She may not have teardrops in her hair or a sultry smile that brightens all of Paris, but legendary French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has made the whole world fall in love with her and her beloved Paris. A constitutional woman of sexual themes and underground French movies, this is what makes Bardot the most acclaimed and well-adjusted actress of all time.

Coming from an innocent start, she garnered the title of sex kitten of the late fifties- early sixties, widely referred to by her initials, B.B.. She started out her career as a budding ballerina but ended up acting in films, appearing in 16 routine comedy films that had limited international release. She became world-famous in 1957 after starring in the controversial film And God Created Woman, and garnered attention of academics such as Simone de Beauvoir whose 1959 essay, “The Lolita Syndrome,” describes Bardot as a “locomotive of women’s history” and declared her the first most liberated woman of post-war France. She was plenty talented after appearing in Louis Malle’s 1965 film Viva Maria! Bardot was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress. Her face and body always were shown off in many of her films and it seems that her look was modernized by the supermodel of today the 90’s model Claudia Shiffer, who proudly looks just like her. Her sex symbol status was still alive in the 70’s and 80’s. In fact, her record keeping sex status made everyone take notice and made believers that this French export proudly represented France and made it known that French women are desirable and chic.

In modern times, in 1986, established the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals. In fact, she is a pioneer for animal rights and before her 39th birthday, she announced her retirement after appearing in more than forty motion pictures and recorded several music albums, most notably with Serge Gainsbourg, she used her fame to promote animal rights. To this day, she is tirelessly helping animals around the world. This is what makes her the animal’s protective mama and the guiding light which drives others to take in account that animal rights should not be taken lightly and as humans we need to take one another, including the animals of the world. Just as the legendary Brigitte Bardot has done.

by Veronica Felipe

Twitter @vfelippe99