Brigitte Bardot is the pride of France and a sex symbol of the second half of the twentieth century, a famous actress and fashion model who left her career at the peak of fame to devote the rest of her life to saving and protecting animals.
Has Brigitte had plastic surgery? Let’s see what the young Brigitte Bardot looked like at the peak of her fame and how she changed after. And also how the personal life and career of the sex symbol of the 1950s and 1960s developed. Let’s compare the photos then and now.
Childhood and youth
The future actress was born into a wealthy family of respectable Parisian bourgeois. His father, Louis Bardot, an engineer by training, founded a small family company for the production of acetylene and compressed air, which brought a stable income. In his spare time, he was fond of poetry and photography, published several collections of his own poems, one of which was awarded the prestigious prize of the French Academy of Words.
Her mother, Anne-Marie Muselle (she was called Tati in the family), a failed actress, was engaged in the upbringing of Brigitte and her younger sister Marie-Jeanne, and in her spare time she made hats for Parisian fashionistas.
Brigitte Bardot was not a favorite child in the family. Her parents were expecting a boy, the heir to the family business. Even before the birth of their daughter, a street gypsy divined to them that the Bardot surname would become famous all over the world, and the father decided that this would be connected with the family business. But a girl was born.
The Bardot family had two daughters, but it was Brigitte who was called “ugly, and even with a bad temper.” It’s hard to imagine, but as a child Brigitte was periodically covered with an allergic rash, wore glasses and braces on her teeth. Besides, she was a sullen child, “mean,” as her mother called her. Tati snapped at her eldest daughter for the slightest fault. Brigitte always felt like a stranger in her native home, unlike her younger sister, everyone’s favorite.
As a child, Brigitte Bardot considered herself ugly. Dancing was the only outlet for the girl. At the age of twelve, she entered the choreography department of the National Conservatory. Ballet classes changed Brigitte beyond recognition – she gained grace and plasticity, became uninhibited and completely got rid of children’s complexes.
This was noticed by representatives of the fashionable beau monde who often gathered in the Bardot house and began to predict a successful modeling career for the girl. Succumbing to their persuasions, the mother allowed her fourteen-year-old daughter to star in a photo shoot for a magazine, provided that their last name would not be mentioned there. Brigitte’s fee was 50 francs, and the initials B.B. were indicated under the photos.
The pictures of the young Bardot made a splash. A queue of fashion photographers lined up for the girl. Seeing such a stir, Tati decided to involve her daughter in advertising her hats and staged a fashion show, based on a ballet theme. During the fashion show, Brigitte’s tutu accidentally or intentionally flew off, which caused a violent reaction from the audience. The shame of her daughter (as Tati believed) turned into a triumph for the girl – the whole of Paris was talking about the young Bardot.
The young, slender and graceful Brigitte attracted the attention of then-aspiring director Roger Vadim, who saw the young Bardot on the pages of the publication. He found the girl and convinced her parents that their daughter had a great future ahead of her. Accepting the strict conditions of the girl’s father, Roger became her press agent.
Brigitte and Vadim began secretly dating. Bardot’s parents were categorically against the affair of an underage daughter with an adult man. Brigitte began to skip school, her father found out about it and decided to send her to study in England. Pleading and persuasion had no effect on him, and then Bardot, waiting until no one was at home, made an attempt to gas herself in the kitchen. Fortunately, the girl was saved, and after this incident, her parents allowed her to date Roger – provided that he would find a “decent permanent job.”
To distract his daughter from nonsense and return her to ballet, Louis asked his friend Andre-Pierre Tarbes, who organized an entertainment program for sea cruises, to hire Brigitte as a dancer. Tarbes sent the girl on a two-week cruise aboard the liner Admiral de Grasse, where she performed with the troupe of the Paris Ballet. The audience was delighted with the young Bardot, but she had already firmly decided to become an actress and no longer linked her future with the dance art.
Career
Back in Paris, Bardot successfully starred for the magazine again. They started talking about her in the press and began to invite her to shoot. Brigitte’s film debut took place in 1952. She got a small role in a comedy. On the set, the inexperienced actress felt constrained and insecure. She even considered ending her experiments with cinema, but Vadim persuaded her to try again.
He arranged for her to star in the melodrama “Manina, the Girl in the Bikini” (1952), after which the seventeen-year-old Bardot was talked about as a new French sex symbol. No matter how hard the father tried to observe decency and forbid his daughter to act in a frank way at that time, it was the appearance of Brigitte in a bikini that made her a star. The girl felt her strengths, dyed her hair blonde and began to exploit her sexual image.
She definitely lacked acting skills. Bardot was hesitant in front of the camera and in front of more famous partners. But thanks to Vadim’s efforts, she continued to act a lot, gradually gaining the necessary experience.
In four years, the actress took part in 17 films and became quite popular in France. But Roger believed that his beloved Brigitte deserved more and could become a global star. He decided to make a film with his beloved woman in the title role, wrote the script and found the money to implement his project.
The film “And God Created Woman” was released in 1956 and caused a real cultural revolution in society. Bardot played a sexually liberated Juliette, who can not decide between three fans in any way. The scenes with Brigitte naked against the backdrop of the picturesque rural landscapes of Saint Tropez shocked the European public, not to mention the American public, which was even more puritanical at that time. It is believed that the film marked the beginning of the sexual revolution in cinema, which occurred in the early 1960s.
It was the film “And God created a Woman” that elevated Brigitte Bardot to the starry Olympus, making her popular all over the world. The actress was recognized as one of the sexiest women on the planet and put on a par with Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren.
Brigitte herself did not think that she was gifted with acting talent, but the girl liked the numerous offers from directors and the attention of fans. Filming in movies and for magazines, endless social events filled the life of a young Frenchwoman.
Hollywood offered Brigitte Bardot million-dollar contracts. But all of them were rejected by the obstinate actress, who believed that she would not be able to play on a par with famous actors. Brigitte did not expect such a stir, because she never considered herself either an outstanding actress or an ideal beauty.
In twenty years of cinematic activity, Bardot has starred in five dozen films. Brigitte herself never considered herself a star and preferred light roles that did not require deep acting skills. For this reason, she refused a huge number of great interesting works.
Bardot is used to strictly following the instructions of the directors. Filming was just a source of making money for her, not a way to realize her personal and creative ambitions.
In the early 1960s, Bardot decided to become a singer and released several solo albums consisting of lyrical songs in French, English and Spanish. Video clips were shot for many of her compositions, which in 1967 formed the basis of the musical show “The Inimitable Bardot”.
The 39-year-old Bardot unexpectedly announced her retirement from cinema. The actress was concerned that the previous high fees had decreased. On June 7, 1973, Brigitte officially announced the end of her film career. Bardot devoted herself to charity. In 1987, she opened the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, dedicated to animal welfare.
Bardot now lives in a villa in Saint-Tropez. The actress leads a secluded lifestyle, preferring to while away her time reading books and writing memoirs.
Plastic surgery
Brigitte Bardot has been considered one of the most beautiful women not only in France, but all over the world for several decades. This actress can deservedly be called a real symbol of the era.
Brigitte has introduced babette hairstyles and a bikini swimsuit into fashion. Thanks to her, provincial Cannes and Saint-Tropez have become the mecca of elite tourism, and thick black eyeliner around the eyes remains a feature of evening makeup.
Bardot never sought help from plastic surgeons, although many considered her nose too upturned and her eyes not expressive enough. The star also did not go under the knife to fight wrinkles.
At the peak of her fame, Bardot conquered thousands of men with her magnificent smile. In those days, dentistry was not as developed as it is now, and no one even thought about the fact that Brigitte had slightly crooked front two teeth, and even with a gap. Although it is not so pronounced.
After leaving the cinema, she devoted herself to animal welfare and changed a lot during this time. Fans do not stop talking about how she is still charming, but evil tongues now and then speak unflatteringly about Brigitte’s appearance.
Personal life
There were many famous people among her fans. The actress preferred to live by feelings and could not imagine herself without love. She is used to turning men’s heads and doing whatever she wants, without looking back at the past.
Roger Vadim is Brigitte Bardot’s first husband
Brigitte married Roger Vadim in 1952, as soon as she turned eighteen. The newlyweds lived in a small apartment donated by Bardot’s parents. At first, they experienced serious financial difficulties. For the sake of earning money, Brigitte starred in low-budget films. Roger worked as a journalist for a newspaper, and in his spare time wrote scripts for future films.
Using his connections in the cinematic environment, he took on the role of his wife’s press agent. Vadim wanted the whole world to know about Brigitte. He advised his beloved to change her hair into a blonde, taught her to sexually protrude her lips, make up her eyes thickly and not be shy about her nakedness.
In 1956, Roger Vadim was finally able to realize his dream and shot Bardot in his own film. Vadim was sure that no director would reveal it the way he did, and he turned out to be absolutely right.
Brigitte Bardot and Jean-Louis Trintignant
The only thing Roger did not take into account was that on the set of his easily carried away and passionate wife fell madly in love with her on–screen partner, an unknown actor of the provincial theater Jean-Louis Trintignant to anyone until that time.
They played a couple in love so realistically that Vadim had doubts about his wife’s fidelity. Brigitte is not used to lying and dodging and honestly told her husband about their affair. Knowing the wayward and stubborn character of Bardot, Roger did not forcibly hold his wife and gave her a divorce.
Brigitte lived with Trintignant for only two years and fell in love again.
Brigitte Bardot and Jacques Charrier
This time, her partner in the film “Babette Goes to War” (1959) Jacques Charrier became her chosen one. After the end of filming, the couple went on vacation to Chamonix, where Brigitte became pregnant. When the actress found out about her interesting situation, it was too late to have an abortion and she had to give birth.
Jacques Charrier was insanely happy about this circumstance, but Bardot categorically did not want to become a mother and had been in severe depression for the past few months, refusing to leave the house. She compared the unborn child to a tumor that feeds on her body. The actress suffered from pregnancy and did not want a child. When the baby was born, she refused to breastfeed him.
Jacques Charrier was shocked by his wife’s behavior and was so worried about what was happening that he opened his veins, fortunately, he was saved. After leaving the psychiatric clinic after a rehabilitation course, Jacques tried to force Bardot to become an exemplary wife and mother, but it was impossible. She was not going to change her usual lifestyle and continued to act in films. Quarrels in the family often ended in scandals and even fights. Once Brigitte couldn’t stand it and swallowed pills, but they managed to pump her out.
Brigitte Bardot and Sami Frey
The actress started an affair with her partner in the film “The Truth” (1960) Sami Frey again. Upon learning about this, Jacques ambushed the couple in the car and started a fight. This ugly scene caught the paparazzi’s lenses, the pictures were scattered all over the world, and the disgraced husband filed for divorce and took custody of his son.
Brigitte Bardot and Gunter Sachs
Bardot’s third husband was the extravagant German multimillionaire Gunter Sachs. He met the actress on a bet, and soon they got married. Their marriage didn’t last long – they turned out to be too different people.
Brigitte Bardot and Bernard d’Ormale
In 1992, Brigitte decided to get married for the fourth time. This time, her chosen one turned out to be Bernard d’Ormale, a former adviser to the French National Front, an ally of Marine Le Pen. Their marriage continues to this day.
