Brigette Bardot, International Cinema Legend And Pop Culture Icon, Has Died At 91

Brigitte Bardot, an international pop culture icon and legend of film, has died at the age of 91. The Associated Press confirmed the news via the late icon's colleague Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. Bardot is survived is by her son Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, born in 1960 from her second marriage, and her (fourth) husband Bernard d'Ormale whom she married in 1992.

Bardot was perhaps best known for her acting work in the 1950s and 1960s, which made her an international sex symbol of the era. But between her acting and singing work through her mid-1970s retirement, there are so many incredible pieces of art that she made her mark in.

Though she was known for a bit of a stereotyped and sultry archetypal character — women who were sexually liberated, which extended to her music as well — she made a universal connection with her audiences that made her the star she was. Bardot touched so many via the stage and screen, and her beauty and intelligence will always be remembered within those magical films and songs.

The French performer got her start in 1952 when her modeling career gave way to a new path in acting. Having done shoots for Elle in the past, she was recruited for another cover that year, which landed her a small part in the film "Crazy for Love," which starred well-known French comedy actor Bourvil. She played several bit parts in French films for the next few years, as well as a few English-speaking parts in Hollywood. For a 1956 Italian film "Mio figlio Nerone," she dyed her hair blonde at the behest of the director and ended up keeping the style throughout her career.

Brigitte Bardot got her big break the same year by starring in four major films that are said to have made her a sensation. In the musical film "Naughty Girl," she played a rebellious schoolgirl — it blew up in France, doing well at the country's box office. After that, Bardot starred in two French comedies, "Plucking the Daisy" and "The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful." Finally, the 1956 melodrama "And God Created Woman" became a worldwide success and turned Bardot into a household name.

As the 1960s rolled in, she took on more roles that would give her international visibility. Brigitte Bardot worked with legendary director Jean-Luc Godard, a memorable collaboration that would go on to partially define her legendary status with his most commercially successful film "Contempt." Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she famously collaborated on music, including several albums, with musician Serge Gainsbourg, who later became known for also working alongside another French starlet and his future wife, Jane Birkin.

In 1973, she retired from acting, and in a 2011 Vogue Homme interview republished in Vogue France, she explained, "I quit the films when I was 38 because I'd had it up to here, so I have no desire to go back at the age of 77." Despite her disappearance from the world of film, she continued to be a major pop culture icon in France and worldwide.

Following her departure from acting, Bardot turned her eye toward animal activism, where she continued to work tirelessly until her death through the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals.

She will be greatly missed, especially whenever we hear "Je t'aime... moi non plus."