Brigitte Bardot rose to international fame with her role in "And God Created Woman." After two decades in acting, Bardot retired from acting in the 1970s and devoted her time to animal activism, during which she also made headlines for sharing racist views.

And God Created Woman” made her a world-famous sex symbol in the 1950s. She later gave up acting to devote her life to animal welfare.

Brigitte Bardot, known for her reckless love affairs with men and women, quit acting at 39, devoted herself to animal rights activism and lived out her life in near seclusion. She died at 91.

Brigitte Bardot, the French actress and later animal rights activist and far-right supporter, has died. She was 91. Bardot died on Sunday at her home in southern France, according to Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals told the Associated Press.

Already world famous for several years by 1962, Brigitte Bardot used her film stardom to launch a music career in her late twenties with “Sidonie,” a song from the Louis Malle-directed romance in which she starred that year,

Bardot is survived by one adult child, Nicolas, with whom she had a complicated, estranged relationship. Here is where Nicolas is today and why the mother and son shared a strained bond.

The death of Brigitte Bardot at 91 has again put her legendary film career and activist exploits in the spotlight, and of course her personal life.

Bardot's life was one of glamour, controversy, and conviction. Born in Paris in 1934, Bardot trained as a ballerina before her striking beauty caught the eye of filmmakers. At 18, she married director Roger Vadim, who cast her in And God Created Woman, a provocative film that launched her to international stardom.