French actress Brigitte Bardot, a Hollywood bombshell of the 1950s and ’60s, died of cancer, her husband, Bernard d’Ormale confirmed.
Speaking to Paris Match, d’Ormale explained Bardot was also suffering from severe back pain and underwent two operations before she died at her home in Saint-Tropez on December 28. She was 91 years old.
“She was conscious and concerned about the fate of animals until the very end,” he said.
“It was cancer that took her away,” d’Ormale continued, adding that Bardot “had resisted very well” until recently. He said her desire to live “slipped out two or three times in recent months, in moments of physical suffering—she would say, ‘I’ve had enough, I want to go.’” Still, d’Ormale was with her through it all, and by her side at the end.
“I sat up when I heard her say ‘Pioupiou,’ that little nickname we used for each other in private, and then it was over,” he said. “A sense of peace and tranquility settled over her face. And she became incredibly beautiful again, just like in her youth. You wouldn’t have believed she was 91.”
He did not say what type of cancer she had.
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation confirmed her death on social media last month, but it did not provide the cause. It was previously reported Bardot had been hospitalized in October.
Bardot, who married businessman d’Ormale in 1992, made around 40 movies during her illustrious career, including “God Created Woman” in 1956 and Jean-Luc Godard’s “Contempt” in 1963. By the time she retired in in 1973, she was an international sex symbol. She later went on to become a militant animal rights activist, launching her foundation in 1986.
She also became increasingly active politically on the far right, stoking controversy over the course of her life. She faced legal troubles due to racist and xenophobic comments and was convicted of hate speech on five different occasions.
She will be laid to rest with a private service at the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Catholic Church in Saint Tropez on Wednesday.
With News Wire Services
