Happy 80th Birthday, Brigitte Bardot!
International sex symbol Brigitte Bardot turned 80 today. Happy Birthday, Ms. Bardot.
The name alone recalls bikini-clad strolls down La Croisette, masterfully delineated feline eyes, and wispy bouffants ruffled by the St. Tropez breeze, recalls Vogue. Today, Brigitte Bardot celebrates her 80th birthday. In the more than 40 years that have passed since Bardot stepped into limelight, many a flaxen haired, pillowy lipped ingenue have sparked comparisons, but has anyone even come close to the woman who inspired the term “sex kitten”?
Like any femme fatale worth her teasing comb, Bardot could project girlish innocence and dangerous animal magnetism simultaneously. This trait defined Bardot’s breakout role in And God Created Woman, where she entranced a young Jean-Louis Trintignant with her plush beige lips, fluffy cascade of big-barrel curls, and voluptuous curves undulating to the beat of a drum.
And who wasn’t mesmerized by the French New Wave icon? Surely we’ve all been tempted to copy Bardot’s rumpled pigtails and heavy liquid liner on the set of Louis Malle’s Viva Maria!, or her boudoir hair tumbling out from underneath a wide headband in Contempt.
Off-screen, Bardot’s nymphet image and unapologetic sensuality provoked heated debates, prompting Simone de Beauvoir to defend her as the first liberated postwar woman, while years later she was immortalized as the first official face of France’s national symbol of liberty, Marianne.
The Guardian reported that in addition to her extensive body of film work, Bardot also released seven music albums during the 60s and 70s. Bardot was married four times, three times divorced; her ex-husbands were Roger Vadim (1952-1957), Jacques Charrier (1959-1962) and Gunter Sachs (1966-1969). She married her last husband, Bernard d’Ormale in 1992, and they are still together. On January 11, 1960, Bardot gave birth to her only child, son Nicolas-Jacques Charrier. After her divorce from Charrier, her son was raised by the Charrier family. Nicolas had no close contact with his mother until his adulthood (from the book Initiales B.B. by Grasset & Fasquelle).
Perhaps Bardot’s lasting legacy is her work for and her love of animals. Bardot faced French judges five times between 97 and 08 for “incitement to racial hatred,” often as a result of her opposition to what she sees as the inherent cruelty in halal (animals slaughtered in strict accordance with Islamic law) meat production. She received heavy fines. Her health prevented her from appearing in 08. She now lives as a recluse, but her body of work leaves us a legacy to behold and admire.
