Brigitte Bardot is recovering at home after undergoing “minor surgery” in a Toulon hospital, according to a statement issued by her office. UPDATE: Brigitte Bardot calls for calm amid rumours of hospitalisation, as BARDOT documentary film released.
The French film actress, who turned 91 less than a month ago, thanked her surgical team for ensuring her recovery, and her fans – who sent well wishes from around the world – for their concern.
Bardot shot to international fame in the ’50s, after starring in ‘And God Created Woman’ (1956). The Roger Vadim-directed movie was filmed in Saint-Tropez and immediately turned both Bardot and the fishing village into global icons.
In the ’70s, at just 39-years-old, Bardot retired from her film career and moved permanently to Saint-Tropez, where she has devoted the rest of her life to protecting and fighting for animal rights. In 1986 she founded the Brigitte Bardot Animal Foundation. She famously says on her website: “I gave my beauty and youth to men, I give my wisdom and experience to animals.”
BFMTV reported on Friday that Bardot’s office sent a statement to French News Agency AFP revealing she “was briefly hospitalised at the Saint-Jean Private Hospital in Toulon to undergo a minor surgical procedure that went particularly satisfactorily.”
It said: “She is now resting at home, will not respond to any requests, and thanks everyone for respecting her privacy and peace.”
She also thanked the surgical team and hospital staff, as well as “all those who are concerned” about her health.
BFMTV reported that last year she told them that she lives “like a farmer”, surrounded by animals, and doesn’t own a mobile phone or computer.
Bardot’s second husband, Jacques Charrier, died last month at the age of 88. He was the father of her only son, Nicolas.
We wish Brigitte Bardot a full and speedy recovery.
