Brigitte Bardot's Real Name: Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot

Quick answer: Brigitte Bardot's documented full name is Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot. An Associated Press obituary uses that form and dates her birth to September 28, 1934. Encyclopaedia Britannica and Reuters also record September 28, 1934, in Paris (AP; Britannica).

Real name and early life

She was known professionally as Brigitte Bardot, and in France often as B.B., Britannica notes. AP says Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born Sept. 28, 1934, to a wealthy industrialist, was a shy child who studied classical ballet, and appeared on the cover of Elle at 14. Britannica and Reuters place the birth in Paris. Roger Vadim, then an aspiring director, "shrewdly fashioned her public and screen image," Britannica says, after noticing her in the French women's press.

Career highlights

International fame came with Et Dieu créa la femme (1956; And God Created Woman), directed by Vadim, then her husband, both sources record. AP says the film triggered a scandal and that a cinema career of more than two dozen films made her one of France's best-known stars; in 1969 her features were chosen as a model for Marianne, the national emblem. Britannica also cites Les Bijoutiers du claire de lune (1958; The Night Heaven Fell) and, as a later critical exception, Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (1963). AP says she retired to a Riviera villa in St. Tropez in 1973, at 39, after The Woman Grabber, and later sold memorabilia to fund an animal-protection foundation; Britannica similarly records that she left films for animal-rights work. AP notes the Legion of Honor in 1985.

Legal matters

AP reports that she was convicted and fined five times in French courts of inciting racial hatred, in incidents tied to her opposition to ritual slaughter and her comments about Muslim immigration. Britannica records a 2004 conviction over remarks in her book Un Cri dans le silence (2003). The legal record is noted here as documented court outcomes; it is not the focus of the page.

Death

Bardot died on December 28, 2025, at age 91. AP, citing Bruno Jacquelin of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, said she died Sunday at her home in southern France, with no cause given. Britannica gives the place as Saint-Tropez, France. Reuters likewise reported the foundation's announcement that day.

Name notes for searchers

Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is the documented full name; the professional name is Brigitte Bardot, also called B.B. Searchers looking for the star of And God Created Woman are usually aiming at the same person.