The staggering net worth and properties of Brigitte Bardot have been revealed following the news of her death at 91.
The iconic French film star died aged 91 just weeks after undergoing surgery and battling “sudden illness”.
Bardot was at her home in Saint-Tropez when she was suddenly rushed to a hospital in nearby Toulon, The Sun reports.
According to The Mirror, the actress left behind a fortune estimated between $US65 million ($A96 million) and $US100 million ($A150 million), including valuable real estate investments.
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Brigitte Bardot in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 film Contempt.
The 1960s sex symbol purchased her primary residence La Madrague in 1958, which became her retreat from public life.
The Saint Tropez estate includes a two-storey house, two cottages and a pool.
The secluded oceanfront property is estimated to be valued at no less than $US23 million ($A34 million).
Bardot also owned Le Castelet, a 13th-century mansion near Cannes, which hit the market in 2020 for around $US6.5 million ($A9.6 million).
The hillside property features two pools, pool house, wine cellar and a number of formal garden areas.
Bardot’s primary residence La Madrague, which became her retreat from public life. Picture: Getty
Bardot also owned Le Castelet, a 13th-century mansion near Cannes, which hit the market in 2020. Picture: Sotheby’s International Realty
Despite her substantial wealth, Bardot’s finances were negatively impacted by multiple controversies stemming from her far-right political views.
The screen legend was convicted and fined five times between 1997 and 2008 for inciting racial hatred in incidents inspired by her anger at Muslim animal slaughtering rituals, the New York Post reports.
In 1997, several towns removed Bardot-inspired statues of Marianne — the bare-breasted statue representing the French Republic — after the actress voiced anti-immigrant sentiment. Also that year, she received death threats after calling for a ban on the sale of horse meat.
Bardot was one of the most famous figures in the 1960s. Picture: Supplied
Brigitte Bardot’s career
Bardot was propelled into international stardom when she played a teen bride in the 1956 movie And God Created Woman.
Directed by her then-husband, Roger Vadim, it triggered a scandal with scenes of the long-legged beauty dancing on tables naked.
Bardot was one of the most famous figures in the Sexual Revolution of the post-war period.
A sensational French artist, she was long a symbol of glamour and desire.
Her image was forged in a cluster of cult films and pop duets – and she was known for portraying characters with hedonistic and tragic lifestyles.
In the British and US press, she was nicknamed the “sex kitten”.
She also sang and modelled in her youth, while she became an animal rights advocate in later life.
Bardot is survived by her son, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, two granddaughters and three great-grandchildren.
Parts of this story first appeared in The Sun and New York Post and were republished with permission.
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