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BRIGITTE BARDOT BIOGRAPHY |
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Bardot's beauty
and natural sensuality began to show as a teenager and in 1952,
she appeared on screen for the first time in Le Trou Normand.
That same year, at age 18, she married director Roger Vadim,
with whom she had been romantically involved for several years.
Divorced from Vadim in 1957, she married actor Jacques Charrier
(1959-62), German millionaire playboy Gunther Sachs (1966-69),
and French right-wing politician Bernard d'Ormale (1992-present).
Bardot also had notorious relationships with Serge Gainsbourg (singer),
Sacha Distel, and Jean-Louis Trintignant (actor).
She has one child, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier (born 1960).
Bardot starred with Trintignant in Vadim's film And God Created
Woman, which pushed the boundaries of sex in film at the time,
making her an overnight sensation. To this day, the scene of
Bardot dancing barefoot on a table remains one of the most
erotic scenes in the history of the cinema.
She is one of the few European actresses to receive mass media
attention in the United States, still a "sex kitten" to this day.
She and Marilyn Monroe were the icons of female sexuality in the
1950s and 1960s. Whenever she made public appearances in the
United States, her every move was covered by a horde of media.
Her first American made film was 1954's Un acte d'amour co-starring
Kirk Douglas. In 1965 she appeared as herself in the Hollywood
production Dear Brigitte starring Jimmy Stewart. Because her
English was limited, many of her films were released in the U.S.
with her voice dubbed over.
She is recognized for popularizing bikini swimwear, appearing in
it for photographers numerous times. She even sported an early
version of the monokini (topless bikini) from time to time (though
this was not considered extraordinary in France, where nudity on
beaches is common, it was considered nearly scandalous in the US).
In 1974, just before her fortieth birthday, Bardot announced her
retirement. After appearing in more than fifty motion pictures,
and recording several music albums, most notably with France's "bad
boy" of music, Serge Gainsbourg, she chose to use her fame to
promote animal rights. She is accused of being a misanthrope and
preferring the company of animals to that of men. In 1976 she
established the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Protection of
Distressed Animals. Today, she is one of the world's most
influential animal rights activists and a major opponent of the
consumption of horse meat.
She is also one of the most celebrated supporters of Jean-Marie
Le Pen of the right-wing Front National political party, with
which her husband is associated. With the publication of her
2003 book, A Scream in the Silence, the reclusive Bardot has
come under considerable fire for racist, anti-Muslim, and anti-gay
comments. In May 2003, The MRAP ("Mouvement contre le Racisme et
pour l'Amitié entre les Peuples" - Movement against racism and
for the friendship of peoples) announced that it would sue
Bardot for her published views. Another organization, The "Ligue
des Droits de l'Homme" (League of Human Rights), announced that
it was considering similar legal proceedings.
Bardot, in a letter to a French gay magazine, wrote in her
defense, "Apart from my husband—who maybe will cross over one
day as well—I am entirely surrounded by homos. For years they
have been my support, my friends, my adopted children, my
confidants."
On June 10, 2004 Bardot was convicted by a French court of "inciting
racial hatred." She was fined 5,000 € (US$6,000) and it is the
fourth such conviction/fine she has faced from French courts.
These recent fines pertain to her aforementioned book. In
particular the courts cited passages where Bardot referred to
the "Islamization of France" and the "underground and dangerous
infiltration of Islam." (France's 5-million member Muslim
community is the largest in Europe.) In the book she also
referred to homosexuals as "fairground freaks," and she condemns
the presence of women in government. Bardot's previous comments
that led to convictions included ones encouraging civilian
massacres in Algeria. |
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