Brigitte Bardot is a French dancer, model and actress who graced the cover of Elle magazine as a teen and went on to star in several films before being featured in 1956’s And God Created Woman, which launched her to international fame. She appeared in dozens of films over her career, including Contempt and Viva Maria!, and retired from acting in the 1970s. She has subsequently devoted her life to animal activism.

Through her films and off-screen photos taken by the paparazzi, Bardot became renowned for displaying a naturalistic, free-flowing sensuality that spoke to the concept of joie de vivre, becoming Europe's top actress.

Bardot turned from moviemaking to her love of animals and established the Foundation for the Protection of Distressed Animals in the mid-1970s. In the mid-1980s she founded the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals. Her work has led to the Council of Europe banning the importation of seal fur and the French government banning ivory imports.

@kozachok, September 27th