Original 'Sex Kitten' And French Icon Brigitte Bardot Dead At 91

Silver screen icon and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot is dead. According to the Associated Press, the 91-year-old actress died in her home on December 28, 2025. The cause of death is currently unknown.

Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals, broke the news to the Associated Press, where he also noted she had been hospitalized last month for an unknown reason.

Bardot, a native Parisian, started out as a popular model in her home country and soon transitioned into acting, per Biography. She starred in her first husband Roger Vadim's 1956 movie "And God Created Woman," one of the steamiest movies of its time. The role made her an A-list star who made around 50 movies and several hit records before retiring from the entertainment world in 1973, having spent her entire adult life in the brightest of spotlights (via The Guardian). 

Though Bardot's onscreen career was comparatively short and she was quite open about the pressures and downsides of the international film star experience, she left a lasting legacy as one of the most iconic faces in cinema.

Bardot remained notorious even after she moved away from the silver screen. Apart from the lasting legacy of her glamorous acting career, she was a prominent animal activist since the 1970s, and the founder of the Foundation for the Protection of Distressed Animals and Foundation Brigitte Bardot. In 1987, she auctioned off several of her personal belongings, including dresses and diamonds, to finance her animal rights endeavors (via The New York Times). "I gave my beauty and my youth to men," she said at the time. "And now I am giving my wisdom and experience, the best of me, to animals.”