60 Fun Facts About Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot was born in 1934 in which city?

She grew up in a nine-bedroom apartment in the 16th arrondissement, the daughter of an engineer who owned several factories.

By what two-letter nickname was Bardot known throughout her career?

In French the initials sound like 'bébé', and she used them as the title of her memoir, Initiales B.B.

What art form did Bardot train in as a child, entering the national conservatoire in 1949?

She studied for three years under the Russian choreographer Boris Knyazev before modelling and film took over.

At 15, Bardot appeared on the cover of which magazine, which led directly to her first film offer?

The March 1950 cover caught the eye of director Marc Allégret; she had been hired as a junior model by the magazine's director the year before.

How many films did Bardot appear in over her career?

She also recorded more than 60 songs and performed in several musicals before walking away from show business in 1973.

Bardot's second film, Manina (1952), is credited with popularising which garment?

The English-language title spelt it out: Manina, the Girl in the Bikini.

Bardot married director Roger Vadim in December 1952 at what age?

The wedding took place at Notre-Dame-de-Grâce de Passy; the couple separated four years later after she fell for a co-star.

What was Roger Vadim's real surname?

His father was a White Russian officer and pianist who became a naturalised French citizen.

In which year was And God Created Woman, the film that made Bardot the 'sex kitten', released?

Peter Bogdanovich later credited it with breaking French cinema out of American art houses and into the mainstream.

And God Created Woman is set in which Riviera town, later Bardot's home for decades?

Her character Juliette is an 18-year-old orphan, and her habit of going barefoot in the town's streets was written into the part.

Which Danish model became Vadim's second wife after his divorce from Bardot?

She appeared in his vampire film Blood and Roses; Fonda came later, and Deneuve had a relationship with him but never married him.

Bardot's affair with which And God Created Woman co-star ended her first marriage?

He was married to actress Stéphane Audran at the time; the pair lived together for about two years but never wed.

Which 1959 World War II comedy became the fourth-biggest film of the year in France for Bardot?

The same year she also headlined The Female for veteran director Julien Duvivier.

Bardot won a David di Donatello award for The Truth (1960), a courtroom drama by which director?

She played Dominique Marceau, on trial for shooting her lover; the film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Godard's Contempt (1963), starring Bardot, was based on a novel by which Italian writer?

Il disprezzo follows a screenwriter whose marriage collapses during a troubled film of Homer's Odyssey.

Which legendary director appears as himself in Contempt, filming an adaptation of the Odyssey?

Jack Palance plays the vulgar American producer who whisks Bardot's character off to Capri in his sports car.

What is the name of Bardot's character in Contempt?

She is married to the playwright Paul, and abruptly announces she no longer loves him during the first day of the project.

In Viva Maria! (1965) Bardot and Jeanne Moreau play two revolutionaries who accidentally invent what?

It happens when a skirt rips on stage; the director described the film as 'a sort of burlesque boxing match — sexpot v. seductress'.

Who directed Viva Maria!, which earned Bardot a BAFTA nomination?

He got the film financed only on the condition that Jeanne Moreau committed to it.

Which American actor starred as the professor in Bardot's first Hollywood film, Dear Brigitte (1965)?

Her second attempt at Hollywood, a 1968 Western, was another box-office disappointment.

Bardot starred opposite which James Bond actor in the 1968 Western Shalako?

The same year she had a small role in the all-star anthology Spirits of the Dead alongside Alain Delon.

Which French philosopher's 1959 essay 'The Lolita Syndrome' called Bardot a 'locomotive of women's history'?

The essay drew on existentialist themes to declare her the most liberated woman in France.

Charles de Gaulle famously compared Bardot's importance as a French export to which company's products?

She backed de Gaulle in the 1960s and later became the first named model for the republican bust of Marianne.

In 1969 Bardot became the first celebrity to lend her features to which national symbol?

Until then the busts in town halls had anonymous faces; Catherine Deneuve and Laetitia Casta later followed her.

Bardot bought her Riviera home La Madrague in 1958 for how many francs?

She lived there until her death and gave the name to one of her best-known songs.

Bardot's 1959 wedding made which fabric fashionable after she wore a pink checked dress?

The dress was by Jacques Esterel; she also launched the beehive-like 'choucroute' hairstyle.

Bardot's third husband, married in 1966, was a millionaire from which country?

Gunter Sachs commissioned an Andy Warhol portrait of her in 1974, which sold at Sotheby's in 2012.

How many times was Bardot married?

Her final marriage, to Bernard d'Ormale in 1992, lasted longer than the other three combined.

Bardot's only child, Nicolas, was born in January 1960 from her marriage to which actor?

She was already pregnant at the wedding; the couple divorced in 1962.

Who wrote 'Je t'aime... moi non plus' for Bardot in 1967 at her demand for 'the most beautiful love song'?

He wrote it and 'Bonnie and Clyde' in a single night; her husband forced the recording to be shelved for nearly two decades.

Whose objection got the original 1967 Bardot recording of 'Je t'aime... moi non plus' withdrawn?

The 1969 remake with Jane Birkin became the first foreign-language single to top the UK chart.

Bardot's belatedly released 'Je t'aime... moi non plus' became a surprise hit in which format in 2006?

When Universal put its back catalogue online it ranked as the third most popular download.

Bardot's song 'Le Soleil de ma vie' is a French cover of a hit by which American artist?

It reworks 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life'; her other singles included 'Harley Davidson' and 'La Madrague'.

How did Bardot describe her 1973 decision to retire from acting?

Her final film was The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot, right after playing a female Don Juan for Vadim.

In her last film with Vadim, Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman (1973), Bardot played what?

During the shoot she said that if it was not her last movie it would be her next to last, and she kept her word.

Bardot marked her 40th birthday in 1974 with a nude photo shoot for which magazine?

The same year Andy Warhol painted a series of portraits of her.

Bardot's 1977 protest on Canadian ice floes against the slaughter of which animals began her activism?

She met the founder of Sea Shepherd on the trip and won the support of President Giscard d'Estaing for import restrictions.

Bardot met which environmental activist, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1977?

The meeting came during a campaign against the seal hunt on the Canadian ice.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation's best-known animal refuge, La Mare Auzou, is in which French region?

Housed in a ruined mansion in the Eure department, it takes in dogs and cats and doubles as a retirement home for horses and cows.

How did Bardot raise the initial funds for her foundation in 1986?

The sale brought in about three million francs, and she became a vegetarian around the same time.

Which spiritual leader became an honorary member of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1995?

The foundation was recognised as being 'of public utility' in France in 1992.

Bardot was awarded France's Legion of Honour in which year?

She had earlier been named to the UN Environment Programme's Global 500 Roll of Honour for her animal-rights work.

Bardot was fined five times for inciting racial hatred, largely over remarks about which group?

She was also fined for calling residents of Réunion 'savages', and her last husband had advised the far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

What item of clothing carries the actress's surname in the fashion world?

Fashion also owes her a beehive-style hairdo nicknamed 'sauerkraut'.

Which Beatle finally met Bardot in 1968 at London's May Fair Hotel, having taken LSD out of nerves?

He later recalled 'I was on acid, and she was on her way out'; his first wife Cynthia had lightened her hair to look more like Bardot.

Which musician's debut album liner notes say he dedicated the first song he ever wrote to Bardot?

Lennon and McCartney once planned a Beatles film co-starring her, but it never happened.

How many portraits of Bardot did Andy Warhol paint in 1974?

One, commissioned by Gunter Sachs, was estimated at £4 million when it went to auction in 2012.

Bardot died on 28 December 2025 at which of her homes?

She was 91 and had lived in the house since 1958.

After Bardot and her sister broke a vase, their father made them address their parents how?

She said the incident left her permanently resentful of her parents and fed her later rebelliousness.

Which eye condition left Bardot with reduced vision in her left eye from childhood?

She grew up in a nine-bedroom apartment in the 16th arrondissement, the daughter of a factory-owning engineer.

Which Brazilian resort town did Bardot help popularise after a 1964 visit with Bob Zagury?

The town's waterfront promenade, Orla Bardot, has a bronze statue of her by Christina Motta.

Which shoemaker created a pair of ballet flats for Bardot in 1956?

The brand's link to Bardot's barefoot-and-ballerina image dates from the year of And God Created Woman.

Bardot's teased 'choucroute' hairstyle takes its name from which food?

The beehive-like style joined gingham and the bikini among the fashions she popularised.

How long did Bardot's third marriage, to Gunter Sachs, formally last?

They wed on 14 July 1966 and divorced in October 1969, having separated the year before.

Bardot's fourth husband, Bernard d'Ormale, had been an adviser to which French politician?

They married in August 1992; Bardot later endorsed Marine Le Pen in 2012 and 2017.

In which year was Bardot diagnosed with breast cancer, for which she chose radiation over chemotherapy?

She recovered in 1986, the year she auctioned her jewels to fund her animal foundation.

Which pop singer adopted Bardot's 'sex kitten look' on the cover of her 2003 album Body Language?

Bardot's verdict on her many imitators: 'None have my personality.'

Who played Bardot in Joann Sfar's 2010 film Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life?

The film dramatised her 1967 recordings with Serge Gainsbourg, including 'Bonnie and Clyde'.

Bardot's 2021 fine of €20,000, her largest, followed insults aimed at inhabitants of which French territory?

Her foundation's letter to the island's prefect over animal cruelty referred to locals as 'autochtones who have kept the genes of savages'.

In her May 2025 BFMTV interview, her first TV appearance in 11 years, Bardot revealed she did not use what?

The 90-year-old spoke for 47 minutes from her Saint-Tropez home about animals, memories and her distaste for feminism.