French cinema legend Brigitte Bardot dies at 91: Who was she?

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00:01Even at five years old, she was already at ease in front of the camera.

00:06Brigitte Bardot, the glamorous pin-up of post-war France.

00:11She embodied a new breed of liberated woman.

00:15Born in Paris in 1934, her parents were middle class and conservative,

00:21far removed from the world of show business.

00:25Her mother saw her potential.

00:27At 15 years old, Bardot was on the cover of Elle magazine.

00:31Doors opened because of her modelling, but her passion lay in cinema.

00:38At 16, she got her first small film roles.

00:41Two years later, she married the French film director Roger Vadim.

00:45In 1956, with And God Created Woman, Vadim made her into a global sex symbol.

00:53She plays a young seductress, uninhibited and free-spirited.

01:03Critics tried to have the film censored without success.

01:07It became a global hit.

01:10Vadim let me act how I felt. I acted as I liked. And that sparked a scandal.

01:17She made films with cinema legends, Sacha Guitry, Louis Mal and Jean-Luc Godard, in contempt.

01:26Now a star, Bardot was hounded by the press wherever she went.

01:31Like this appearance at the Cannes Film Festival.

01:35She was seen as a free spirit, who didn't abide by social norms.

01:46Bardot was a role model for many young women.

01:50I'm delighted to be considered a legend, if I am one, but I don't believe that particularly.

01:56Her personal life made the front pages of the tabloids of the time.

02:01She was married four times, and played up to her femme fatale image.

02:06Her brief relationship with Serge Gainsbourg inspired some smash hit songs.

02:11In 1973, at the peak of her career success, she chose to step out of the limelight, to concentrate on defending animals.

02:25Now a recluse, her media appearances were more and more rare.

02:30When she did hit the headlines, it was due to her racist statements.

02:34She faced French judges five times, for incitement to racial hatred.

02:40I won't ever blush because of what I did, or said, or who I was.

02:49Equally admired and reviled, Bardot was always authentically herself.

02:55She remained unclassifiable to the end.

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