Brigitte Bardot
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Brigitte Bardot (September 28, 1934) is a French actress, former fashion model, singer, and considered the embodiment of the 1950s and 1960s sex kitten in such films as And God Created Woman (1956), Spirits of the Dead (1968), Contempt (1963), Masculine, Feminine (1966).
In the 1970s after her retirement from the entertainment industry, Bardot established herself as an animal rights activist, which she continues today. During the 1990s she was outspoken about her political views on such issues as immigration, Islam in France, miscegenation, and homosexuality. She is well-known for her support of ideas common to French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen.
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Bardot's influence
Bardot is recognised for popularizing bikini swimwear in early films such as Manina (Woman without a Veil, 1952), in her appearances at Cannes and in many photo shoots.
Bardot also brought into fashion the choucroute ("Sauerkraut") hairstyle (a sort of beehive hair style) and gingham clothes after wearing a checkered pink dress, designed by Jacques Esterel, at her wedding to Charrier.
The fashions of the 1960s looked effortlessly right and spontaneous on her, and she joined Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy in becoming a subject for Andy Warhol paintings.
In addition to popularizing the bikini swimming suit, Bardot has also been credited with popularizing the city of St. Tropez and the town of Buzios, Brazil, which she visited in 1964 with her boyfriend at the time, Brazilian musician Bob Zagury. A statue by Christina Motta honours Brigitte Bardot in Buzios, Brazil.
Bardot was idolized by young John Lennon and Paul McCartney. They made plans to shoot a film featuring The Beatles and Bardot, similar to A Hard Day's Night, but the plans were never fulfilled. Lennon's first wife Cynthia Powell lightened her hair color to more closely resemble Bardot, while George Harrison made comparisons between Bardot and his first wife Pattie Boyd, as Cynthia wrote later in A Twist of Lennon. Lennon and Bardot met in person once, in 1968 at the Mayfair Hotel, introduced by Beatles press agent Derek Taylor; a nervous Lennon took LSD before arriving, and neither star impressed the other. (Lennon recalled in a memoir, "I was on acid, and she was on her way out.")
According to the liner notes of his first (self-titled) album, musician Bob Dylan dedicated the first song he ever wrote to Bardot. He also mentioned her by name in "I Shall Be Free", which appeared on his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.
She dabbled in pop music and played the role of a glamour model. In 1965 she appeared as herself in the Hollywood production Dear Brigitte (1965) starring James Stewart.
In 1970 the sculptor Alain Gourdon used Bardot as the model for a bust of Marianne, the French national emblem.
Personal life
On 21 December 1952, at the age of 18, Bardot was married to director Roger Vadim. In order to receive permission from Bardot's parents to marry her, Vadim, originally an Orthodox Christian, was urged to convert to Catholicism. They divorced five years later, but remained friends and collaborated in later work. Bardot had an affair with her co-star in And God Created Woman, Jean-Louis Trintignant (married at the time to French actress Stephane Audran), followed by her divorce from Vadim. The two lived together for about two years. Their relationship was complicated by Trintignant's frequent absence due to military service and Bardot's affair with musician Gilbert Bécaud, and they eventually separated.
The 9 February 1958 edition of the Los Angeles Times reported on the front page that Bardot was recovering in Italy from a reported nervous breakdown. A suicide attempt with sleeping pills two days earlier was denied by her public relations manager.
On 18 June 1959, she married actor Jacques Charrier, by whom she had her only child, a son, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier (born 11 January 1960). After she and Charrier divorced in 1962, Nicolas was raised in the Charrier family and did not maintain close contact with Bardot until his adulthood.
Bardot's other husbands were German millionaire playboy Gunter Sachs (14 July 1966 – 1 October 1969), and Bernard d'Ormale (16 August 1992 – present). She is reputed to have had relationships with many other men including her La Vérité co-star Sami Frey, musicians Serge Gainsbourg and Sacha Distel.
In the late 1950s, she shared an exchange she considered la croisée de deux sillages ("the crossing of two wakes") with actor and true crime author John Gilmore, then an actor in France who was working on a New Wave film with Jean Seberg. Gilmore told Paris Match: 'I felt a beautiful warmth with Bardot but found it difficult to discuss things in any depth whatsoever.' In the 1970s, she lived with the sculptor Miroslav Brozek and posed for some of his sculptures.
In 1974, Bardot appeared in a nude photo shoot in the Italian edition of Playboy magazine, which celebrated her 40th birthday.
Mentions of Bardot in music
The first song to reference Brigitte Bardot was "Gimme' that Wine" by vocalese group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross on the Columbia label in 1960.
Indie singer Jordan Galland also has a song called "Brigitte Bardot". In 1966, Harry Belafonte recorded "Zombie Jamboree" which has an entire verse dedicated to Brigitte Bardot.
Bardot has also been referenced in many other songs, including "I Shall Be Free" (Bob Dylan), "Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation" (John Hartford), We Didn't Start the Fire" (Billy Joel), "Message of Love" (The Pretenders), "I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself" (Elton John), "Warlocks" (Red Hot Chili Peppers), "You Went The Wrong Way, Old King Louie" (Allan Sherman), "You're My Favourite Star" (The Bellamy Brothers), "It's Not Enough" (The Who), "Contempt" (Silkworm), "Big Wedge" (Fish),"Brigitte Bardot" (Tom Zé), "Alegria, Alegria" (Caetano Veloso), "Loaded" (ZZ Top), "Brigitte Bardot" (Creature), "Bardot" (Marden Hill), "Shir Nevu'i Cosmi Aliz" (Yoni Rechter & Eli Mohar), "Smiles Like Richard Nixon" (The Bad Examples), "Bijou" (Stew), "Stratford-On-Guy" (Liz Phair), "Barbarella" (Paul Baribeau), and "Brigitte Bardot T.N.T." (Pizzicato Five).
Ambiguity over name
Several sources reference Bardot as being christened Camille Javal. Camille Javal was the part played by Bardot in the 1963 film Le Mépris (English title Contempt).
Filmography
1950s
- Crazy for Love {1952} — Javotte Lemoine
- Manina, the Girl in the Bikini (1952) — Manina
- The Long Teeth (1952) — Bridesmaid (uncredited)
- His Father's Portrait (1953) — Domino
- Act of Love (1953) — Mimi
- Royal Affairs in Versailles (1954) — Mademoiselle de Rozille (uncredited)
- The Light Across the Street (1955) — Olivia Marceau
- School for Love (aka Joy of Loving) (1955) — Sophie
- Caroline and the Rebels (1955) — Pilar d'Aranda
- Doctor at Sea (1955) — Hélène Colbert
- The Grand Maneuver (1955) — Lucie
- Helen of Troy (1956) — Andraste
- Naughty Girl (aka Mademoiselle Pigalle) (1955) — Brigitte Latour
- Nero's Mistress (1956) — Poppée
- Mademoiselle Striptease (aka Plucking the Daisy) (1956) — Agnès Dumont
- And God Created Woman (1956) — Juliette Hardy
- Her Bridal Night (aka The Bride is Too Beautiful) (1956) — Chouchou
- Une Parisienne (1957) — Brigitte Laurier
- "Sait-on jamais?" (1957)Template:Fact
- The Night Heaven Fell (1958) — Ursula
- Love Is My Profession (aka In Case of Adversity, UK: literal English title) (1958) — Yvette Maudet
- The Woman and the Puppet (1959) (aka A Woman Like Satan) — Éva Marchand
- Babette Goes to War (1959) — Babette
- Do You Want to Dance with Me? (1959) — Virginie Dandieu
1960s
- The Testament of Orpheus (1960)
- It Happened All Night (1960) — Cameo
- The Truth (1960) — Dominique Marceau
- Please, Not Now! (aka Only for Love) (1961) — Sophie
- Famous Love Affairs (1961) — Agnès Bernauer
- A Very Private Affair (1962) — Jill
- Lykke og krone (1962) (documentary)
- Love on a Pillow (1962) — Geneviève Le Theil
- Contempt (1963) — Camille Javal
- Paparazzi (1964) (short subject) — Cameo
- Bardot and Godard (1964) (short subject)
- Agent 38-24-36 (1964) — Penelope Lightfeather
- Too Many Thieves
- Forbidden Temptations (1965) (documentary) — cameo
- Marie Soleil (1965) — cameo
- Dear Brigitte (1965) — cameo
- Viva Maria! (1965) — Maria I
- Masculine, Feminine (1966)
- Two Weeks in September (1967) — Cecile
- Spirits of the Dead (aka Tales of Mystery and Imagination (UK)) (1968) — Giuseppina
- Shalako (1968) — Irina Lazaar
- The Bear and the Doll (1969) — Félicia
- The Women (1969) — Clara
- The Vixen (1969)
1970s
- The Novices (1970) — Agnès
- Rum Runners (1971) — Linda Larue
- The Legend of Frenchie King (aka Petroleum Girls ) (1971) — Louise
- Film Portrait (1972) (documentary)
- Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman (1973) — Jeanne
- The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot (1973) — Arabelle
See also
