Bardot, Brigitte

Bardot, Brigitte (1934- ), French actress, born in Neuilly, an expensive suburb of Paris. Throughout her secondary schooling she dreamt of joining the classical ballet and entered the Conservatoire National d'Art Dramatique de Paris on completing her education. She turned to comedy, however, and starred in films as early as 1952 (Le Trou Normand/Crazy for Love, by Jean Boyer). After the filming of Et Dieu Créa la Femme (And God Created Woman) in 1956 by Roger Vadim (whom she married), Bardot became the incarnation of the sexual myth of the “child-wife”, the product of a collective fantasy which was to be exported worldwide. Despite working with talented directors, such as Claude Autant-Lara, Christian-Jaque, Louis Malle, and Jean-Luc Godard, the public only had eyes for the “star” and not the actress. In 1973 she chose to retire to Saint-Tropez and now devotes her energies to the safety and protection of animals.

Among Bardot's best films are: La Vérité (1960; The Truth) by Henri-Georges Clouzot; La Vie Privée (1962; A Very Private Affair); and Le Mépris (1963; Contempt) by Godard.