Brigitte Bardot “BB” French acting royalty, activist and pariah

Brigitte Bardot’s funeral was held on Wednesday January 7, with a private ceremony in Saint-Tropez. Crowds lined the streets honouring the French film legend as the funeral hearse slowly made its was to the local church. Bardot had left instructions that her funeral be conducted without fanfare or ostentation –

After her death, French President Emmanuel Macron said the nation was mourning “a legend of the century”. “BB” as she was known, acted in almost 50 films, including And God Created Woman, but retired in 1973 to devote her life to animal welfare creating the Brigitte Bardot Foundation.

Later in life, Bardot’s reputation was damaged after she made homophobic slurs and was fined multiple times for inciting racial hatred and consequently alienated by many socially and politically.