition in 1957 for her role in And God Created Woman (1956), catching the attention of many French intellectuals and earning her the nickname "sex kitten". She was the subject of philosopher Simone de Beauvoir's 1959 essay The Lolita Syndrome, which described her as a "locomotive of women's history" and declared her the most liberated woman of France. She was known for her strong personality, outspokenness, and speeches on animal defense; she was fined twice for public insults related to her politics. Bardot was a member of the Global 500 Roll of Honor of the United Nations Environment Programme and received several awards and accolades from UNESCO and PETA.
BB...the goddess...gone at 91.
(photocredit Terry O. Neill)
